Chapter One Hundred And Sixty-Five"You and I?"Lana repeated slowly, staring at him innocently. Zaire nodded, as he tucked her hair behind her ear."You know who I am, right?" He asked her softly and she slowly shook her head.Zaire smiled softly and continued, "Lana, its me, Zaire, your fiance."Lana blinked in surprise, "fiance?" She repeated, then pointed to herself, "I'm...Lana?"Zaire nodded, "And I'm your fiance." He reinstated, firmly. He saw Lana stare at him with a slight frown and almost panicked. He wondered if she recalled who he actually was, but he shook that doubt from his head and clasped both her hands in his. She did not withdraw from him but she tensed slightly."Listen, Lana." he said, "You will be completely fine, okay? You are with me, your fiance. You have nothing to fear."He felt he had to continue to repeat that word, so it becomes a fact. If he says it enough, then she will believe him."Then, why don't I remember you?" Lana asked with a slight frown. Za
Chapter One Hundred And Sixty-SixThe hospital was bustling with activities and Damien could not sit still. The smell of medication and antiseptic teased his nostrils, and he gritted his teeth against the nauseous feeling bubbling up inside of him.He drew his attention back to the matter at hand. He was in the city hospital to check up on Diego, who had undergone a surgery and was making a swift recovery.It had been four days since Lana had been missing and there were no closer to finding her than the first day. Wherever that bastard Zaire had hidden her, he had taken utmost care to not leave any traces behind.The police had also been searching for Aryan, but nothing came forth from their search. Aryan had also simply disappeared and the police began to suspect she was not in the city.No.They did not just think she wasn’t in the city.They did not think Lana was missing.Two days ago, to further aid their search and find clues, the cops had gone over to the Romero Villa and rumma
Chapter One Hundred And Sixty-Seven“Where the hell is my daughter?!”Samuel Fernandez roared, pointing at Damien menacingly.Liam stepped forward, straightening his tie, “Mr Fernandez, we weren’t expecting you. If you can just clam down, sir…”In a thrice, Samuel Fernandez was across the room. He grabbed a hold of Damien’s neck and delivered a blow to his jaw.Damien staggered back, his jaw radiating with pain. He could taste the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and his jaw felt slack.“Damn, the old man packs a good punch.” he muttered to himself, as he stood up and faced Samuel once more.He stared calmly at the huge man, his jaw dripping blood from a cut on his lips. He fleshed and unflexed his fingers, but he did not move from his spot.Samuel Fernandez growled in unrestrained anger. He charged at Damien once more, delivering two more well placed blows to his face.Damien stumbled back against a table, groaning while the maids screamed their heads off. He shook his head to cl
Chapter One Hundred And Sixty Eight"A goodbye letter?" Chairman Fernandez repeated gruffly, "What the hell does that mean?"Paul was silent, unsure of what to say himself. His phone pinged with a notification, and he quickly brought it out to check the message.His brows furrowed in a dark frown as he viewed the message. Without a word, he passed it to the chairman."What is this nonsense?!" The chairman barked, his eyes scanning the goodbye letter Lana had supposedly sent from him.She expressed her feelings of sadness at leaving her father but stated that she had to follow her heart.She had sent another letter to Clarissa, asking her to liquidate all her shares from ALLURE, since she no longer has interests in managing the company.In the letter, she told the chairman not to worry about her, and he should not look for her as well. "What did you do to Lana that made her this way?!" Samuel Fernandez bellowed at Damien, and threw the phone at his feet.Damien and Liam glanced at eac
Chapter One Hundred And Sixty-NineDiego was lying on his bed looking pitiful as hell. He was hooked to several machines at the same time, which aided his breathing and other things.However, he was awake and conscious of his surroundings. His skin was sallow and he had lost a lot of weight, as well as a lot of blood.Damien had to have him moved to a VIP room, so he'd be more comfortable and recuperate well.The room was spacious and looked more like a suite than a hospital room.The doctor in charge of Diego's treatment led him into Diego's room, and he was followed by the Detective and the rest of the men.Diego stared forlornly at the visitors who filed into his room. His eyes widened slightly in surprise, as he saw Chairman Fernandez."Why is the chairman here?" He thought in wonder, and made to sit up but the doctor restrained him."Try not to move, please." The doctor warned."Chairman..." Diego acknowledged Samuel, and the chairman gave him a light nod. His eyes ran over the y
Chapter One Hundred And SeventyLana jumped when the door to her room was opened suddenly, and Aryan stepped inside. She was sitting on her bed, with her knees drawn to her chest.She stared at the big man who walked over to her bed and stared down at her, hard.Lana swallowed a lump in her throat and shivered under his steely gaze. Aryan exuded a cold, killer like aura that sent a chill running down her back.She could not mistake the unbridled hate and contempt in his eyes, as he stared down at her."Zaire..." Lana croaked, averting her gaze from his. She cleared her throat and asked nervously once more, "Where's Zaire?"She never thought she would be asking for the very man who abducted her, and kept her locked up.But Aryan gave her the creeps and Zaire was literally the only one around here who could protect her from this dangerous looking man.Zaire had always been around for the past four days, checking up on her regularly. He brought her meals for her, there in the room, and m
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy OneLana slowly walked around the garden all the way around the house, with Aryan following closely behind.The whole compound was well kept, but flowers and trees were spread out across the place.At the far end were barbed wire fences that went around the house. It was so high that it was enough to keep out giants, but surely, she could manage to make a hole and squeeze herself through right?Lana's hand came to her mouth, and she bit her nails nervously. Her eyes scanned the fence, and came to land on the metal sign fixed to the fence that stated, "Danger! Keep off!"She wondered who the sign was for. It was definitely to keep her in because there was no way anyone would come from the outside through that thick forest which she could see."Is it worth it to get electrocuted?" Lana thought in despair. If she even managed to get through the fence, the possibility of getting eaten by wild animals is so high, that she shuddered from that own thought.Wh
Chapter One Hundred And Seventy-Two"Ow!"Lana yelled in pain as Aryan pushed her against the wall fiercely. Pain exploded in her shoulder blade which had connected with the wall, and she held on to it."I fucking told you to stay back!" He thundered at her, his face twisted with rage. Anger and terror sliced through Lana.She pushed away from the wall and slammed into him, trying to run past him.Aryan did not even flinch. He reached out and grabbed her hair when she ran past him and pulled her back with it."Ahh!" Lana cried out, as she was thrown against the wall once more. Pain radiated from her skull from where he was twisting her hair, and made her eyes water with tears.Aryan chuckled and walked closer to her, staring down at her, "What? Were you trying to escape?" He sneered, "You think you can leave?"Lana did not say a word. She glared at him with those red rimmed eye, then spat out hatefully, "You freaking bastard!"Aryan's left eye twitched violently with that statement,
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