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Prologue
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“What’s your name?” The woman asked smiling, Kiara knew the woman. Well, everyone knew the woman, Iris Brooks, the woman was married to the richest man in England, Adrian Brooks. The woman’s blue eyes met Kiara’s green ones.
“Kiara, Kiara Adams” Kiara said looking down at her feet. The woman’s friends were all looking at Kiara who cowered. She feared losing her job and being called by to the table by the woman, she was frightened “Mrs. Iris, if I did anything wrong, I apologize, but please…”
“Mrs. Iris is very much pleased with your work, Kiara” my manager said stopping the worried girl who frowned in confusion looking at him. The manager had hired her after she begged him to, having lost three jobs already, the girl couldn’t afford losing the forth. She had a sister to take care of, as well as rent to pay. That is at least until her sister got her first pay check.
“Yes, I spoke to Mr. Gustave and was wondering if you were interested in working as a waitress in the Brooks company. My husband has a strict diet and I need someone to tend to his needs when I’m not with him and you know, when he’s at work. Well, I can’t really be sure what he is or he’s not eating and I don’t want him getting ill” Mrs. Iris said casually. Her friends looked at her with envy, everyone who knew the woman was impressed by her, the way she walked, talked, dressed. The woman was always the center of attention wherever she went.
“Me? But…”
“I am willing to offer you triple what you’re being paid here. Whatever the job is, and you’ll also be my concierge during my events during the weekends, and I’ll be paying you a hundred pounds per hour for the job” Mrs. Iris said stopping Kiara from questioning anything, she wanted to be sure that the girl accepted the job. But she didn’t want her questioning her, she simply wanted her to accept, and by making such offers, she knew that there was no way that the girl would reject her offer.
“Of course, I’d love to work for you Mrs. Iris, but what if you don’t like my work? or your husband? You know, I have never been inside a company let alone worked in one” Kiara said looking at the woman with frightened eyes, she didn’t want to lose the offer. But she wasn’t going to lie about her abilities, the girl hadn’t even entered college, the chance that she had escaped her fingers when her mother sent her and her sister to London. The two were to find a way to survive and Kiara wanted her sister to complete her studies, to go to college and get a degree. Therefore, she made the choice to work double and sometimes triple shifts to be able to get enough income to pay for her sister’s university fees, rent, water and electricity, and of course, for them to be able to survive the tough, expensive life of London.
“A training will be offered by my maid Maria, don’t worry about that. She will let you know how everything goes, she’ll show you what to do and what not to do, the job should be easy for a smart girl like yourself” Mrs. Iris was a sweet talker, everyone knew that. Even Kiara, magazines were always filled with her pictures and different comments from her. She loved being in the spotlight, at least that is what Kiara saw “this is my driver’s number, if you’re interested, call him and he’ll pick you up wherever you are and bring you over. Maria will explain everything to you and you can start with your first job as my concierge. I’ll see how you are and we’ll discuss further details”
“And if you don’t like the job, your place is always open in the restaurant whenever you wish to return. I already spoke to Mr. Gustave and he’s agreed to my terms, you don’t need to worry” Mrs. Iris said smiling.
“We all know that she’s the best in her job, otherwise you wouldn’t have chosen her Iris” A woman, Mrs. Iris’s friend, Kylie, said smiling at me. Her brown eyes met Kiara’s green ones as she moved her hand in front of the women while she spoke, clearly showing off the ring and watch she had on. Another thing that Mrs. Iris didn’t do, the woman never showed off what she wore. At least not in front of media, but everyone spoke of her beauty.
“It would be an honor working for you Mrs. Iris, thank you so much for this opportunity. I won’t let you down” Kiara said and the women looked at one another, both of them smiling as they watched the girl who was about to jump from excitement. The amount was larger than any that she’s ever earned. Hell, the job that she was working offered one of the highest minimum wages she’s ever earned.
“Well then, I should be expecting you tomorrow” Mrs. Iris said smiling and Kiara nodded at her. Mr. Gustave smiled at Kiara and put his hand on thee woman’s shoulder, he squeezed it gently and Kiara looked at him.
“Kiara, go out the door without telling anyone of anything. Pick up your things and just go” Mr. Gustave said lowly, he obviously didn’t want the other workers to know of this, they would be jealous and might cause an issue that he didn’t want in front of the costumers.
