MAE"The boss traveled. You can request to see him when he returns." One of his guards told me the next day and I was deflated. I did not know what was going on with dad. So I asked if I could speak to him on the phone or something, and that it was very important, but they asked me to pass the message through them.I tried to. I told them Carter was working with a rival mafia group, but they just stared at me like I was crazy and sent me off.I called Liam, and he said he did not know about dad's whereabouts either. Apparently, dad was not dropped off at home last night. Of course, dad’s number was not going through and I did not personally have Owen's number.I had no idea how I got through dancing that night, but I somehow did, and I rushed to the room and continued to ignore Eli.Five nights later, he confirmed my suspicions of being gay by bringing in a man into our room and asking if I would be okay with another person sleeping with us here.I just gave him a nod and slipped on A
OWEN"Speak." I ordered as soon as she was inside. She frowned, as if offended by my tone, but knew to say nothing.Her voice was hoarse with strain as she started, "The Castellenos. Carter is working with the Castellenos, hopefully you know who they are."Oh I knew who they were, alright. Fucking bastards. The election was in two days, and we would finally have our winner, after which would be the party for celebration, but they were planning something up their sleeves as usual.Trevor had the upper hand of winning and for now, he was lodged in my house, protected by the largest amount of guards that had ever surrounded my building.Seemed to me like they were about to come up with another plan, and Carter, my head of security knew what it was. Or her?How did she know about the Castellenos in the first place?I looked back at her, worry lines showing up on my forehead, "And how do you know about the Castellenos?"She swallowed, then took out her phone, typing fast. I took a good loo
MAEI stole a drink and got myself drunk when I got home. I was off tonight and Eli was out working so I turned on some music and danced around in the room, then watched some movies on my phone.They had left Isis's iPad in here, but I could not bring myself to touch any of her stuff yet, and when Eli asked, I told him they were off limits too.My mind went back to my interaction with Owen. At least he was no longer on my neck about disloyalty and shit. Okay, and why did he ask me out? I finally voiced the most important question in my head.He had tons of other women at his beck and call that he could ask out and he chose to ask me. I could not help but think that it was because he felt guilty and pitied me, yet another part of me did not believe that. A man like Owen did not look like he had even the slightest pinch of pity in him. So, why?My body reacted to him, no doubt—which just meant that I was physically attracted to him—even if it had significantly reduced after the whole th
MAETrevor had won the elections and so, the party held.Owen sent me a dress, a clutch and a pair of shoes. There was a note which read; 'This shade of green would match your hair and eyes perfectly. Learn some manners before the said time.'Of course, I rolled my eyes at that. I wondered why those women flocked around him when he was such a brute. My subconscious literally laughed out loud at me, because we both knew why they were like that. Man was gorgeous. But still, I felt nothing but rage and pure hatred for him, considering the kind of man he was.Sighing, I stared at the dress Owen sent, a floor-length emerald green piece with a daring slit up the side. The fabric shimmered faintly under the light, making it look far more expensive than anything I’d ever owned. The matching clutch and heels sat beside it, equally as pretty.I hated this man, and being around him was the last thing I wanted, especially right now but staying home wasn’t an option. Not with him. He’d either send
OWEN"… finally, I am glad to be standing here with my mayor—Trevor, and I am sure that he would be the best thing to happen to this city." I promised them, sharing a look with Trevor, a practiced smirk on my face. He laughed, patting my shoulder.Trevor stood tall and powerful beside me, and to the crowd, Trevor was a lot bigger than I was. I was simply a billionaire fan who had several companies and made a lot of money.Trevor was the mayor, therefore, he ruled the city. They were so blind, loud and completely wrong. I did not hate it though…After the whole speech and pleasantries, I went back to my seat on the table and cooled off a bit, watching the ceremony go on.I was struggling to enjoy the party. It was not an unusual thing for me not to enjoy a party; the only unusual thing was the fact that I was bothered about not enjoying the party.Strange.I looked around for Mae a number of times, but it looked like she had left the party. Except… that was so unlike Mae. She did not h
MAEThroughout the car ride, Owen's hand stayed on my thigh and as a result, I could not really move properly. I hardly knew why, but I wished it was because he was a monster and I felt like he was dirtying me up with his bloodied hands. Only, it was far from that. I just did not want to come to terms with what it was, exactly.As for talking, we barely said a word to each other until the car stopped right in front of a huge ass mansion. No, a castle.Was this the president's house?There was a low gate that opened automatically before he drove into the compound. My jaw was almost on the floor as I realized what was happening. This was really Owen's house. I saw the small smirk on his face as he noticed my awe, and I managed to shut my mouth and get out of the car before I could bring more disgrace to myself.Someone took my purse at the door and greeted us in the warmest way possible. I kept looking around and thankfully, Owen did not comment on it; just led me in and let me continu
