Francine approached her studio building after she had lunch. "Francine!" A voice called just as she was about to enter her building. She turned around and rolled her eyes at the sight before her. "Tristan." She gritted out of frustration. Tristan was casually leaning on his car parked at the curb right next to her studio. "What do you want?" She asked, tapping her feet impatiently. "You." He approached her. "I have some paintings to do in there. Get on with whatever you want to talk about, Tristan." She urged, turning her wrist to check her wristwatch. It's was almost 2pm. Some art pieces must be done before night fall so she could send them out the next day. "I am serious. Come on, babe. I miss you. I miss us." He started. "I fucked up. I know that. But these our old folks won't back off until we dance to their tune. We must give them what they want. You used to be crazy about me. Surely, we can rekindle the flame."Francine scoffed, "You mean that I was a fool for you? Not an
Crash!Killian threw a vase at the wall. The fragile piece shattered into pieces. The lead he had been chasing and spending money on was fake. It never existed but it looked so real. He had been chasing clues to finding his wife-the sole reason he hadn't been home to his Fiancée in weeks.He had completely abandoned her and chased cloud, leaving all the wedding plans to her. Unable to bear the thought of hearing her voice and running back home out of shame, he told Ms. Flores that the trip would be further delayed. The whole in the Villa he was staying was in complete disarray. Fragments of wood, ceramics and glasses littered the floor.He stared at the chaotic room in utter dismay and sorrow.How could one human disappear without a trace? He had got a call regarding his wife. Or ex wife. It felt all complicated to him. A picture of her gagged and bloodied was sent to his phone.It was his wife. He was sure of it. Without thinking, he got the cash and did as told without informing a
Back to the present..."Lance... Take care of everything in my departure." He sent the text to his head of security who had accompanied him on the search.His wedding is in a week. It was high time he got his head screwed onto his neck right.He traveled through the night and arrived at the manor at dawn.He was done chasing ghost.He had entered Penelope's room, watching her sleep. His gaze traced down her form right to her belly. It was the first time that Killian saw Penelope caring for the offspring in her. Her small hands was placed on her tummy, shielding it.Was she developing some kind of bond with the child? The thought was unsettling to him. If she developed a bond with the child while still unborn, would she be able to walk away after three years?Would he allow her to walk away?Would she accept to raise another woman's child as his? Some many thoughts collided in his.Now, it is not the time.He wanted to be the first person Penelope would wake up to. No one was awake whe
"Welcome to Bakes and Sweets, Mr and Mrs King." The baker spoke cheerily. The name call made the two cringe. Before either of them could correct her, she continued, "Please, have your seats. The tasting shall begin soon. I can't wait to bake the cake that will be the talk of the town."She presented he cakes in an array. After about 30 minutes, she eagerly came to ask for their thoughts on it. "Which one would you like to go for?" The baker asked with a sweet smile. Her gaze shifted between the two people who had their backs turned to each other. "This particular Vanilla cake. It's fantastic." Francine responded confidently, pointing to the the she just ate. It was the best and most most cake she ever had. From one of her outings with Penelope, she could remember that Penelope wouldn't stop gushing about the taste. "No... I prefer this coffee blend recipe. It would be amazing for the wedding." Freddy countered. Francine rolled her eyes at his comment. Freddy frowned and explaine
Stop Killian! Penelope giggled as while running around the marble with Killian on a hot chase. He scooped a handful of the flour mix and aimed it in her direction. Her gaze widened as the mixture moved towards her in slow motion. It smacked her right on the bridge of her nose. She squealed at the squeamish feeling and grabbed the whole bowl. With a coy smile and a roar, she ran and closed the short distance between them to dump all the content on him. He didn't move an inch and stood there, welcoming her assault. The mixture dropped like a gooey down his head face. Penelope grabbed her small bump and laughed, pointing at him mockingly. "Look at you." She continued to laugh. Killian smirk and marched towards her with predatory steps. His gaze showed a devious intention. She retreated after seeing the expression on his face. "Oh... OH..." Her gaze darted to the exit to plan her escape. But she didn't make it before Killian swooped her into his arms and ran up the stairs. She sat st
Penelope woke up tangled in the sheets. The morning sun softly beamed through the windows and onto her face. With her eyes still closed, she patted the spot beside her but her hand came up empty. Immediately, her eyes snapped open. “Killian?” Her eyes darted to every corner of the room, looking for him. Had he left her? She asked herself warily. She slowly climbed out of the bed, wrapping the sheet around her small body. At the same moment, the door opened to reveal Killian wearing an apron with a tray in hand. Subconsciously, she let out a huge sigh of relief. “Killian.” She whispered in shock. Killian shot her a confused look. “Morning, Ms. Winters. You look like you have seen a ghost. What were you doing?” He inquired, staring at her wrapped in the sheets, along with trying to decipher the strange expression on her face. She stared down at how ridiculous she looked with the sheets wrapped around her being, “Uh… Nothing.” “Indeed.” Killian said. “Come here. I made breakfast.