“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow Mrs. Iris”
“Until tomorrow, Kiara darling”
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Kiara:“What do you mean you quit?” Grace asked me with wide eyes. I rolled my eyes at my little sister who came to conclusions without even waiting to listen. Though I didn’t really expect her to listen. I already expected her reaction.“I did not QUIT Grace! I got a better offer, three times my salary to be the waitress of Adrian Brooke, and a concierge of his wife when she had her events, plus bonuses, plus yearly raises!” I said looking at her, she nodded not looking excited. Well, technically Mrs. Iris didn’t state the whole offer, but going through my phone, I checked the payments of the Brooke Inc. and bloody hell were they great.“And what are you going to become afterwards? Head of waitresses or head of concierges?" Grace mocked and I rolled my eyes at her “Kiara, why don’t you do something for your future? go back to college, maybe start over? You’ve stopped so many opportunities since…
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Kiara:“How’d it go?” Grace asked when I entered the house. She was yet to see me since she was in the living room. I could tell by her nearing footsteps that she was walking toward me, her expression had changed from excited to worried the second she laid eyes on me. I didn’t blame her, I knew that I was nowhere near being in a good state. Hell, I was far away from that.“What happened?” Grace asked. My eyes were bloodshot red from crying, and it wasn’t out of heartbreak, I honestly couldn’t care less about Thomas, sure I liked him, but that was all that there was. I didn’t fall in love with him, I was just looking for a man who fit mother’s ‘perfect man’ criteria. His words broke me far beyond comparison and the thing is, I couldn’t say anything about them. I was there for money and he was there for pleasure.“Nothing love, don’t worry about it” I said taking off my
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Thomas:“So?” Mum asked looking at me the second I entered the house. I forced myself to breathe normally and gave her a calm smile as I nodded, I had to make her believe that I didn’t care, that it didn’t make a difference to me.“It is done, you don’t need to worry about her calling anymore either” I said kissing her cheek before walking past her to my bedroom, it was a long day, then what happened this evening disrupted whatever sense of peace I believed that I wanted to have. Checking my phone for any calls, I glared at the thing for a second before throwing it on my bed, running my fingers through my hair. Who was I kidding? I was checking the phone to check if SHE called, but after what I said, how I had insulted her. Yeah, I doubt the girl would ever look at me again, let alone call me.My bedroom’s door was knocked and I glared at the door for a second before calling ‘come in’, my little brother
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Thomas:“Love? Where are you going?” Mum asked smiling at me. Her eyebrow raised at me, I was leaving the house without breakfast. Mum, dad, Daniel, Jasmine, and Lilian were sitting on the dining table. However, I wasn’t going to join them. Having not processed what mum made me do last night, I was still annoyed and I worried about sitting with them as not to say something that might cause mum and issue with dad or not to hurt her feelings.“I’m going out for a bit, the lads are waiting for me. We’ve got work to do” I answered and mum raised an eyebrow but nodded.“Aren’t you going to join us to breakfast at least? You skipped dinner with us last night” dad said gently and I smiled walking toward him. I kissed the crown of his head and took a piece of toast making him chuckle and shake his head at me.Walking out of the house, I sighed taking a deep breath before walking to my car, in reality no
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Kiara:“You must be Kiara” a woman wearing a black dress and apron said opening the door for me, I smiled and nodded at her as she opened the door wider for me to walk inside the Brooke’s mansion. The house was bigger than it was in the numerous magazines it was pictured on. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to clean the place on his own. But then again, I’m guessing that they could easily hire a bunch of maids to clean the place for them.“I am Maria, I will give you the outfit you’ll be wearing and I’ll explain the details of your job here, Mrs. Iris would explain to you what she wants you to do at the company” Maria said and I nodded taking a deep breath as I looked around the house, imagining what it would be like living in a place like this was almost an impossible dream for me. The house was huge, and would fit at least fifty or sixty people easily, no wonder these people rarely rented a place to hold their
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Thomas: “Why? Just why would you hire the girl here after you told me to stay away from her?” I asked mum once everyone had left. Her eyes met mine and she raised an eyebrow at me, looking me up and down before she walked back inside the living room. The woman was still angry with me, I was aware of that. But that gave her no right to do what she did right now. The fact that she brought the girl that she knew I had feelings for, the girl that I was with and SHE made me break up with. Why would she be doing so? “Mother…” “How did you even know that she’s here? Weren’t you the one who said that you would be staying at your apartment? So, what brings you here?” Mum asked angrily and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Last I checked this was MY father’s house, whether I was to stay at the apartment or here was MY choice. I don’t think I need to ask for permission on where I’ll be staying” I answered glaring at mum who raised an eyebrow at me. “This may
