Edna clutches the wristwatch in a fist in her left hand and walks directly to Malik's office. It's in the same building, but on a different floor. She bites her lips as the tension builds up inside her. Why would he get her such an expensive wristwatch? Where is she going to say she got it from?She soon gets to his office and his secretary lets her go directly to his door. She bangs it like she is a task collector before she barges into the office. He is bent over his laptop and his eyes shoot up as soon as he hears the little commotion at the front door. He sees her and he smiles brightly. He shuts his laptop and leans against his chair while she walks to him in slow, sinister steps. "Now, look who has decided to stop by to say hello." He chuckles. As soon as she gets to the table, she drops the wristwatch on the table and folds her hands, looking at him. "What is this?" She demands. "Oh. " Malik ends his smile and rubs his hand over his forehead as he looks down at the wri
Edna looks on in shock and disbelief. Ramona is surprised to see her here and she struggles to get herself off of Keith, but he holds her down with his hands around her waist. He doesn't give a fuck that Edna gets to see him in such an improper position with another woman, he doesn't give a fuck about her or the sacredness of their marriage. " Keith, you said that your wife won't be back till later. " Ramona whispers to him, even though Edna is right in front of them and can hear their conversation. Keith looks at her and she notices that there is not a bit of remorse in his eyes and it's normal. It's Keith, remember?He leans and kisses Ramona on her lips again. "So?" He asks. " She is not going to say anything to anybody, she knows better than to do that. "Edna swallows that hard lump of embarrassment that sticks in her throat. He is going to humiliate her like this in front of this lady?Edna bends to the ground and picks back her handbag as she walks up the stairs like she h
Malik returns to his apartment just a few minutes after eleven, almost midnight. He did promise Ramona that he would come back home early but work has been hectic. He had taken it upon himself to work more to let Edna head back home earlier than usual. What she doesn't know is that his father has a specific amount of work for her to do daily and she is not to leave without doing it all. Malik found out and took part of her workload off without her knowing and it has been worth it. He turns off the engine of his car and steps out of the vehicle and grabs his stuff as he walks to the front door. The door flings open and Ramona appears from behind it. Malik's eyes flick and widen as he sees what she is putting on. A half vest that leaves a good part of her breasts outside and panties, like literal ones. She smiles as soon as she sees him and like a small child would, she runs towards him and throws herself at him. He takes a few steps back as he tries to steady her weight on him
Edna is getting ready for an interview she will be having later today and she is getting drained from the preparation. Normally preparing for an interview is an arduous task and this is no different. She has to prepare herself both physically and mentally for what is to come. She might be presented with difficult questions and she must find her way around them to still make her father-in-law's company have a good face, that's why she is here in the first place. Her phone rings loudly and thus cuts her off from her line of thoughts. She sets her own down and looks at the screen. It's Malik, she can't bring herself to reject Malik's call, no matter what. She leans against her comfortable office chair and picks up her phone. "Oh, hi Mister Jackson. " Her voice is jolly. " Sister-in-law, how are you?" He asks. "I'm good. " She replies. " Just working. ""And how is work today?""Stressful, but I am going to be able to survive through it.""Talking about stress, why not come over
"Mrs. Jackson?""Mrs. Jackson."Edna jerks her head back as if she is waking up from a deep sleep and she turns around, towards where she is being called from. Oh, shit. She is in a studio and she is being interviewed about her father-in-law's company and right there on the stage, she zoned out. She blinks a few times and she sees the lady that is interviewing her is giving her a pressed smile. She looks ahead of her and her eyes widen a bit when she notices that the camera is still rolling, all that has been captured. She sees Kim and Dimore a few feet from the camera and sees the confusion in their eyes. It's not them alone, the camera and crew members are murmuring to themselves, oh God, she doesn't know just for how long she has been out. Kim mouths the words ' are you good?' to her and she slightly nods. She adjusts the arm of her blouse and smiles back at the interviewer, finally. She has got this. "Sorry, what was the question again?" She leans a bit. "Oh, yes. " The lad
Edna stands in front of the closet, thinking of what to put on. She isn't really in the mood to give herself a headache just because she can't decide what to put on. She settles for a long sleeve silver dress and black cone heels. She puts it on and goes into the room to find out that Keith is already dressed up. He is putting on a two-piece brown suit with some simple men's suit and for a moment, she is taken aback. She hasn't seen him looking this good as cleaned up since their wedding and he has nearly forgotten just how handsome he is. His hair is combed back and is absolutely stunning.She doesn't realize that she is lost staring at him until he turns around and looks at her. He is trying to put a wristwatch around his left hand and he is finding it difficult. "Do you need help with that?" She offers. He seems surprised that she is making such an offer and she is too, she thought she hates this guy. "Sure. " He shrugs. She drops her purse on the table and takes his left ha
