Tania||After the names were called, there was a cacophony of sounds as the glee of joy of those whose name had been called mixed with the sighs of disappointment of those who were not called as they packed their bags to leave."Sorry, but where were you coming from earlier on?" A voice interrupted me.I turned my head swiftly to see who was questioning me. I turned to find out it was the same beautiful lady I had seen earlier at the reception hall."The restroom. Why do you ask?"I was scared. What if it had been one of the guards who had noticed me walk to their property like I owned it."I just need to use one and I guessed that was where you went too." She explained."Who did you ask for directions from?" She added."No one. I just went there." I replied."Oh! You must have been here before for you to know your way around here right?" She asked.It was then that it dawned on me th
Ivan||"The lady you did the rhinoplasty on has been complaining of headaches for an hour now. You might want to come check on her." I lifted my head from my notes to the sound of a woman's voice and saw one of the nurses standing in front of the door.It took a few seconds for me to push off every other thought and let the information she had just given me gain meaning in my head."That's okay Karen. I will check her in a minute.""Um... Sir? I don't mean to pry but are you okay?" She spoke again.I sighed out of frustration; "Why do you ask?""Well, you have been moody throughout today and you seem so far off that's all." She replied."I am fine Karen. Thank you for asking." I hoped to have her out of my hair and thankfully, it worked."You're welcome," she said before shutting the door and giving me the silence I craved.I had indeed not been myself today. I had been uneasy throughout, trying so hard not to think about Tania.Even though I had been focused at work, the thought of
Ivan||I drove like a mad man as I raced to the White-Angel company.I drove a twenty minute ride in about five minutes. I was not in any particular hurry as it was still morning. I just did not want to give myself the opportunity to stop myself from seeing her.But as I sat in my parked car, opposite the company, I did allow myself to think and I realized I had made a rather unwise decision. I contemplated calling her or walking to the company to go look for her.I contemplated a lot of things I should have done, but knew things I didn't contemplate were coming to the company. I waited in the car, my head turning to check if she was the one whenever anyone walked out of the company but it was never her.I waited and waited for her for two hours.I was famished and needed a drink. Yet I failed checked the time. It had been two hours since I had arrived to wait on her."You need to pull
Ivan||We spent nearly three hours at the restaurant. She had insisted I finish my plate and I had to plead with her to let me order something else.It had taken a lot of plea, but she finally let me and we ended up sharing my food together.The ride back home had not been sully as it usually was. In fact, Tania and I chatted all the way home. Well, I chatted while Tania could not stop giggling intermittently about how I had embarrassed myself earlier with the spicy noodles and the look on my face as I chickened out of finishing it.I had hoped that the day would go that way but as the saying goes, every good thing must come to an end and the end for mine had come."I am so exhausted from today. I need some rest." Tania announced as we walked into our room."That's fine. I will leave you to it. I have some errands to run anyways so I will go ahead and get them done." I lied with ease trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. I didn't know why I lied. I had no reason to but I di
Ivan||I didn't respond to him. I just reached for the glass of martini the bartender had placed before me.I lifted the drink to my mouth and downed it all down in one drink."Whoa! Calm down man! The night is just beginning!" Pete said amused.I ignored him and turned to the bartender; "One more," I said as I handed the glass to her.In a more gentler and serious tone, Pete said to me again. "What's up man. Talk to me."I took a deep breath. I was not one to share my problems but Tania was getting too much in my head and it was getting too hard to handle her alone. It was as if I needed someone else to share the weight of her hold on me.And it was for this reason that I opened up to Pete."Something has been taking my time actually." "Something? What's that?" Pete asked.He was all ears as he waited for me to talk."Someone actually." I replied. "Someo
Ivan|| The lust and alcohol evaporated from my body as I jumped off to leave. "Hey! What of my money?" The stripper called as I raced to the door. I stopped and reached into my back pocket for my wallet and retrieved four hundred dollar bills and flung them towards her before running out of the room. I pushed through the throng of men and strippers, stepping on some feet as I headed for the exit muttering apologies for the complaints I was getting. My phone rang again and dug into my pocket looking for it hoping to see it was Tania calling with any more news about my grandma but it was only Peter calling. He must have seen me as I rushed out of the club and must have wanted to find out why I was leaving in such a rush. I did not answer the call as I practically ran through the parking lot to where I had parked my car. I would text him later when I had the time. Right now, my grandma needed me. As I got into my car, I put it in reverse and accelerated so fast I almost rammed int