The sun had set. It had become dark but a soothing kind of darkness ensued on Penelope. It served as a sanctuary for her thoughts running in circles. The waves crashed along the shoreline, pulling itself back and leaving the sand bare. Penelope sat in from of the sea water and watched it splash on her feet before pulling back. The action was synonymous to her life. One minute, she had all she wished for. Or at least, she thought she did. Then, the blurred lines became evident that it was all her imagination. Bryan. She hadn't expected her brother to desert her, desperately wanting to break things off. It was the first time she was happy and felt being provided for. It was the first time the heavy burden was lifted off her shoulders. But at what cost? At the cost of not being truly seen. She ran a hand down her arms, trying to create some warmth to shield herself from the cold. Her hand traced circles on her belly. "Little one." She started speaking to it, "Uh... I don't know h
Brie regained her consciousness after almost an hour. "What can be done? It's just a day away. Where will I find a dress in such a short time?! I don't like any of these dresses." Penelope vented out, pacing back and forth. "Maybe I should just pick any damn one. The wedding isn't real, anyway." She added. "Shhh…Keep your voice down, Penny. Your back and forth pacing is making me dizzy." Francine chided and dragged her out of the store. "We will find you a dress, okay? It's your day. Damn the authenticity of it. As girls, we all have a dream of looking and feeling our best on our wedding day. So, dead squash that thought on your mind right now." She warned sternly. She reached into her purse and pulled our her phone." Give me a minute. Let me make a call." "Hello… It's Francine." She spoke to the person on the other end of the call. "I need a favour. Lucas, come on. It's urgent." Penelope watched her argue on the phone for a while before she ended the call. "It is settled." Franc
“Congratulations, Ms. Penelope Fords.” The board members erupted in a series of congratulations. She had been voted as the new CEO for Ford Company and all affiliate companies.The new reached Stanley Ford and he was beyond livid. The woman took the one thing that he hoped would still be his if he was granted bail. But his court judgement had been life sentence till death without any chance of parole.It was at that moment that a foreign substance rolled down his cheeks. He didn’t bother catching it because he deserved all that had happened to him. He allowed himself to be driven with so much power, molesting women, blackmailing them and killing simply because he thought he could get away with it.In the end, Penelope Ford won. She provided the DNA evidence, sending Delilah and her daughters away. She didn’t take the house from them because she had no use for it. She, more than most people, understood what it felt like to have no roof over your heads.She wished she could be steel hea
“Max! Fran! Come out!” Penelope screamed at the top of her lungs, wondering where they had hidden. It was their moving day. The boxes had been tapped, packed and waiting for the moving truck.She tried again and went to the back exit to look for them. The kids were testing her patience lately. They had ben rebelling against her since she mentioned that they would be moving to the city. But Max had given her a condition- to move in with Killian.They wanted to spend as much time with her and Killian as well. The thought stressed her out because it further added more pressure on her decision making.“Come on, Max! Fran!” She called outside and was on the verge of giving up when she heard some movement nearby. There was a store room where she kept the supplies.“Max? Come out here!” She ordered sternly. He came out in slow steps with Fran in tow.“Really? Both of you are unbelievable. I am the parent here! As much as I allow you some freedom doesn’t mean you should undermine my authoriti
Revenge never felt this sweet and bittersweet.It had been a couple of days since Jared King trended for the fraud he was. His doctor who forged a report of his ailment had his license revoked as well. So, yeah… Revenge tour was bittersweet as many people lost their jobs, sources of income all to rebuild a system that had fallen into the hands of power-drunk men.Penelope took it upon herself to visit some people before she returned to the countryside. One of those people was Nathan Hoffman.“You have a visitor.” She heard his PA relay to him.“Was there an appointment?” She heard him ask in a tired voice. Her heart bled for him. She imagined the PA shook her head when she heard no response. “Let them in.” He gave his permission.Penelope waited for the PA to come out to accompany her in.“Nathan.” She called as soon as she set foot into his office. He raised his head slowly. A glimmer of light shined in his eyes at the appearance of Penelope.“Penny.” He whispered, almost disbelievi