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Kiara:I entered the house after a very long day of working at the Brooke’s mansion, Mrs. Iris was sure to instantly pay me after giving Thomas his drink, and asked me to leave a few minutes later saying that I did a good job and that she didn’t want to exhaust me anymore. Not that she did, I was happy doing what I was.“Grace! I’m home!” I called as I walked through the door, taking off my jacket, having changed back to my own clothes before leaving the Brooke’s house knowing that I couldn’t possibly get on the bus with maid’s clothes on, I would most likely be harassed and I didn’t want that. Mrs. Iris thankfully didn’t mind me leaving the house in my normal clothes. I later learned from Maria that not even she left the house with maid’s clothes on, these people really did treat their workers as humans rather than slaves.“I’m in the living room” she called and I walked to the
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Thomas:“Alright, I’ll get them done. You should have them ready in your email before the day ends” I told my father who just had his secretary send me ten emails to look over, review, and check for any mistakes in the financials.“I’ll be waiting for them” dad said before he hung up. I sighed and read through the emails which would be keeping me busy for the rest of the day. I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone since I left the house this weekend. This conversation with my dad was the first in two days, Daniel has been sending me messages but I’ve been too busy with everything that I had to prepare to have time to speak to him, and I know that it was wrong. The kid was probably having it from mum who would be worried sick about me, but I needed time to get used to being alone and the new system that I would be living in.Checking the emails, I started reading through them. Though one person kept running through my m
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She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugging her tightly. Kissing her cheek from the back, his scruff scratching her cheek as she placed her palm on his cheek, gently pulling on his beard.It has been seven years since Kiara and Thomas got married, and both were expecting their second baby soon. Their first daughter was now five years old and was both jealous and excited to see her new baby sibling.“Heading to work?” Kiara asked her husband, turning around to face him. He pecked her lips, cupping her cheeks as he did.“Yes, mum is coming over later, she wants to see Elena” Thomas said looking his wife in the eye. Two years into their marriage, a while before Kiara gave birth to her daughter, Iris softened to the couple, and despite having her conflicts with Kiara; knowing that her and Thomas were happy only made her want them being together. As for Thomas’s uncle, the man loved Kiara and would come to spend hours with her, helping her when he knew that Iris would
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 38
Thomas:I laid on the couch with Kiara in my arms.“Thomas, you know that this isn’t going to be ending well” she said sadly. I knew what she was referring to. She was afraid of how her family and mine would react when they found out about us, but I couldn’t care less anymore. The two of us have struggled enough away from one another for me to care.“I cared about what they said before, and that only led me to making the biggest mistake of my life. I won’t be repeating that again, Kia” I said looking down at her. I kissed her temple and tightened my arms around her. She didn’t know how much I missed her, or how much it hurt me being away from her.“Yeah, but the things that are in stake this time are far worse than those that would be now. You have your company, I have my position, and I can’t deny how much Chris has done for me…”“Do you want this, Kiara?” I asked looking down at her. She frowned in confusion, looking up at me as to process my words “would you be willing to go all in
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 37
Kiara:“I did as you told me” I said walking inside the house to find Christopher, Grace, and mum setting the table.The pain I felt in my chest about the fact that I had hurt him the way I did, and intentionally did so, broke me. I didn’t even understand why it hurt me so much after what he and his family did, but seeing him as broken as he was broke my heart. The picture he sent me a long time ago, the picture was one that brought back memories to the time when we kissed. The time when he had hovered my body only to stop because he knew that I wasn’t ready yet.“Good, now he knows not to mess with you” Christopher said putting the plates on the table.“I just don’t want this to keep going, Christopher. I am here to work, not prove a point to a man who no longer means anything to me. With what I’m doing, it would seem like I care about his attention, and that is not something that I want to do”