Ivan||Even though the emergency room was bustling with activity as patient after patient was wheeled in, it felt silent in my head and it was deafening.I stole a glance at Tania and found her dozing, her head hanging weirdly.I lifted my hands and put them around her and pulled her head slowly towards me before laying her head on my shoulder.I could feel the rise and fall of her head as she laid on me and the fear in me dissipated as finally, I didn't feel so alone anymore.Time passed and I myself started to doze off and so I laid my head against her head for balance."Excuse me!" I heard a voice say faintly in my sleep."Excuse me Sir!" The voice came again followed by a tap on my shoulder.I opened my eyes to a flash of blinding white as a nurse stood before me."I'm sorry." I grunted as I rose my head and adjusted my posture.My movement caused Tania to wake up too and she too
Tania||On impulse, I pulled my hands away from her grip.I could feel the anger creeping up my face as I was in no way pleased with what Nana had said."What's wrong, Tania?" Nana was surprised at my reaction.From the corner of my eyes, I could see Ivan gawking at me in shock and disbelief at what I had done. But I was done playing this game. I had my life to live."Everything is wrong!" I hissed gesticulating with my hands."Tania," Ivan said softly as if he was trying to communicate something to me as he moved to my side, but I ignored him."Did I say something wrong?" Nana asked shocked, her wrinkled face made more wrinkled with the worry she felt, and I wanted to scream.The shocked look on her face was pissing me off more than what she had said. How could she say such unhinged things and pretend like it was normal?"You keep talking about a grandchild like it is some chore I am expected
Ivan|| The hospital room was filled with the soft beeping of machines and the gentle hum of fluorescent lights. It had been three days since the incident that had happened but it felt very fresh in my memory. The television that was mounted to the side, was showing news about what had happened. The caption read, "Family Feud: A tale of love, deceit and betrayal." I had been disgusted at the various titles news reporters had been using just to trend with this story. It would have been funny to me if I had not been involved and my loved ones nearly killed in the process. Tania lay unconscious, giant tubes running in and out of various parts of her body. Her sister was in the adjoining room. She had also suffered a bullet wound, but hers was not as fatal as Tania's, and she was already awake and doing fine. We were lucky the ambulance came in time she would have been lost. I remembered how shocked the medics were when we brought her to her state. How did it even happen? How
Tania|| "Well, well, well. If it isn't the two loves of my life. My sister wives, literally." He mocked us sarcastically as he approached. He clapped loudly as if he had just won the lottery. Eyeing me, he said, "I can't believe you are Tania! You look nothing like before." He scanned me up and down. "I should have known it was you when you gave me that sloppy kiss. You know you were never a good kisser. Unlike my lovely second wife here." He addressed Eloise. The fear in the room from the three of us was so palpable, filling the room. I bet we even stank of fear. "Get away from her!" He commanded, but we did not move. "I said get away from her, or else her brain matter would decorate your bodies in a second!" He shouted. Not needing another graphic threat, Eloise and I jumped away from Nana. "Good girls." He complimented us with a leery smile, and I felt like throwing up. "Let her go! You said you would let her go if we came!" I yelled at him. He chuckled. "What do you t
Tania|| The siren of a police car trailed behind us as we sped to the location Eloise had discovered. Eloise sat at the back of the car. She had insisted on following us even though we had begged her to stay behind. "This would be traumatizing for you. Moreover, your body needs rest to fully recover." I had tried to reason with her. "I can't keep running from Nicholas. I need to face him and face my fear and if he goes down today, I want to be there to witness the moment." She had insisted. "I will not let you!" I stood my ground. "Then I won't tell you where the place is." She said cockily. "Good luck finding where the penthouse is, and even if you are lucky, it would be too late then," She said, folding her hands. Ivan wasn't too pleased with her. With fallen shoulders, he conceded. "She is coming with us!" Ivan had declared and she smiled triumphantly. She had played on Ivan's fear of running out of time and losing his grandma and had won. As we waited for Eloise to g
