Chapter 56 Alex POV It has been a couple of weeks since I became the CEO of Dante's empire, and it has felt so good all this while. Yeah, I love the feeling, considering the people of nobility I have met so far, but that won't ever get into my head to betray my brother once more. I have given him my word, and he is counting on me to get everything back for him, which is exactly what I'm going to do. I am having an appointment with the contractors today, and I'm hoping to get his money back for him in no time, and all this shit will be over once and for all. "It's time for the meeting, Sir. The client is already here," My secretary said once she knocked and I ushered her in. Ariel is no longer working here for now, since I have taken over, and also she is heavily pregnant, which will prevent her from working. "Alright. I will be there in a few minutes," I say to her before she nods her head and strides out of my office, and I finally leave for the conference room fo
Chapter 57 Alicia POV I smile excitedly as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. I look extremely beautiful in the red gown and a pair of heels Alex ordered for me. I turn my back to the mirror, and damn! This short strapless gown looks perfect on me. "What is he going to say to me?" I mumble as I finally walk over to sit on the bed. Ever since he told me that, I haven't really thought about anything else aside from that. I have been trying to figure out what he would likely tell me later, but the only thing that keeps ringing in my head is 'proposal'. He has gotten everything he wanted, and it's now time for us to be together, so that can be the only reason why he wants to see me. "Gosh! I'm so excited," I squeak excitedly at the thought of finally being with the man I've always loved all my life, because why not? The sound of my ringing phone pulls my attention, and I quickly swipe the answer button once I see that the call is from Alex. "Hey, baby,"
Chapter 58 "What! Are you kidding me? You want to get married to Alicia?" Max shrieks after Alex told him that he was going to get married to Alicia. Since they can't meet at home, because Ariel would suspect something, they decided to meet at the restaurant to discuss this. "Yes," Alex replies like this isn't a big deal. Of course, Max is just being paranoid, and this is truly not a big deal, honestly. He has his plans ahead, so why should he be worried that things will go wrong later? "This wasn't part of the plan, Alex..." "Just take this as me getting revenge for trying to ruin my brother and making you look like the bad person... You have nothing to worry about, Max... I have everything in control, and nothing will go wrong later," Max still finds this silly and disturbing, even though this young man already assured him that everything will be fine. Can he really trust this man that has once betrayed him? Can he trust this man to be on his side until the very end? What if this
Chapter 59 Alicia POV "Are you kidding me, Alicia? You are getting married to Alex?" Jenny, my best friend that just came back from the State shrieks, and I roll my eyes. Jenny and I have been best friends since our high school days, but she moved out of the country after high school, where she went to school. She was the one that recommended Ariel to me when I told her I needed a maid. I knew she wouldn't help me if I had told her I and my husband were looking for a surrogate baby mama, so I told her we just needed a maid. "No, I'm not," I shrug, and she scoffs and leans forward. "Have you lost it, Alicia? This man we are talking about here was your brother-in-law... He is your husband's fucking brother!" She snaps at me. "Ex-husband..." "Even so. You are going to get married to someone you were married to his brother before? Are you kidding me?" Her eyes narrow as she shrieks for the second time. "Come on, Jenny, stop making a mountain out of nothing, ok? There's nothing wrong
Chapter 60 Alex POV How time flies, it has been a week since I proposed to get married to Alicia, and with each day that passed by, I have been anticipating that day. Now, I regret giving us two months and two weeks, but I just needed some time to focus on work and get the contracts back before then. Sitting in my office and staring into a space, a smirk laces up my lips as the imagination of the look she will have on her face when she finds out the truth hits me hard, because why not? The sound of my ringing phone pulls my attention, and I pick it up to see a strange number displayed on the screen. "Let's meet," A deep masculine voice sounds from the other end, and I crease my eyebrows as I try to recall if I've heard the voice before, but it was my first time. "Who is this?" I ask curiously. "I will send you the address. Let's meet tonight," The voice utters before the call drops dead, and my heart drops in my stomach as many questions came nibbling at me
Chapter 61 Alex POV After I left the restaurant earlier, I drove home to get changed since it was already getting late, before I got dressed and drove out of the house, heading to see the person that called me earlier. As I drive down the road a few minutes later, my phone suddenly beeps, and I stop to check the message. 'Let's meet some other time. I have something urgent to attend to' I scoff angrily after I read the message. Is he messing with me? How can he bring me out here and tell me he is busy? It's already past 8pm, and I hate night drives. Taking a deep breath, I drop my phone on the seat next to me, before I drive to the nearest hotel to lay my head for the night, and leave for my house first thing tomorrow morning. The drive to the hotel only took me about ten minutes, since it's somewhere close, and just when I step out of the car, I stop on my track when I sight my dad, walking toward the entrance door. "What is Dad doing here?" I mumble before I start tracing him
Chapter 62 Ariel POV Since I am heavily pregnant now, Max hasn't allowed me to move freely because of my safety, and I understand. It's a beautiful morning, and it's only me at home. I have been missing Mom lately, and I think going there to see her today won't be a bad idea, but there is no way I will tell him about it. I made up my mind to be fast about it and come back before he even comes back home. After I get dressed, I stride out of my room and head downstairs where I meet the driver he hired for me recently. "Good morning, ma'am," Henry, the driver greets me as he bows, and I smile at him. "Good morning, Henry. Please come and take me to go see my mom," I say to him. "Alright, ma'am. I will go get the keys. Please wait for me," He utters before he turns and walks away. My phone suddenly starts ringing, and I reach out for it. Turns out that it's Max calling me. "Hey, babe," His voice rings through the phone once I answer the call. "Hi," I
Chapter 63 Max POV My heart sinks into my stomach after Ariel finished telling me everything that happened back at her mom's apartment when I got back home. From her description, I'm scared that her biological dad would turn out to be... Hell no! It can't be possible, but the name she called is familiar and I can't deny that fact. "Don't worry... Everything will be fine, ok?" I whisper and kiss her forehead, giving her an assuring smile. "What should I do, Max? I finally found my dad after living all my life without him... Mom doesn't seem like she has forgiven him, and..." "Maybe you should talk to him... Ask him why he had to leave your mom behind... And when you settle things with him, you can try to talk to your mom then. If you need my help, I will be here, and I promise you," I cup her cheeks in my palms and assure her, as I stare into her beautiful eyes, and she slowly nods her head. I pull her into my arms afterward, hugging her tightly. The last f
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,