Chapter One Hundred And Ten"Zaire?" Damien was giving her a very dark look with an eyebrow arched. He'd heard what she'd said, and anger rose up inside him. She was still talking to that jerk? Lana nodded her head, "yea, he just called to check up on me," she told him, "He heard about the incident and...""He heard about the incident?" Damien asked interrupting her, and Lana nodded once more. "Yes, he did." She replied with a sigh, "Come to think of it, I'm calling the cops. I was so distracted earlier that I totally forgot about it. We have to let them know so they can...""How did Ludovic know about your attack at the office?" Damien asked in a stern voice , interrupting her once more. Lana took a deep breath, incensed that he kept interrupting her when she was trying to say something important."Lana?" He prodded once more and she snapped."I don't know! Jeez, Damien!" She said, sharply, "He didn't really say anything about it. I know I must have misheard. He was just checking
Chapter One Hundred And Eleven.Over the next few days, Lana avoided Damien like the plague and he did his best to stay out of her way. She stared past him as though he was nonexistent to the extent that Damien felt he could not stay in under the same roof with her anymore.But then he waited patiently, waiting for her anger to thaw. He never hurried her or inputed anything since that day, although he wanted to apologize for the rest of his days.If apologizing till eternity will make everyhng right, Damien was willing to take it on. He'd walked into her room that day to apologize for his behaivour. She was right for being scared and trying to make sure she did not get anyone else caught in the fray. He was wrong for treating her like a weakling.However, when he'd held her by her shoulders and stared into her eyes, his gust was twisted with something he could not explain.She'd looked so small and defenseless that he'd wondered how she was able to get through what she did five ye
Chapter One Hundred And Twelve"Miss Lana?"Lana jerked as Mandy touched her forearm gently, trying to get her attention. She blinked in surprise, staring blankly at Mandy who nodded with her head towards the front of the hall, where a speech was being given.She sighed and gave Mandy an apologetic smile. She had been carried away with her thoughts that she had not noticed what was going on in her surroundings.The night had been going smoothly so far, except for her thoughts drifting away to a certain somebody and her mood threatening to plummet down to its lowest depth."What's the point of coming out for the first time in a while if you're going to be so distracted, Lana?" She admonished herself, and decided to focus on what she came here for. She shook her head and drew the black fur shawl tighter around her shoulders.She was wearing a long black dress, with straps and a sweet heart neckline. It was made of silk and the skirt flowed all the way to the ground, covering her feet. A
Chapter One Hundred And Thirteen Rina staggered back from the force with which Damien pushed her, to the shock of the onlookers. She gasped and stumbled backwards almost landing on her butt, but a table behind her broke her fall. Before she could get steady herself and call out to Damien again, he had disappeared through the crowd and out the door searching for Lana."Ugh!" She grunted loudly, stomping her heeled foot against the marble floor in anger and frustration. She bit her lip and thought about following them out. She could not believe Damien had pushed her away in public. She had hugged him, thinking he would never push her away in front of guests like this. She'd thought she would still be able to act weak and pitiful before him and everyone else to keep him trapped...She'd not expected him to push her away so roughly, that she'd not even had time to change tactics."Whatever, I came to this stupid event just so I can get you back," She muttered to herself, "so you're goi
Chapter One Hundred And Fourteen."Ow, let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!"Zaire marched through the crowd, ignoring Rina's cries of pain. Instead, he dragged her out of the building, and into the quiet garden by the side of the Hall.When they got to a spot where they could not get the attention of the guests in the hall, Zaire stopped and Rina yanked back her wrist from his hold."You bastard!" She spat out, as she massaged her sore wrists. There were red welts on the delicate skin, indicating where his fingers had dug into it.Zaire turned to her sharply at that word, and quick as lightening, he gave her a deafening slap that threw her to the ground.Rina cried out in pain on the floor, as she reached to touch her cheeks with her hand, trembling all over her body.She glared up at him with hate and fear as Zaire dusted one palm over the other, "You know, I really try not to get angry at you, Rina." He said, then stooped low to glare at her on the ground, his eyes red-ri
Chapter One Hundred And Fifteen.The silence in the Maybach, as Damien and Lana rode down the streets and towards home, was defeaning.Lana was sitting very straightbacked on her seat, willing her heartbeat to slow down, but it continued beating loudly in her ears.She dared not look sideways at Damien, who, surprisingly, was looking very calm and zen considering what had happened just a few minutes ago. She inhaled sharply and clutched the silky material of her dress, as her mind drifted back to what had happened in the garden.When she'd seen Zaire drag Rina out of the building, Lana knew something was very wrong.First of all, why were they together?She'd never thought Zaire and Rina knew each other, and why was he pulling her after him that way?Then, Zaire had slapped Rina and Lana's jaw dropped in shock, her eyes widening at the man in front of her. This was not the Zaire she knew. Zaire Ludovic, who was her friend, rarely got angry and would definitely not hit a woman but h