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Thomas:“Just why?” I asked Christopher. I couldn’t help but call the man after the meeting was over and I was sure that Kiara left the building. My eyes were fixed on the window as I watched her walk inside her company’s car.“Why what exactly?” Christopher asked, his tone menacing. The man knew exactly what I was talking about, and yet, he was questioning me about this. I had begged him to show me where she was, I tried to apologize to her, to see her for just one second. But no matter what I said, he and her sister denied me that; I couldn’t even blame them for it after what happened.“Of all people that you brought to face me. You sent the one woman you…”“You of all people aren’t one to discuss who I send to represent me. If I sent Kiara, it is because she is my representative, and she would always be from now on. Whether it is to face you, or to face my other business partners;
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Kiara:My heart raced against my ribcage as I looked at Thomas as he spoke.The way he stood confidently as if he ruled the world broke me more than I could describe.Why?Because I felt like a lost kitten in front of him.Memories of what we went through played in my mind throughout the whole meeting, and I found it both harder to breath, or focus. However, I kept my eyes on him as he spoke, writing whatever he said, his voice making my heart race despite me not wanting to react to it.It was two hours later when he was finally done with the meeting and everyone in the room was dismissing themselves. I stood up to fix my things only for a hand on top of mine to stop me making me flinch “wait”I quickly removed my hand from under his. My blue eyes meeting his chocolate brown ones. The brown eyes which I’ve grown to force myself to forget. But it seemed like looking at them returned me back to memory lane. The urge to
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 34
Thomas:“Thomas, love, is everything alright? You’re late for work” mum said walking inside the house. Her eyes met mine before she scanned the house for any woman here or there, I playfully rolled my eyes at her behavior and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her tightly.“I am fine, mum, and no, I am not late for work. If you’re checking for a woman here or there, there isn’t one. Don’t worry” I said glaring at her and Uncle Xavier. They have been at this since Kiara left London, and if I said that it didn’t start annoying me; then I would be lying.“Thomas, when are you going to stop treating us as if we were your enemies? We are your family, and if we’re doing something; it is to keep you safe” mum said looking me in the eye.“By safe you mean lying to me, and plotting a scam with dad, right? Well, good job doing so. Now, if you two don’t have anything else to tell me,
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 33
Kiara:I sat on the floor hugging my knees as I cried.My weight couldn’t even carry me further away from the door, therefore, I leaned toward the door as I sobbed my eyeballs out.How could he have believed that I would be thinking of such a thing?“Kiara?” Grace’s voice forced me to pull my head up. Especially when she ran toward me and sat on her knees beside me, cupping my cheeks as she forced me to look at her “love, what happened?”“Grace, try helping her up, I’ll make her something warm to drink” I heard her boyfriend’s, aka boss’s, voice.“Come on, love, you heard Christopher, let’s get you to the living room” she said softly pulling me up to stand on my feet which were barely lifting me. She helped me walk to the living room, my vision blurry from the tears that fell from my eyes.We sat down on the couch before Grace wrapped her arm around me
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 32
Thomas:My vision blurred as I processed what Kiara had said.Mum who was in front of me froze as she took in my angered expression.“Kiara, love, where are you?” I asked trying to calm my voice, she was already as nervous as she was, I didn’t need to add to the burden. I waited until she responded, my eyes fixed on the wall in front of as I avoided mum’s eyes.“Still in front of the building, they’re bringing out my things…” she broke down again and I hummed in response.“Love, stay where you are, I am coming to get you. I will not take no for an answer right now” I said nodding at mum to follow me. She didn’t question me and the two of us walked toward the elevator, though her eyes remained fixed on me as she waited for me to hang up for her to understand what was happening.“Okay, I’ll be here”“It’s going to be fine, baby, I just want
The Forbidden Apple Chapter 31
Kiara:“Good morning, Mr. Adrian” I said entering the office. The man smiled as he looked up at me from the stack of papers he was reading. Having hired his old secretary back, I knew that he was doing this to make Thomas think that his stay here was a mistake. Everyone that’s been fired has been returned to his or her position, and it was suddenly like Mr. Adrian never even left.It was something that I didn’t appreciate the father doing to his son, especially after everyone had started prospering in their new positions. The company had gained more than it has lost, and this time everyone here knew that it was simply because the father was acting as if he was challenging his son. Grace had told me to be careful, this time Mr. Adrian could do anything to break his son. If he had started with his workers, he could do something to me if he knew that there was anything between his son and I.To say that we were trying to protect his relation
