As the event commenced in The Paragon Plaza, the host acknowledged the arrival of the guests. He had also called Lillian Forrest to the stage who gave a brief history on Forrest Hospital. Then it was Priscila’s turn to speak.
She acknowledged the advancement that the hospital has gone through over the years while she was the President. They both expressed their support for the heir.
At that moment, the host then called Sterling Atkins to the stage.
Applause resounded in the plaza.
“Good evening, thank you for coming. As a grandson and son, I’m thankful to them who are also my predecessors. They have guided me all these years and I am grateful for that. Today marks the day of a new leadership but I assure you, that we will always respect our history and stand by it. I am enthusiastic for our future endeavors! Look forward to it!” With that, he toasted to their future success.
The young woman in red was having such wild imagination that she didn’t even realize that the man she was trying to seduce didn’t even look at her. She had only paid attention to his body positioning. That he was facing her direction and not away. But even so, she made it so her eyelashes fluttered seductively and appeared coy, she didn’t notice that his eyes went over her head instead.“Let’s go.” His deep voice shot inside her ears, and down to her loins.‘It worked! It really worked! He’s taking me somewhere! Hahahaha Take that Diana! With just one move I have conquered him!’Lucas moved forward. She continued her act, lifting her hand for him to take, a seductive smile played on her lips.All of a sudden, she realized he didn’t take her outstretched hand. He had moved past her. She looked up to ask him where he was going without her. Ins
“Since when did the hospital become only for crazy people?” Katherine bit back. She stood close to Diana.“You! I’m not talking to you! Who do you think you are?!” Elyse slammed her palm against the table, shaking it.The wine in front of Diana almost spilled if not for Lucas's quick reflex and took it off the table.“Sir, please take her to the hospital. We wouldn’t want to be responsible for her alcohol toxicity.” Diana looked Remus in the eye. She has recognized him from the University.Remus nodded. “Yes, umm.. I apologize for this.”He held Elyse’s arm, attempting to take her away.“Let go of me..!” She protested.“That’s enough! Follow me obediently!” He shot her a glare.“Let go! You’re not my dad! I don&
“What was that about?”“Who was that woman?”“I think I know. She was screaming about having Lucas with her.”“Wait. Wait. I was in the bathroom just now. What happened? Did I miss it? I heard there was some spectacle going on here.. What was it about?”“Ah.. It’s about Lucas Ingram and a woman..”“Diana?”“No, different woman. I’m not familiar with her face.”“Oh my! Was Lucas Ingram cheating on Diana already???!”“Noooo! Did I say that? No, I did not. And sush..you’re going to get us in trouble with that mouth of yours..”“Geezz.. Then make it clear then.. What exactly happened?”“Tsk.. Listen well. Lucas and his family were sitting
It has been a week since Sterling was introduced as the new President of Forrest Hospital. His mother Priscilla now stays home and visits Lillian in their ancestral house or roam around doing some shopping, or catching up with friends. She was not considered old yet. But she was able to retire early knowing that the hospital is in good hands.For Sterling, there was only a slight shift of responsibility. All the things he’s doing now are what he has been doing since a year ago and even before that.There was no question that he would inherit the position of President of Forrest Hospital.Now that he’s in position, he has been swamped by stacks of documents needed to be signed or looked over. Investors keep seeking an appointment with him in hopes of a partnership. A long list of businessmen awaited his audience so they could pitch their proposal to him.They were banking on the fact that
“Thank you for the coffee..” Sterling flashed his dazzling smile.“My pleasure..”He was about to walk to the counter to pay for his coffee and sandwich when she stopped him. “Ah.. It’s on me today. As Congratulations.”“Oh.. I appreciate it but I wouldn’t feel at ease if I let you do that.” He moved to get his wallet out of his suit pocket.“No, please. Truly, please allow me to do this. Next time, you can pay..” She smiled amiably.“Alright. Next time then..” He nodded at her. “A pleasure to meet you..”“You too..” She bid him farewell as he left her coffee shop.Sterling went back to the hospital and went directly to his office.His assistant, Damian came in. “Coffee, sir?”&nbs
Camelia Lockridge looked at her employee intently. She had just hired her not long ago. So far, she has been acting professionally. Before she hires employees, she would always do background checks and since Kelsey passed, there’s really no reason for her to be hard on her. “How do you plan to pay him? You have to understand that it was also probably hard for him to come up with that money himself, and to have that disappear..” “I understand that ma’am. I could pay him in installments if he would agree. I will get another job so I can do that.” Kelsey had a determined look on her face that touched Camelia. She nodded. “Alright. Then how about this, I will promote you to manager and raise your salary. But you have to really take care of this store for me. If you’ll agree, we will draft a contract so you can work under me for a period according to the money I will lend you so you can pay him sooner.” “Ma’am?” She blinked up at her in confusion. “I will let you borrow money from me s
Sterling had stopped walking. Although he was facing forward, his ears were focused on listening to the conversation on the side.The female employees have been talking so animatedly that they didn’t notice their boss eavesdropping on them.“Wait, so what really happened? Can you start from the beginning?”“Fine. So a patient came in and she was pregnant. She came with a man whom even I thought was her husband because they’ve been calling each other hubby and wifey. When the medical assistant was taking their information, she mistakenly assumed that they were wed. It turns out that they’re still boyfriend and girlfriend.”“What’s so strange about that though?”“The strange thing came after. As they were leaving, they met an acquaintance. Actually, she was the acquaintance of the man, through someone else.”
