Chapter 9Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she sighs for the umpteenth time and tucks her hair behind her ear. It's going to be her first day at work today, and she feels awkward. She hasn't done this before, and neither does she know how it works. She never imagined that she'd ever get to work as a secretary. Of course, she knows that the job wasn't given to her because of her qualification, but she's still confused about why Max would do that. Even if he wanted to help her, he could've gotten her a job somewhere else, right? Taking a deep breath, she finally picks up her phone which Max got for her a couple of days ago, before she ambles out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. Her heels click on the floor as she walks along the hallway, and soon, she descends from the staircase. She looks extremely beautiful in her black suit which reveals her curvy shape. Her thick black long curled hair is falling freely over her shoulders with some strands resting on her for
Chapter 10Ariel Williams Dragging myself into my room tiredly, I plunge myself into the bed and sigh in relief. It was just my first day at work today, and I feel so exhausted. It was nice working in the company, and I'm glad that I'm already coping with the teachings that the system has been offering me. Whoever programmed the system must be a pro at this. I mean, it was so detailed and I didn't need anyone to explain anything to me. The sound of my ringing phone pulls my attention, and I glance at it before reaching out to it lazily. A strange number displays on the screen, and I pull a puzzled look as I wonder who must be the owner of the number. I was warned strictly not to converse with anyone aside from Max and his wife, so I never bothered to give any of my colleagues my number, even as one of them requested for it. I watch the phone ring and the call drops dead, but barely two seconds passed before the phone starts ringing again with the same number displayed on the screen.
Chapter 11A few hours later... Ariel tosses on the bed for the umpteenth time, as she forces her eyes open. She suddenly opens them again as she stares up at the white ceiling. It's almost midnight and she has been trying to get some sleep for hours, but it doesn't seem like it'll be possible, and she's already feeling frustrated. "Shit!" She curses under her breath as she sits up on the bed and leans against the wall as she runs her fingers through her hair. "Why can't I sleep?" She mumbles angrily to herself before she sighs briefly. She glances over to the wall clock and realizes that it's already 10:55pm, which means that she's supposed to have been asleep by now.Her stomach suddenly grumbles, and she clutches it tightly and yawns tiredly. Gosh! She's hungry again. She snorts angrily as she swings her legs down the bed and gets on her feet, dragging herself out of the room afterward. She's just three weeks pregnant and she's eating this much, she can't help wondering what it'
Chapter 12Three days later at Mr. Dante's company Mr. Dante is sitting behind his desk and has all of his attention on the desktop as his hands get busy on the keyboard. He's smart, hardworking, and dedicated to his work for a sixty-five years old man. He has been in the business for years and turns out that it has always been his first priority. The door suddenly bursts open and Max barges into the office, looking angry with a deep frown on his face. "What is the problem this time, Max?" Mr. Dante asks sarcastically, not raising an eyebrow to check out who just barged into his office. Of course, he was expecting him to be here after he got the news, so he's not surprised that he came to his office so suddenly. "What is the meaning of that, dad? Why did you restrict the account of the Villa? I need to work on a project there, and you know it. Why are you doing this? You tricked me into this. Why the hell do you never tell me that you didn't sign the contract for all the propertie
Chapter 13Ariel Williams After a long day at work, it's finally closing time and I just rounded my work up. Max already left for an appointment he said to be having with his dad, so his office has been empty for almost an hour now. Finally striding out of the office after I locked it, I head straight to the massive gate. There are very few workers left in the company, which means that I have spent more than enough time here. "Hey, Ariel. Mind joining me?" My colleague, the head of the marketing department says to me as soon I step out of the exit door. She's already standing beside her car with the keys in her hand. "No, I'll be fine. I have to go somewhere before I head home. Thank you," I say to her politely as I smile at her. I don't know why she has been trying to get close to me at all costs. She's always looking for one way or the other to talk to me, but too bad that I'm restricted. I wouldn't want ma'am Wendy to know that I'm talking with strangers. That's going to be rea
Chapter 14Standing before the mirror and staring at her reflection, another drop of tears slid down the corner of her cheeks as she touches her sore cheek which has the printed fingers of Wendy on it. After she got a slap from her she has been inside her room and crying her eyes out all day without any hope of stopping anytime soon. Taking a deep breath, she assures herself that everything will be fine before she finally walks out of the room to get something to eat. She has been feeling her stomach grumbling for hours, and she tried to hold the hunger, but not anymore. Besides, she's pregnant and needs to eat very often so her baby can be fine. It's already 11:15pm and everyone has gone to bed. Descending the staircase, she walks over to the window and opens the curtain to check the parking lot for Max's car. She was surprised that he didn't even come to check up on her when he came home. Seeing his car parked there, she sighs sadly before making her way to the kitchen to make som