Chapter One Hundred And SixteenLana went very still as Damien's lips claimed hers. It was like every other thing disappeared at that moment and the only thing she could feel was his firm lips on hers, nibbling and tasting.It was electrifying and desire coursed through her veins when his tongue delved into her mouth, and Lana let out a moan, melting completely into him.Damien growled low in his throat as one hand moved from her face to her hair, while the other grabbed her waist and pulled her closer.She could feel how hard he was already as he pressed against her tummy. Lana felt her mind completely lose control of her body, as her hand wrapped around his waist and another cralwed up his body, tugging at his shirt. Their kiss deepened as their tongues meshed and dueled. Damien moved until he held her gently against the hedge and another moan escaped Lana, as his mouth started nibbling her ear and neck.However, the feeling of his palm fully cupping her breast brought her crashing
Chapter One Hundred And SeventeenWhen the car pulled into the driveway of the Romero Villa, Lana placed all her attention in unbuckling her seatbelt, so she would not look at Damien but strangely enough, the belt was stuck.She jerked at the seat belt in frustration, and Damien turned to her alerted by her movements. "Here, let me help you." He said as he took his off, and leaned towards her to help her with the seatbelt.Lana put up a hand quickly at him, her heart beating loudly once more at his closeness, "No." She said quickly, "I'm fine. I'll just do it myself."A tiny frown furrowed his brows as he reached for the buckle nonetheless, "Relax, Lana." He said to her, carefully undoing the clasp that kept her stuck to the chair, "I'm not going to bite."Lana let out a breath she did not know she was holding as she felt the belt release her but that relief was short lived as she realized that Damien was still leaning close to her.She froze, unable to take her eyes off his face ab
Chapter Two Hundred And NineteenMaya made her way to the elevator that connected the company with the parking lot, her head held high in triumph.Before she could press the button however, Gary hurriedly stood up and shouted, "I was only trying to save you from embarassing yourself, Maya!"Maya stopped, her shoulders stiff with contained fury as she turned to him, "What?" She scoffed, taking slow threatening steps back towards him, "you never learn, do you?""You know he doesn't want you." Gary gritted out, "You're better off with me, Maya. You're smart and we connect well. Why don't you make the wise decision and come to me?"Maya laughed cynically, "Is this fool on drugs?" She asked, fury blazing in her eyes, "Why would I even consider being with you? You ugly looking wimp. Can you take care of me? Do you know how much I'm worth?!""You're not worth that much more than me, you know." Gary chuckled bitterly, his eyes wide in a terrifying way, "We both work in the same company and ea
Chapter Two Hundred And EighteenWithout warning, Gary marched forward and grabbed Maya's hand, pulling her flush against him.Maya gasped in outrage as she stumbled roughly unto him, "What do you think you're doing?" She screeched, "Let go of me, you pig!""I should be asking you that question!" Gary was trembling with rage, "What are you doing, selling yourself like a whore for this gigolo?!"There was a sharp intake of breath from the employees who were pretending to be working but also watching the drama.Some were enjoying the show so much that they spoke low behind their palms, laughing and snickering at Maya.It serves her right for strutting about like she owned the place. Maya had been a pain the neck around the office, ever since Noah started working there.It was refreshing to hear her being referred to as the slut that she truly was.She was clearly throwing herself at the man who did not want her, and bared her teeth at any girl in the office who looked at him. Not like
Chapter Two Hundred And SeventeenNoah stiffened as Gary said those words. What the actual hell?!He turned sharply and glared at Gary, who had a maliciously gleeful look in his eyes.How had he known about that? Noah narrowed his eyes at the odious man, who was enjoying the look of confusion on Noah's face.Slowly, he started chuckling and soon, the annoying man straightened up and laughed outloud while Noah simmered, and the rest of the colleagues watched in puzzlement."You never thought about that, did you?" Gary continued, after he'd had a good laugh, "Well, you should have, before you thought of running your mouth." He lifted the stack of files and slammed them back down on Noah's desk, roughly, "You better start working on them," he smirked, then leaned in to say in Noah's ears once more, "Or you're not the only one who is going to lose your job."Noah's mouth tightened into a grim line, as he realized what Gary was trying to say.He had indeed started working at the company
