Chapter Thirty-Eight"It's here!" Clarissa cooed as she walked into Lana's office, holding a dress, which was still wrapped up in a transparent bag. She held up the dress and did a full twirl with it, then stopped when she noticed that Lana was not alone in the the room."Sorry." She muttered, as she caught Lana's disapproving look. Lana shook her head as she stood up and straightened her suit. The other people in the room did as well. They were her team of directors, and had been with Lana since the company was established.They were highly capable and Lana could trust them fully, especially now that she would be away from some time."Well then, I leave everything in your care." Lana said, stretching her hand out to the head of the team.She had entrusted the company over to them and this Head Director would be in charge of things in her stead. She was capable, efficient and damn good at her job. Lana knew she was doing the right thing here.The woman shook her hand, heartily with a
Chapter Thirty-NineThe night of the galaPierre's mid-year gala was held in the Oriental Hotel, one of the most expensive hotels in Oakcrest.It was a seven star hotel, which boasted of the best facilities in the world, for the comfort of their guests.The gala itself proved to be a huge affair, with celebrities and every renowned person in attendance. The entrance to the hotel was filled with paparazzi and the press. Throngs of screaming fans lined both sides of the red carpeted entrance.Car after car rolled in and the crowds screamed louder, anytime a well dressed favorite celebrity stepped out onto the red carpet.When the Limousine rolled up to the hotels entrance, the crowd held their breath at the sight of it, straining their eyes to see past the tinted glasses.When the Romeros stepped out of it, the crowd went wild and the camera flashes increased, calling out to them, each one vying for their attention.The crowd could not get enough of them, and they screamed their pleasur
Chapter Forty"We're not a couple, Mr Evans. The engagement is false." Damien uttered coldly.There was stunned silence for a few seconds as those words sank in.Rina had gone pale and her mouth twisted into a grim line as she stared up at Damien, "D..Dami.. how could you?" She uttered in a broken whisper.Damien glanced at her and the icy look he gave her, sent shivers down her spine. Her hands on his arm dropped to her side, and she clutched her dress instead, to keep from trembling."Well, this is... surprising," Pierre uttered, completely flabbergasted with the sudden turn of events."Miss Carter and I are not engaged. That was a false article, Mr Evans and it's been taken down already," Damien continued, glancing at Lana once again "Just to clear the air from any misunderstandings.""Damien, how could you say that?" Vera whispered fiercely as Rina slumped against her, whimpering, her eyes burning with tears of rage. She cast a hateful glance at Lana who met her stare with an impa
Chapter Forty-One"You talk foolishly, Miss Carter. You're in the fashion industry, yet you don't know the top dogs!" Pierre wagged a finger in front of Rina's face angrily, "How dare you talk that way to the CEO of ALLURE?!"Vera drew in a sharp breath, her eyes widening as she looked from Pierre, who was still enraged to Lana, who had a provocative little smirk on her face.Damien just watched Lana with slightly furrowed eyebrows. He was stunned speechless by the fact that Lana was the CEO of ALLURE.True, no one knew the face of the CEO of ALLURE, although it was widely known that it was a woman. However, she stayed away from social events and only few blurry pictures of her were on the internet.On the other hand, why would Pierre lie over something like that? Pierre Evans was definitely someone who'd have met with the CEO of ALLURE.It was no wonder she changed so much. Her Aura, her exuberance, the way she looked...She was no longer the cowering, caregiver who had been married
Chapter Forty-TwoLana walked out of the hall briskly, in the same direction that Zaire did. She held her wrist, rubbing the part where Damien had gripped her. "What a jerk," she muttered under her breath, annoyed at the way her heart was still beating fast. Her face was flushed and she coul not help but think about the spark she'd felt when his huge hand had wrapped around her wrist."Ugh!" Lana groaned in frustration as she came out of the hall and found herself in the swimming pool area. At the sight of the clear, blue water of the pool and the moolight shimmering on the surface of the water, Lana wished they'd had a pool party, instead for the mid-year gala.At least she would get some of the cool night air, which was blowing softly around the pool area, ruffling her soft curls and cooling her heated skin.Lana blew out a breath of frustration, as her eyes scanned the area, looking for Zaire. She walked along the sides of the pool, her reflection shimmering on the surface of th
Chapter Forty-Three"What did you just say to me?!" Lana asked hoarsely, her voice a ragged whisper as she stood rooted to the spot, still reeling in disbelief from Rina's horrid words.Rina approached her with an evil smile on her face. Finally, she had the bitch's attention. She stopped just a few feet away from Lana and sneered."You heard me, Lana. It'd have been better if you'd died with your little bas...Aargh!".Rina screamed in pain as Lana slapped her hard. She stepped backwards in shock, holding her red cheeks with her palm. The imprint of Lana's palm can be seen there, boldly.She gasped in disbelief, staring at Lana who stood looking at her, with murderous rage brewing beneath her eyes."Yo..you dare to hit me?!" Rina was trembling with rage. She charged towards Lana but was stunned when another slap landed on her cheek.Then another, and another...Lana held on to her hair and delivered the slaps onto Rina's face one after the other. She was blinded by rage, her blood bo
Chapter Forty-FourDamien sat in his plush office, brooding. His jaw was tense as he stared at the financial reports on the table in front of him.Behind him, his assistant Liam stood straight, his expression as stony as his boss's own.In front of them, on the elaborate black sofas in the office, sat the members of MAGIC'S financial team, as well as their directors.The directors were all on edge as they watched and waited for any movement from Damien. They fiddled with their thumbs and the documents they held on their laps, not daring to look at him. News of MAGIC going bankrupt had been circulating the company since that morning and the reason was in the office there with them.Rian sat on the sofa, directly across from Damien, watching him and biting her lips worriedly."Those annoying investors! Why do they have to be so nosy?" She thought in anger, not feeling remorseful at all for her action. Some of the Directors were casting resentful looks at her. After all, she was the rea
Chapter Forty-five"We are here, CEO," Diego said as he quietly manuevered the sleek Bentley in front of the remarkable skycraper that housed the offices of MAGIC.He turned off the engine, and sat in silence watching Lana who was staring at the building with an impassive expression."Ma'am, if you don't want to do this, there's no need for you to," he said, his words laced with concern.Lana turned her dead eye stare on him. The fact that he thought she was hesitating, because she did not want to work with MAGIC made her bristle with annoyance.He was so far from the truth She was only hesitating, because of the anger coursing through her veins, and also because she wears admiring the building that she knows would come to be hers later.She grabbed her purse on the seat beside her and pushed the car door open, saying tersely, "Come out and stop saying rubbish." Diego nodded, making a mental note to keep his mouth shut concerning matters like this in the future.They moved briskly to
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