Ivan||I grunted awake, my hand heading straight to the throbbing pain at the back of my head. "Ouch!" I cried out as a sharp pain shot through my head when my hand touched the wound.My hands felt wet, and I brought my hand to my eyes to inspect it, and I saw blood.Struggling to my feet, I tried to remember what had happened but when my eyes fell on the chair in the middle of the room, it flashed in my mind instantly. Nana had been kidnapped and Tania and Eloise were the ransom to get her back.This realization sent a surge of energy through me and I regained a tremendous amount of strength. There was also a tinge of fear developing deep within me. A paper on the floor caught my attention and I picked it up.YOU HAVE UNTIL 8.00 P.M TODAY OR ELSE SHE DIES, the note read.I squeezed the note in my hand as anger overcame me.From recent events, I knew not to take Nicholas' threats lightly.Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my phone and checked the time.It was 8.00 am.This mean
Ivan|| I could feel the exhaustion in my bones as I drove home from the hospital in the pitch-black darkness. It took a great deal of effort to keep my eyes open as I drove. It had been quite some time since I had a good night's rest ever since this entire situation had escalated. I was driving home alone; Tania had insisted on spending the night with her sister, and I had left them consoling themselves and planning their wrath on Nicholas, whom Tania had just found out had been the cause of her parents' death. That one was a big eye-opener; I never even saw that coming. I knew surprises were coming, but damn. I knew Nicholas was ruthless but I had never thought it was as bad as this was. He had killed and would have continued killing till he had wiped their family off the face of the earth until he was the only one left alive so he could take the company. I had never seen such callousness before in a man except my father. Nicholas reminded me a lot about my father. They could
Tania|| I held Eloise's hands tight in mine as I ran alongside the stretcher that was rolling her into the hospital. After she had collapsed by the roadside, we put her in the car and drove back to the hospital. I sat with her in the back of the car, her head resting on my thighs and my hands clasping hers as Ivan raced to the hospital. It was thanks to Ivan's connection that a team was already waiting for us when we arrived at the hospital. "Ma'am you need to let go now. We are taking her in to run some tests." A male nurse held my arm, holding me back from following the stretcher. "No! I can't leave her!" I cried out. "Madam, you have to allow us to do our jobs properly. Please calm down." His words were strong, but his expression was very soft. He was acting very professional. "Please, I won't disturb you. I will just stand in a corner, she needs me now more than ever!" I begged. My hands stretched out reaching for her hand that was retreating fast from me as she was p
Eloise|| I was shocked to hear my name, more so coming from the lady standing in front of me. My trembling reduced, and I raised my head. She had come out from the car that had almost taken my life alongside the handsome and gentle man who was leading me back to the car with them. I continued to stare at her as I tried to get my wits together after nearly facing death. It was as if I had been predestined to die with the way I was having a lot of experiences that brought me close to death. The situation was starting to get weird as her excitement of seeing me grew, and she started to jump and cry in one place. She acted as if she was very familiar with me. Who was she? How did I know her? And then it clicked in my head. I did know this lady. My eyes furrowed, and a deep rage started to brew inside my belly as my mind brought back the pain of the past. "You!" I spat out, pointing at her, my brown eyes heavy with hate. Nicholas whore! I had once threatened to kill her, and
Tania|| "The result will be put in five days." The doctor who had drawn my blood for the DNA testing said. "Five days is too far! Can't it be done tomorrow?" I could not wait five days to be able to take my inheritance back. "A day is not feasible, especially since your records do not exist to compare it to. We would have to search through the database to track your father's DNA." He explained. "Five days is too much, Sir!" I refused to give up. Figuring there was no way to continue arguing with me with any prospect of winning, he conceded. "Fine. I'll try to get it ready in two days. That's the best I can." He said. "Two days is fine. I can work for two days." I agreed, and the doctor looked visibly relieved. Ivan and I had headed straight to Ivan's hospital for the DNA test the board members had asked for to prove to them I was Tania White–Angel. I had suggested we go today as I could not wait another day. Today had been the best day of my life, and I could not hi
Eloise|| My eyes flickered open, and I was greeted by a bright light. It was hard for my swollen eyes to adjust to the light but I tried my best. I lay on the floor, my body aching all over. I looked at my body but I could not find my night dress on me, instead the shreds of what used to be my night dress were scattered on the floor. Hugging my naked breasts, I slowly sat up, wincing as pain shot through every part of my body. I assessed my surroundings. The room was quiet, and Nicholas was nowhere to be seen. Knowing that was a relief to me but I knew that I needed to act fast. Nicholas would be coming back to inflict more pain on me. I pushed myself up, trying to get on my feet but I ended up just stumbling back to the ground and hurting my injured body. I was weak, my body suffering from Nicholas' attacks, thirst, and lack of food. I could barely move an inch, but I knew if I lay there, I would die, and I did not want to die, especially in the hands of the devil spawn