Chapter 15Sitting on the floor while resting her back against the bed, Ariel hugs her knees to herself and buries her face between them as a pool of tears streams down her cheeks. Recalling what happened back in the kitchen moments ago, she can't help the pain that keeps penetrating her heart and breaking her into pieces. The look on Max's face makes her feel like she's nothing, but a home breaker. "Everything is your fault, Ariel. You're a bitch!" She mutters to herself as she suddenly grabs a handful of her hair and pulls it aggressively with more tears streaming down her cheeks. "You're trying to break them apart. Can't you see that her husband loves her so much? Can't you see that you're just an intruder?" She scolds herself as her hands suddenly tremble along with her lips as she stares into space. "No... You're not a home breaker. You're not an intruder..." She shakes her head momentarily as she denies the fact. "She brought you here to bear them a child. She was the one th
Max's OfficeMax sighs for the umpteenth time as he reclines on the chair. He has tons of work to do, but here he is, lost in thoughts and can't even concentrate.Thinking about Alicia and the imagination of the pain she must be passing through, he can't help feeling guilty for hurting her. All she ever did was make sure that he was happy, she just wanted to help him get what he wanted, and now he's trying to mess things up. Isn't he foolish and ungrateful?Staring at Ariel whose attention is on the screen of the desktop, he sighs briefly and reclines on the chair. He still can't understand what he feels for this girl. Why is he getting so attached to her? Those are the questions that keep running through his mind as he stares at her from his office."Will you be able to hide the truth forever, Max? What if your dad eventually finds out? Do you think that you will still have the property if he ever finds out that you tricked and deceived him?" Those are the questions that he has been
Chapter 83"Why are you doing this?" Alicia yells at the top of her voice as tears stream down her cheeks. Alicia has been untied, and they are both inside a room now."You are going to kill everyone, and take what belongs to them? Are you this much of a monster?" She yells again, but Dennis doesn't look like he is going to listen to her."We've got what we want now... Why don't we leave for a faraway place where nobody will ever be able to get to us? I am giving you a chance to do this now," Dennis replies to her as he hands her a pistol."If you want to live, go out there, and shoot them one after the other. Kill them all and let's leave here once and for all. This is the only chance you have, Jessica. If you turn your back on me now, I will take you as my enemy for real this time," He utters, and she gulps down the lump that forms in her throat as she stares at him. Her hand trembles nervously, and she gulps down nothing again. It's literally her first time holding a gun, and she c
Chapter 82"How dare you, bitch!" Dante yelled at the top of his voice as he sent a hot slap across Elisabeth's cheek. After looking for her everywhere, Viper was finally able to get her from the hotel where Max had hidden her all this while."I told you to never mess with me, but you didn't want to listen to me. How dare you!" He yelled for the second time, sending another hot slap across her cheek. Her mouth is already bleeding. She is supposed to be in tears, but she is rather smiling as she stares back at him with a satisfactory look on."Do you want to slap me again? Go ahead and do it. Do you want to kill me? Then just go ahead and shoot me right here... Don't forget that Maxwell and Alex will be coming for you. They won't stop, until they hunt you down," A smirk settles on her lips as she emphasizes her words, and he finally punches her hard in the face this time, sending her roughly to the floor along with the chair she was tied to.He squats in front of her and grabs her hair
Chapter 81Ariel's head hurts and she groans as she tries to open her eyes, but she gasps upon finding herself in a strange room. She tries to recall what happened, and where the hell this place is, and just like that, memories of the previous day came flooding her head, and she gasps. She slowly looks around the room, and that is when the realization dawns on her that she isn't the only one in the room, but with her dad, stepmom, and the two little girls that were supposed to be her stepsisters."Daddy... Daddy... Are you ok? Joann... Ella... Ma'am... Are you ok?" Ariel asks worriedly as she manages to sit up on the cold floor, realization dawns on her that they have all been abducted. Hearing a silent whimper behind her, she slowly tilts her head to find Alicia tied to a chair too. Wow! This is crazy."What's going on here? Why are we here?" Although she knows her question is really crazy, but she couldn't just help it."Oh, you are awake? I thought you died in your sleep. That woul