Malik runs his hand through his hair in frustration and Edna can't tell that she has gotten herself mixed into something really deep. " Ramona lost her mum at eight and her elder brother and sister at fifteen. " Malik starts in a troubled voice. " She has been depressed, had drug problems all through her life. The only reason she is so spoiled is that her father is scared that she would sink back into the dark."Edna's lips parts in shock and her eyes won't even blink, she had no idea. "I didn't– I didn't know. " She breathes. "Yeah, right. " Malik grunts. " It doesn't matter if you knew or not. You shouldn't be so mean to her. ""Malik–"He doesn't wait to hear what she has to say, he turns around and leaves, shutting the door after him. Her hand goes to her mouth and her heart falls to her stomach. She can't believe that she has been so mean to the innocent girl, she had no idea. Aside from the fact that she was kissing Keith, Edna knows that she has been mean to the girl. Th
Edna wakes up with a light head, it's so light that she can't immediately remember the details of last night. It starts to come to her back little by little and she remembers it with a sigh. Is she sad or happy? Well, she doesn't know. Last night didn't go like it normally did. She turns on the bed, but she can't find Keith. She sits up and pulls up the duvet over her naked body and rolls to grab her phone. A text message is waiting to be read and she opens it immediately. It's from Kim and it sounds urgent. "Hi boss, it's Kim. Mister Jackson came in very early today and he is requesting to see you immediately, something that has to do with your brother. PS, he is not in a good mood. ""Shit." Edna holds her hand over her face and exhales. Mister Jackson has found out about Philip and she knows that it's not going to be good. She figured that he would find out soon, but she never thought it would be this soon and even though Malik has said something to his Dad already. She
EpilogueMalik is tired, he has hardly slept for more than two hours in the past three days. The reason is that he is putting together the last of his affairs. After all, he is moving to Italy. He has done a lot in the past days which includes making peace with his father's enemies, Tide and Devan gold. It wasn't easy making peace with them, but he did. He paid for their damages and informed them that Jacksons' company is now under new management. He also proposed business deals to them and from what he saw, he will run the company more successfully. He is also discussing a change of name for the company, he wants it to bear his mother's name because she deserves it. He can't forget his brother too. Even though his brother has been the biggest asshole, he was still his brother and for that, he has made a huge donation to a rehabilitation program, Edna did the same. As for his father, he is still mourning the "loss" of his business, but he is not going to suffer. He still has a
Malik has never felt more nervous in his life. He was bold when he told Edna that he wanted to talk with her parents. He was bold when she told him that they are ready to meet with him. He was bold when he drove to the restaurant one fine evening from his hotel room, but the moment he saw her intimidating father, he lost all his courage and his heart fell to the pit of his stomach like a deflated balloon. Her mother didn't see him, she is reading through the menu and talks to her husband, who has locked eyes with Malik. He still feels the impact of the man's punch from the night before. He smooths his hair back, adjusts his jacket, and walks into the restaurant. It's not full, that's because this isn't New York. "Hello. " He says to both of them but he doesn't take his seat. Edna's mother frowns and drops the menu back on the table. Her father only nods at him, that's it. He feels pain so heavy in the back of his throat, but he composes himself. He can't believe that they hav
Both Edna and Malik knew that this was coming after all Malik was just spitting all the unknown facts at him. Edna feels a rumbling in her stomach and she feels like it's just her baby getting scared too. Malik drops the papers in his hand and for the first time, he smiles. He smiles at his father's misery and he even laughs at it. "Well, Dad, you have always thought we were fucking, turns out we were. " He grins like he is fucking proud of himself. "What?!" "I'm responsible, Dad. " Malik breaks it down. " At least it's still your grandchild. "Mister Jackson jumps up to his feet as if his chair just caught flames and he points a finger at Edna. The flames in his eyes are so hot that she is scared she is going to get scaled. "You!!" He screams. " I have always known that you are a good-for-nothing piece of shit, I should have killed you when I had the chance. "Even with all his angry bursts, he doesn't go close to Edna and Malik just leaves him alone to go rant. " I took you