Chapter Two Hundred And SixteenThere were shocked gasps around the office at that statement. Everyone was staring at Noah, wondering where he got his boldness from.Even if he was right, no one had ever thought of talking back to their superior. They had always collected whatever harsh treatment had been meted out to them, without second thoughts.Who did this new guy think he was? What was that he said, Manager Gary's job was what was on the line.Really, it was his own life that was on the line. They looked at Manager Gary to see how he'd receive this news.Gary had gone pale, then slowly he turned beet red. He bared his teeth at Noah menacingly, "What did you say?"Noah stood his ground, staring at the man, "This preparations were supposed to have been sent in a month ago." He went on, "The orders for the shipment were made before I even started working here. I'm sure the regional manager have this job to you directly but you did not carry it out, due to your negligence."Gary was
Chapter Two Hundred And FifteenWham!A huge stack of files was dropped on Noah's desk like a boulder, and the small desk rattled from the force of it."Listen up newbie, I want these files to be screened and the reports on my desk in the next one hour, do you understand me?"Noah slowly looked from the huge stack of files sitting in his desk, to the shaggy haired man in front of him.It was Gary Shane, the junior sales executive and Noah's direct boss in the establishment.From the very day, Noah started working at Romero Solutions And Logistics, Gary seemed to have it out for him and took extreme pleasure in giving him demanding tasks.Arching a well carved eyebrow in question, Noah spoke calmly, "All of these? In an hour's time?""What?" Gary smirked. He was chewing gum and the smacking sounds it made grated on Noah's nerves. Gary shoved his hands into his pockets and took a relaxed stance in front of Noah's desk, his eyes roving over Noah in mocking fashion."What?" He asked agai
Chapter Two Hundred And FourteenLana looked up again as she felt Adrian's hands stop their soothing motion on her neck and shoulders."You've located...he's really alive?" He asked, his brows coming together in disbelief.In reply, Lana laughed happily, covering her mouth daintily. Her eyes shimmered with happy tears and she went on speaking cheerfully, "Yes! Can you believe it? Well of course you believe it, because I always said so!"Adrian was silent even as Lana kept in talking. He'd stopped massaging her shoulders and her cheerful voice was just going on and on in his head.She looked really happy, hopeful, something he'd never seen in her in a long time.And that was because Damien Romero had been found.Wait, he was really alive?He'd always heard Lana say it and he'd seen her waiting for him, encouraged her to keep on hoping because only then Arielle could be saved but now, it seemed like Damien Romero was really going to be back in her life.Their lives.Somehow, and for rea
Chapter Two Hundred And Thirteen"What do you mean he knows something?"Lana asked, later that night in Adrian's office.When Adrian had called her at the company earlier, she'd immediately headed to the hospital to see him.Oakcrest City's hospital was one of the best healthcare facilities not only in the city but in neighboring cities as well. It was a combination of both specialists and general hospital.It provided the best health care services and even the creme de la creme of society had their check ups there. The hospital's VIP section was built solely for the benefit and comfort of wealthy people. This sentiment has gone on to be abused by the rich, who use the hospital as a getaway to evade tax hunt, scandals and malingering.The facilities in the VIP area were more like the equipments that belonged in a spa or resort than an hospital. There were lounges, perfect little cafes and the patients wore robes as their hospital wear instead.However, only the best and most professi
Chapter Two Hundred And Twelve"You were right," Director Evans said as he walked over to the single table in the centre of the small office.Apart from the single table and two chairs facing it, the office was bare, with its grey decor.There were two chairs sitting side by side near the table, which had a packet of cigarettes sitting on it as well.Director Evans drew a cigarette out of the slim pack and lit it with a lighter lying close by, "Romero is really not in the hospital. Lana did really play us all."Zaire smirked as he listened to this, while Director Evans took his seat with a satisfied sigh, "Now, there's just one little problem to sort out before we make this public," he drawled, taking long puffs on his cigarette, "Where is Romero, really? Do you think he's going to come back?""Damien Romero will never come back to his Empire," Zaire spoke with a calm smile, as he turned to back to watching the city below.Director Evans was watching him with narrowed eyes, "How do yo
Chapter Two Hundred And ElevenDirector Evans walked briskly out of the hospital and towards his parked car, smiling from ear to ear. His driver swiftly opened the car door for him and he quickly got in, making himself comfortable.The driver quickly went round and took his spot as well, "Should I go to the location, sir?""He must be waiting by now, don't you think?" Director Evans replied, "We'd better get moving then."The driver nodded and immediately placed the car on the road, and was soon speeding down the highway.The Director sat in the back seat looking very pleased with himself. He was still smiling and soon, he burst out into full blown laughter.The driver glanced at him curiously from the rear view mirror and quickly looked away focusing on his driving.He did not know what was making his boss laugh and he was not very curious by the way.Besides, he and his boss were not in a relationship where they could discuss his source of joy.But he could not help, but wonder wha