The store has not opened yet and Camelia’s cafe was already occupied.Camelia, Kelsey, Atty. Lincoln Wright and Aiden Whelan gathered around the table as the lawyer explained to Aiden the clauses of the contract.Before Aiden arrived, the lawyer had already explained the other contract to Kelsey to which she had already signed.Now, Aiden listened patiently. What’s important for him is to be able to afford the surgery and hospitalization of his wife. As long as his wife is alright, he can patiently wait for Kelsey to pay him back.“I want you to know that I am not chasing her solely because she is her parents’ daughter. It’s because they had signed a deal with me and told me to look for their daughter in case something happens to them before they’re able to pay me back.”Kelsey jolted in surprise. “Come again? They signed what?!&rdq
Lillian, Ernest and the rest arrived at the airport and were quickly assisted through the process. They were able to leave the airport and head to their residence easily. Adrian looked around and saw that everything seemed strange in his eyes. Nothing was familiar to him. It was when they were finally close to the mansion when he recognized the structure. He had dreamt of this place so many times. It had become hazy at some point. But now, he could see that this was more or less the place he lived in before he was taken. It had some new additions along with other changes such as the paint and the landscape design. But the overall structure was the same. As they entered the gates, he saw that there were a lot of people outside of the house. They were lined up even in this cold weather. Most of them seemed to be wearing uniforms under their black coats. The only ones who looked different than the others were the three couples and two young men. “Ah.. Everyone’s here.” Emma smiled
Adrian and Violet were apprehensive when they saw the big plane that they were going to ride on.Fortunately for them, they were flying through the private plane of the Lovell family, else, they would be even more embarrassed by the way they were acting.To their memory, this was their first time being on any plane.That simply was not true for Adrian, as the family had gone on vacations before that needed the plane. It’s just that this memory may have been forgotten by Adrian already.As for Violet, this was her first ever flight.They at least knew what a plane was.They were only anxious as to how they would feel once they’re already up in the air.Lillian and the rest tried to distract them from these thoughts.Hugh and Leroy offered them some wine and snacks.Emma and Priscilla showed them the movies they could watch on the screen in front of their seat.Lillian especially made sure they felt warm and comfortable, giving them blankets and pillows, showing them how to recline thei
“Yes, Dad. Alright–Mn..Goodnight.” Lucas said to Hugh on the phone.Hugh had called him to let him know that they would be heading back in the morning with Adrian and his friend, Violet.Hugh and Leroy’s secretaries have received updates regarding a background check on Violet’s family.They’ve decided to let Violet stay with the Lovell family as a guest.In the residence, there’s usually only the elders living with their staff. Usually, it would be busier during holidays and if there are any special occasions. In those times, everyone would gather in the residence and stay in their rooms reserved for them.Lillian and Ernest have held out hope that Adrian would return to them so they never thought of letting anybody else use it.Lillian would personally clean it and it was only in the later years that she let her staff help her.She wanted to preserve whatever remaining scent Adrian had left.There were times when she would burst out in tears, realizing that she could no longer recall
Soon, the driver, John Garcia, pulled up outside of the hotel where Lillian and the rest were staying.Adrian was no longer as anxious as he was half an hour ago, still he could still remember the bullets trying to penetrate through the car and the explosion after those goons’ cars had collided.Detective Jones glanced at him, noticing how pale Adrian was.Still, he commended him for not breaking down and not getting in their way.And also, because of him, they were able to rescue so many people who have been missing for years.Perhaps the Mayor might even think of rewarding Adrian because of his contribution.At the moment though, it was inappropriate to bring it up, given what the man had just experienced.So after escorting them to the hotel, Detective Jones left them, joining the other Officers with the rescued people.It was a field day for the reporters, gathering outside the police department.On the televisions of most households, they showed several people with their heads lo