Edna feels like she has just melted into her chair, all numb from her head to the heels of her toes. "What?!" Her voice is so small that it doesn't sound like hers at all. Malik doesn't give her any answer, he is having a staring contest with his father. The tension is tight in the air, they won't say a word to each other. Malik looks calmer but his father looks like he is a bomb that is going to go off any time soon. Edna swallows down an imaginary lump in her throat but she still doesn't feel better, it's suffocating. " Malik. " She turns to him. " I don't understand what you are saying. "He turns to her and gives her hand a little squeeze. " Don't worry, it's all going to be cleared in a few minutes. "She nods and keeps calm, she believes him. He turns to his father and that glare returns back to its place. He leans back against his chair, but not his father. " We are listening, Dad. " He shrugs. " Why did you do it? Why did you kill your favorite son?"" Malik, boy. " Hi
True to Malik's word, a call comes in from the front desk that someone is waiting for her at the reception. It's a good thing that she has put on her clothes and gotten prepared for the person who would be picking her up. She locks up her room and walks to the elevator. As the elevator lowers to the ground, she wonders what Malik is up to. She gets out of the elevator and walks into the reception. There are a lot of people there, but when she sees Rollins, she knows that it's him. Maybe because he is putting on such a fine suit or because she has seen him a few times with Malik, he is one of the few people that work directly for Malik and not his father. He smiles and walks up to her and bows to her respectfully. " Good morning. " He greets. " Good morning." She answers with a very bright smile. " This way, ma'am. " He leads her out of the hotel and towards the parking lot. She sights the white SUV even before they get close to it. He walks ahead of her and opens the door for
Edna's face turns white as Anna's confession is not something that she saw coming. Anna too never wanted the marriage? She didn't want to get married to Malik? That's wild. Anna laughs when she sees how surprised Edna is and she walks to the edge of the bed and sits on it. She crosses her legs over each other and pulls a pillow close to her. She glances at Edna and she understands that she wants to sit beside her. She does too and now they are so close that they can feel each other's body heat. " But did you really believe that those tears were real?" Anna laughs. "Yeah, I have been so worried about you. " Edna says. " I have always wanted to call you but if I left you would still be mad at all of us. ""Nah. " She waves off. " It's kind of a huge relief for me too, so it's all good. "Edna is so confused right now. "But you were so excited about getting married. " Edna can't let this go so easily. "No, I pretended to be so happy because I wanted to make my parents happy. " S
It looks like a war front in here as everyone is yelling words around and pointing fingers at each other. Malik steps down from the altar and walks down the aisle. He pushes the door open and walks out, no one stops him. Ramona rushes after him after she gets over the shock, but Edna can't. She is too frozen to move. Edna is calmly holding onto herself. She feels like everyone is going to notice how fast her heart is beating against her chest and they are going to know that she had something to do with this. He said he loves her, he told someone that he loves her. She feels terrible that Anna isn't going to get married again, but Malik said he loves her. Anna lets out a scream of agony. And falls to the ground. Edna rushes to her side and holds her up. Her family rushes to her side and her brothers take her in their arms. Her mother is crying with her, wiping her daughter's tears instead of hers. Her father looks mad, the angriest that Edna has ever seen and she watches him loo
The knocks come again and it is just as loud and terrifying as thunder. "Malik, open the fucking door, I need to speak to you. " His father sounds angry. He beats against the door with his fist and Edna fearfully watches the door quiver as if there is an earthquake. Malik is perfectly calm and doesn't move an inch to get to the door. Mister Jackson doesn't go away and each time he knocks, it's louder than the last one. He is somehow convinced that Malik is inside his room and he is not leaving until he speaks to him. Edna is so scared that she is tempted to walk to the door and open it. She will then fall on her knees and explain to Mister Jackson that it's not what he thinks. There is a slight chance that he would listen and that means she is presently just overreacting, but there is a chance that he is going to make a big deal out of this since he already hates her. Since Malik isn't moving or saying a word, maybe it's better if she doesn't say anything too. Malik grabs her
Edna holds tightly to Malik's word. Her family thinks that she is crazy and now she has taken to the idea too, maybe she is really crazy – maybe a little bit. If not, what sane woman would go to attend the marriage ceremony pregnant for the groom and even though she is friends with the bride? She has never admitted it – she had kicked out the thought in her head too, it keeps coming back though – but she wishes that the wedding could be off so that she can have Malik to herself. She is happy for Anna and she would be even happier for her if she is going to be married to someone else, but it has to be Malik, right?She knows that a failed wedding ceremony is going to hurt Anna, but she still wants to give Malik a chance to come through as he said. His plan of coming through doesn't involve him going on with the wedding. She doesn't want to be the bad person in this case, but she can't just help it. Her father kills the engine and turns to her. He takes off his baseball cap and put