MAEThe nightmares didn’t stop. It didn’t matter how many sleeping pills I took or how exhausted I was by the end of the day. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in that bathroom, staring at Carter’s girlfriend, lifeless and broken on the tile floor. Sometimes, in the dreams, it wasn’t her—it was me, sprawled out, blood pooling beneath me. I’d wake up gasping, drenched in sweat, feeling like I’d never truly left that room. I thought the incident had not affected me that much—turned out I was so wrong.I started avoiding everyone. The girls at Casa Eleganza whispered behind my back, but I didn’t have the energy to care. They always gossiped about something—this time, it was me. I overheard snippets: "She's losing it," "She looks like a ghost," and the ever-popular, "She's gonna get herself kicked out if she keeps this up."Scar was the only one who dared to say it to my face. "Mae, you need to pull yourself together. You're going to get yourself kicked out." She told me one afterno
MAEI was being watched.Or rather, it felt like I was being watched. I talked to Scar about it, but she simply watched me like I was crazy—definitely because of my recent sleepwalking habits—and then she assured me that there was too much security watching over us for us to be harmed easily. That calmed me down a bit but not totally. I started avoiding Owen right after that incident at his room and started taking harsher drugs because my sleepwalking simply did not want to end. Eli was skeptical about giving them to me at first but we came to a deal/agreement in the end. I was not to take more than two in a week.Needless to say, I did not follow what he had asked and I took it more than two times weekly.. most times, I even took it up to five times. I could now go get the drugs myself, so it was not a problem.Since then, I slept soundly. Sometimes I still got nightmares but I never woke up in the middle of it, and I never sleepwalked from then. Again, the guilt kept eating me up,
MAE"Thank you very much, you have fed me properly today." I took a large gulp of yoghurt. My stomach was really full."That's one of my responsibilities to you." He wiped the corner of my mouth with tissue."What's today?" Suddenly I remembered about my medical checkup."Today is Friday. The end of the month.""Damn! I have my antenatal checkup today.""Really? There's still time. Tell me the schedule the doctor told you." He brought out his diary, waiting for my response."Every four weeks for the next seven months, and every two weeks till the ninth month.""Fine. I will have to be reminding you from henceforth." He closed his diary after taking note of it.Owen took me to the hospital, the exact one where I was told I was pregnant.It was same doctor that told me I was pregnant. She recognized my face."Hey Rivera. Hello." She greeted Owen and I."Hello Doctor.""Please, take your seats." She gestured with her hands. "How are you both doing?""We're doing very fine. We're just a
MAE"O... Owen, you're here?" I stuttered. Why was he here? Is today not supposed to be his wedding? He wasn't supposed to find out this way. The look on his face made me swallow hard. He was mad angry."You're not answering my question, Mae. Are you pregnant?" His face has no expression.Scar quietly excused herself, leaving me to deal with my problems alone. So much for female solidarity."Yes Owen. I am." There was no need lying now. He must have heard everything by the door. Lying would escalate to more problems that I wasn't ready for.I could see a flicker of happiness in his eyes for a moment before the annoyance took over. "How long are you gone?" His eyes went to my stomach. I had no bump yet."A month. I found out about it early last week." I said quietly, my eyes avoiding his."For that long, and I'm just knowing of it now! Mae, what other things are you hiding from me?" He folded his arms. " I have finally figured out the reason you have been avoiding me. You think I won't
OWENAfter I agreed to let Mae go to Joan's house as an insider again, I instructed Marco to find someone that will have an eye on her, some sort of a bodyguard. Since it was only two times a week, I would only be worried for those two days only, unlike before where worry was my best friend.We made love again bringing those sweet feelings to my heart. After I had dropped her off at Casa Eleganza. I went back to my club. I wasn't done going through those footages. The pictures I have so far were mostly those working as servers in the club.Eric would have a lot of work to do.I went through the last parts of the footages, new faces were that of the security men, Marco and a woman.I zoomed the video of Marco and the woman. It was same woman I had seen him with when I had my first meeting as regards to Joan's disappearance. He was holding hands with her and saying things that are barely inaudible.It felt strange though. Marco had never shown interest in woman. I wonder what this woman