As John Garcia was driving the car forward, everyone in the car held their breaths.They already knew that those people were Mortimer’s men. They could only play along for now, hoping for them to think that Adrian was in the other cars.But then–that possibility is very low.The black car they’re in was far from ordinary upon close inspection.And like clockwork, shots rang.Adrian ducked, covering his head with his arms.John Garcia gripped the steering wheel while Howard Dawson and Detective Jones cocked their guns.A voice of one of the policemen came on the comms. “Keep going. Follow the second group!”No matter what, they couldn’t let Adrian and the people who had just been rescued be in Mortimer’s hands again.John Garcia didn’t hesitate and quickly sped on.Mortimer’s men have picked the road where there’s only farm crops on each side, the road only leading one way.The city was still quite far so blending in or hiding in some alleyway would still be impossible.For now, they s
The drive was calm, with John Garcia, the driver not making any stops if he could help it.The car could drive even without gas as it can run on solar power.It could be recharged at a charging station, could store gas and could be powered through solar. This is all thanks to the upgrades done by the Lovell Technologies.With the drive being calm, Adrian fell to sleep.Even Detective Jones dozed off as well, his head hitting the window a couple of times.An hour into the drive, the car suddenly beeped in alarm.Adrian and Detective Jones groaned, having been woken up by the alarm.“What is it? What’s happening?” Detective Jones asked.“There seems to be an accident up ahead.” John Garcia answered, pointing at the GPS shown on the screen in front of him.“Is there another road we can take?” The bodyguard, Hoyt Cole asked.“This is the only road back to Westbury..” John Garcia answered.“Maybe the road is not totally blocked–” Detective Jones said.“Alright then–we’ll keep going..”“Sta
After canvassing the full layout of the building and accounting the number of people inside, Detective Jones and the other Officers made their strategic plan.An hour later, they made their move.Adrian was made to stay in the car while he viewed their perspective from the tablet device.He was given eyes for different cameras. Two more Officers were also monitoring it from their tablet devices.They compared every person found to the sketches from Adrian’s description of the people held captive. And also of the ones Adrian said were the people who ordered them around.Adrian watched as the trained Officers infiltrated the area covertly.CCTV cameras were hacked and made to play the same view over and over again.They knocked out the guards with tranquilizers, making sure they wouldn’t be waking up so soon.They were separated into groups. One made way to the sleeping quarters of the captives, another entered the main building, and another surrounded all possible exits.There were onl
Adrian held her hand, squeezing it.At that moment, Hugh returned to the room and was startled by the silence.“What happened?” He asked. His eyes wandered to Violet who now had her head lowered, her hand covering her eyes and her shoulders shaking.‘Is she crying?’ His brows furrowed.“Violet just remembered what happened that time when she was taken away.” Emma summarized it for him.He nodded. “By the way–I’ve just received information just now. Violet–it has something to do with you. If this is not a good time, I won’t say it.”She looked up, quickly wiping her tears with the cloth napkin.“No, please, I want to hear it.”Hugh nodded.“What is it, Hugh?” Emma asked.“It’s about her family.”They all glanced at Violet, gauging her reaction.“I remember–my mother died that time.” She said.Hugh nodded, confirming what she had remembered.Her heart fell. Deep inside, she was hoping that she was wrong. That she remembered it wrongly.Tears continued to fall down her cheeks. The napkin
Knock. Knock.“I’ll go get it..” Emma said.She opened the door and saw her younger brother, Adrian.“Ah.. Adrian.. What is it?”Adrian was startled.He stepped back to check if he knocked on the correct room or not.“You have something you need from Violet?” She smiled.His brows shot up. “Oh. Um–I was going to bring her to the dining room.”“Ah.. I see. Well, just in time. We’re done here as well.” Emma smiled. She turned her head and called over. “Come on you two..”“Okay!” Priscilla said. “Let’s go Violet..”Priscilla brought Violet over.Adrian was struck for a moment when he saw Violet.He had never seen her so dolled up.Her hair was beautiful and so is her overall look. Her face was even more beautiful than usual.Violet’s head hung as her cheeks blushed bright red.Adrian cleared his throat.“Let’s go..” Adrian tilted his head.“Mn.” Violet nodded.