Chapter 80"What's going on?" Ariel muttered as she run her fingers through her hair crazily. She has been trying to reach everybody, but no one was answering her calls, not even Max or Alex. She gulps down nothing worriedly, praying nervously that nothing happens. It's past 10pm, and Max hasn't been back yet after he told her earlier that he was going to attend to something and come back immediately."Answer your call, please," She mumbles as she dials the number again, and when it didn't go through, she decides to call Alex, and maybe, who knows, his number might go through, but it was still the same result she got.Many questions run through her mind as she sinks into the bed, grabbing a handful of her hair in her hands as she drops her gaze to the floor. Could it be that something happened while she is here? Were they abducted? Those are the questions that keep running through her mind as she tries to gather her thoughts together, but it only ends up getting ruined since she can't
Chapter 79After hearing everything from Alex, her heart sinks into her stomach, her cheeks are wet from her uncontrollable tears. Her heart wrenches in pain at the thought of being betrayed by the man she so much loved with everything in her, but on a second thought, she feels like he was right about everything. If she truly loved him, she wouldn't have agreed to that in the first place. Does she even have any right to feel used when she already hurt Max so much? Does she have any right to be hurt with just this, when she has lived all her life hurting people?As she drags her feet along the lobby and heads to her room, her phone suddenly starts ringing and she rolls her eyes when she checks the screen and finds out that the caller is Dennis.She crashes against the bed as soon as she steps into her room, staring up at the ceiling with a pool of tears streaming down the corner of her cheeks.'There is no wedding for us, Alicia. Do you think I would still marry you after everything? Y
Chapter 78 Alicia POV I arrived at the hotel room a few minutes ago, and I haven't been really at peace. Did I make the right decision? Should I have worked with him? Those are the questions that keep lingering on my bed as I toss on the bed before I sit up. Memories of the past came flooding my mind, and for the first time, I feel guilt wash through me. Thinking about Max makes me go crazy. I feel like I was being unfair to him. Although he later changed, which was all I ever wanted, but still, it didn't change the fact that I hurt this emotion. I know this is too sudden, and you must think that I'm really crazy, but trust me, it's nothing of such. I'm just feeling remorseful for my actions in the past. I don't want to end up like Dennis, and with the way I'm going now, I might end up clouding my heart with hatred like him, and end up tormenting people, which is the last thing I would never want to do in my life. I need to make things right. Besides, I've always lived a s
Chapter 77Silence creeps into the atmosphere as Alicia stares back at him, shocked at his confession. Is he trying to pull a fast one on her or what?"There's nothing bad in wanting to spend time with my daughter, right?" He breaks the awkward silence, but she only stares back at him with many thoughts running through her mind.As her eyes roam the entire restaurant, the realization dawns on her that they are the only ones in the restaurant."Oh, sorry if that came as a shock to you. I booked the restaurant for the time we will spend here. I didn't want someone to disturb us," He breaks into her thoughts as if he was reading her mind, and she sighs briefly before she turns her gaze to look at him with a blank expression on.Memories of years ago flood his mind as he stares at his daughter that is all grown now. How they would go to bed without food, how they suffered, and how he watched her grow with another man, calling him 'dad' when he was supposed to be the one she calls that. Th
Chapter 76"What is the meaning of this, Laura?" Dante's eyes widen in shock as he stares at his wife who just slapped him. He had just come here to see her since she was sick for the last few days, only to be welcomed with a slap.Tears stream down Laura's cheeks as she stares back at the man she has been with for the past thirty-three years of her life, the man she has spent her whole life loving, unknown to her that he has been lying to her. Just the thought of it was messing her head and driving her nuts. Laura and Dante have been together for thirty-five years. Three years of courting, and thirty-two years of marriage. She has always thought that this man was the most faithful man any woman would want to spend the rest of her life with, she thought he was the best man in the world, well, he was, up until the last few hours she found out what this man has done. It breaks her heart to know that she has been fooled and used for the past years that she has been with him."Are you ok,
Chapter 75I toss on the bed for the umpteenth time, trying to get some sleep, but I can't even bring myself to do it. The scenario from earlier today is still stuck in my head, and the more I try to get it off, the more I find myself thinking about it, and it's really driving me nuts. "Is he kidding me?" I scoff as I sit up on the bed, ruffling my hair that I already parked inside my cap, allowing them to fall carelessly on my shoulders. The room is air-conditioned, but I feel so hot and just feel like I need fresh air, but I know that I don't need it. I may feel cold if I decided to step out of the room now.It bothers me to think that Alex has been playing me, but I also don't want to conclude that it's what I'm thinking. What else would it look like? He was obviously playing you. I also try to assure myself that it's not what I'm really thinking, but fuck! My head is so messed up that I can't even gather my thoughts together.Pushing all the thoughts away, I lay back on the bed,