MAECongratulations, Ms Rivera. You're three weeks pregnant."The doctor's words kept ringing in my ears on my way to my apartment. I couldn't describe what I was feeling.While in her office some time ago, I even had to tell her to check the name well."Mae Rivera." The doctor read from the piece of paper in her hands. "Is that not your name?""It... It is." I stammered."Why are you... Wait, you are not ready yet?" She read my face."Yeah, kind of." I said."That's okay, Mae." She smiled again. "Since you're not ready and we discovered it early enough, you can take it out."I'm keeping it, Doctor." I said firmly. The last thing on my mind at this time was getting pregnant, but since it has happened, I can't kill my baby. I have to beat the consequences of my actions."Your husband would be happy.""I'm not married." Do I looked married? I'm not even wearing a ring."Ohh, I'm sorry for the assumption." She apologized. "I hope its father would be happy.""He would. He was even the on
MAEIt was morning already and I was in Owen's arms. Making love out in the open was such an adventure. But we have to leave."Owen." I tapped him lightly. I remembered Eli. He would have been waiting for me to come back."Go back to sleep, Mae." He pulled me closer."It's nine thirty." I complained."I know." His eyes were still closed.He knew. He must have woken up before me.I succeeded in removing his hands."Mae, come back." He tried reaching out for me."Owen, wake up. We can't stay here all day." I put on my denim gown back."Staying with you makes me want to do nothing." He was fully awake now."That's sad, but I want to do something.""Ouch." He stood up from the bed.He had actually woken up, because he had his boxers on. He put on his shirt and trousers."I will be going over to Joan's today." I stated. I didn't want to waste time at all. My last meeting is with Joan was when he told me I had a bigger job to do for him."Really? Wait awhile. We just agreed yesterday.""I d
MAE I can't believe I just forgave Owen after all the promises I made to myself never to. When Eli has told me he saw Owen, I thought he was joking. But he did show up at my door, went as far as bringing me out of my hiding spot by threatening to kill Eli. This man brought weakeness to my knees by saying that the words he went to me last week. I was now convinced that he was the one who wrote them. He had a way of softening me up. I even agreed to go out to dinner with him. When he left, Eli came out of the bathroom. "I'm sorry." I could not control my laughter. "It's not funny, Mae. I nearly peed on myself." "I'm so sorry." I said again, going to him to rub his back. "So, you guys are back together?" Eli asked me. "Yeah, somehow." I shrugged. "I heard liplocking sounds and you agreed to go on a date with him. That's not a somehow. You like him, don't you?" "I don't know, Eli. My head and heart are not friends at all. I decided I would never talk to him again, and now he sa
OWEN"Where does she live?" I asked. It was two minutes past six am in the morning of the next day.Last night I was supposed to sleep like a baby because my woman has forgiven me, Scar turned it upside down by telling me news about Eve's death. I was happy, no doubt but a part of me was on high alert. I had some thoughts. It's possible that Joan's kidnapper could also be Eve's killer. And whoever did this wants to keep me to my toes.I decided that I would meet with Scar, Eric and Marco tomorrow morning, very early."Not that far from Joan's. Sometimes she sleeps at her house, sometimes Joan's." Scar replied. We were sitting on a round table.I had want to set this meeting only with Scar because I put her in charge of Eve, but then I did some thinking, it's best if Eric and Marco were aware of this as well. This was a clear sign that someone has their eyes on us."Did you ever speak to her?""Yeah, I did, just two times. The first time I met her at a pharmacy store, we didn't really
OWENI was so prepared for this moment. I had two things on my mind. It was either Mae was lying or she was back from her grandparents' and her roommate has refused to tell me when she returned.At this point, nothing else mattered. I only wanted to see Mae. That was the main problem I was facing now.I walked stealthily to her room, having a rethink of what I would say to her. I got to her door front and knocked.No response as usual.I knocked again.Eli answered.I wasn't supposed to see Eli. Mae should have been the one here. It meant one thing that he must have seen me coming here and decided to alert her."I'm here to see Mae." I stated."Mae is not around. You were here this morning." He said. "She's in the hospital with her grandfather."I gave a weak laughter. It had been a lie all along."She is. Let me in." I said simply."She isn't."I looked him dead in the eye before I shoved him and forced myself inside. In a split second, I had my elbow over his neck. He chose the hard
MAE"About Joan, what is the latest on him?" The last time Owen and I spoke about Joan. He did not tell me the details of his plans."Owen wants to go for Javier and Don Paulo. And Eve too." Scar said."Eve? I haven't heard that name around here?""She is an insider. She was the one who told me about Joan's schedule on the day we were meant to capture him. Owen suspects her.... Wait, why am I even telling you this? You are no longer with Owen. You have no business knowing about his affairs.""I'm already involved in this. There's no way I would be left out.""I'm sorry, Rivera. I can't say past that." Scar stood up from her seat.I feel that she was keeping her loyalty to Owen. She was right. I'm no longer with Owen and Owen is no longer my boss. So, I'm invariably an opposition or enemy.I went back to my apartment. Atleast, she told me a vital part of what I wanted to hear. I needed to eat pizza so I made an order for two boxes."Did you go to see Owen?" Eli questioned."No, why wil