His eyes looked like they had seen a ghost. He was right. Everything he held dearly would soon become a ghost of his imagination. "T-thank you all for spending today with this old man." He concluded his speech and left the center stage. People began laughing, smiling and toasting to him. A clip played in the background for everyone to see. It was a collage of photos with music attached to it. Stanley smiled so much, his cheeks burned. Slowly, the pictures turned from pictures of his to pictures of the bruises he afflicted on Lola. Everyone gasped at the gory pictures, covering their mouths at the sheer horror of those images. Soon after, names from the black lists were called. Several funds of the government that was diverted. Stanley gasped, shaking his head disbelievingly. "No! None of this is true." He tried to plead with his guests who had adored him some minutes ago, now turned their backs on him.No one listened. People started to leave the parties because soon after, siren
"What have we got?" Killian asked.Boyles held a cigar in between his lips as he took a deep long drag."A lot. Depends on where you want us start." He spoke after putting the smoke in the air. His feet casually crossed over each other on her work desk. She had a study in a makeshift basement.It was no news that Boyles knew about where she was, even though she never revealed where she was writing from in any of her letters.He was the one that anonymously tipped Killian about her whereabouts. They knew because he confessed the minute he set foot into her household, right before plumping into the chair in front of her desk.He was always an enigma thag no one could decipher."His offshore accounts. We must look into it. Several events had been hosted, especially art works which we know he couldn't give the middle finger about. Most of them are usually sent to another location." Killian inquired, looking at the spread papers and files before him."I will have my men on it. I got you an
Penelope woke up to the light streaming down softly on her face. She groaned a little due to the sudden intrusion on her vision she opens her eyes.She adjusted her position and met a wall behind her. Her hand darted to the back to feign the object."Careful, love. Unless you want to stir him awake for another round. I don't mind, though." His voice vibrated against her neck, turning on very early in the morning.She bit her lips and retracted her hand. As tempting as his offer was, she couldn't even summon the strength. The previous night was a tryst that left her moaning her lungs out and causing her to be sore down there.If she somehow made it out of her bed, she would claim victory. The night was sweet, slow and rough. Everything she wanted and desired. She clamper he thighs shut while reminiscing."Talk to me. What are you thinking about?" Killian asked, slipping his hand around her waist and pulled her flush to his front, not condoning any space between them. He let out a sigh
Killian didn’t hold back on having fun with Max and Fran, especially not on his Black Gold credit card. But he didn’t mind. Anything to see the joy on their faces, he was willing and ready to do it.Sometime in the evening after having lunch with the kids, Max asked, “Okay, Dad. Why are you sulking? Don’t you like spending time with us?” Max inquired, dumping his fries on the plate and meeting his gaze.He turned away from the view of the buzzling locals outside the window, “Of course, I want to spend all the time I can get with you.” He spoke defensively.The two arched a brow, “Then, why are you sulking?” Max asked again.“I am not sulking.” He answered with a scowl on his face.Max and Fran leaned back at the same time, seemingly choreographed before concluding. “Sulking!”Killian let out a sigh.“Come on. Talk to us.” Fran spoke this time. She pushed her food away, grabbed the napkin to clean her hands and crossed her arms, expectantly.Max leaned back into his seat, waiting as we
“Stay in here and don’t leave the car, Penny.” John warned sternly, debating on whether he should turn back home because of the danger he might be putting his daughter in. Evelyn would have his head if she found out about it.She had warned him against it but didn’t listen to her. How could he? The only opportunity he had to save his dying wife, not taking it would mean losing her to that bastard disease that was eating her up from the inside.All he wanted to do was take his wife’s pain away. The society shouldn’t fault a man for the means he takes.In quiet strides, he went into the building with his hands tucked inside both his pockets. Occasionally, he would look behind him, straining his neck to check the car to see if anyone was near it.After some minutes, gunshot was heard, startling Penelope where she sat. her heart raced as she looked around, wondering where her father was.The kite was in her hold when she poked her head out of the window, looking into the darkness that ove
She looked down at their joined hands and looked back up at Killian. “One step at a time, remember?” She spoke and pulled her hand out of his. “The children are far more important right now.” She added and stood up from the couch. “Goodnight, Killian.” She whispered the last part.“Goodnight, Penelope.” He spoke in a low voice, feeling dejected at her rejection. Although, he half expected it but it didn’t lessen the ache he felt in his heart. He grabbed the comforter nearby and used it to cover himself after taking minimal clothing pieces off. That had been his bed for the past few days.The thought made him chuckle. How could a billionaire squeeze his length into a couch for days? Ms. Flores would have aneurysms if she ever saw him in that uncomfortable position. His bed was much more comfortable than the hard couch. He wondered why Penelope didn’t buy a more comfortable one when she easily could.Think of this as a means to an end, he tried to comfort himself internally.Just when h