"Sir, you called?" The Mears corporation P.R. manager stood before his boss, his deep voice reverberating in the silent room. Deathly silent, save for Ginger's loud voice outside the office sprouting business terms and talking to a client over the phone.
Ricky gestured him to a seat, bracing his suit-clad elbow on the table. His eyes reeked of impatience and anger, and the man cowered as he sat before him.
"Wellington, do I pay you pounds to seat in the office and enjoy the relaxation?" Ricky began, his eyes burrowing into his.
"No Sir. I...I know this is about the article that was just released. We're doing something about it already." His voice was shaky, and it immediately was far from his mind to tell this man that his name was Wilson Tony, not Wellington.
"Doing something about it, and Kimberly is already scheduling press conferences and threatening to press charges for assault."
The red-haired
When Jade returned to the mansion after a tired but productive day, she rang the doorbell twice before Somto opened it, wiping her wet hands on her apron and making to take her bag.She had once installed a device that would simply enable her punch in the security code and the door would open. It was better than having to inconvenience Somto, but well, Esmeralda had simply happened and she had been forced to uninstall it."No it's okay. Is Chloe here yet?" Jade asked, shifting the bag away from her reach. Somto nodded, and so Jade didn't go straight to Esmeralda's room as she did whenever she came back, but instead made for the dinning, smiling when she saw her sister very focused on a plate of food.As soon as Chloe looked up and saw her sister, she stilled visibly, dropping her fork and standing awkwardly. Jade moved fast and engaged her in an embrace so tight that Chloe almost felt crushed.&nbs
Chloe shook her head. "No. That was the height of it Jade. He didn't break up with me. He suggested we go for therapy. Shit, I wish he had called me a bitch, but no, he just had to suggest I go for a freaking therapy, because I need help.""So did you go for it? The therapy?" It was like a session, only that this time, the counsellor had plates of food in front of her, and took her time chewing, before uttering a word. "No I didn't. I broke up with him, because I couldn't bear to be with him anymore knowing I had cheated on him. Jade, I am helpless, I just want to change, to be someone Peanut will be proud to call her mother. That's impossible right?"Jade smiled, shaking her head twice. "No it's not, if you work on it. So you've just been in U.S. for the past three months, brooding? No wonder you lost weight."Chloe forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I met someone
Ricky scrolled through his feeds again for the umpeetenth time that morning, confusion marring his forehead. His eyes were fixated to his laptop, his shoulders slumped in confusion.His P.R. manager had returned the day before stuttering that they hadn't been able to take down all the posts since people had only increased their mode of spreading them.It had been a ranking harshtag on Instagram, and a trending topic on Facebook. He had kept receiving hate messages and had had to go offline for a while.But now, he had woken up to every article on the issue cleared, the trending topics being the model, Loiusa Charlie who was advertising yet another lingerie. He had immediately contacted the manager had already planned the fire, only to receive a negative response. He hadn't pulled it down.Which brought him to the question of who could possibly wield such power.Now, the P.R. stood
J.K. Raymonds walked into the conference hall of the Mears corporation, removing her mind from everywhere it decided to wander that morning. Yes, she had avoided Ricky for two weeks, had sent a representative to attend every meeting that had to do with the company, but that didn't mean she missed him right? Now that she had hopefully fully convinced her mind of that, could her hands kindly stop shaking and giving her the creeps? She took in a deep breath and pushed the doors open, recognising the voices of the board, especially the Huan Juan Asian woman she respected a lot. "Good morning ma'am... Sorry, Ms. Raymonds." Ginger greeted, leading her to the seat usually reserved for her- at the edge, directly opposite Ricky. She did the first thing she could think of; take a deep breath, and fixed the smile she had perfected so well.He scowled in return, and turned his face away from her. Okay gre
If Jade hadn't clearly heard the words come from the chairman of the Mears corporation board, she would have concluded that Ricky had had a hand in it. Wait, what if he had? No, virtually no one outside the holders of top positions in her corporation knew that she modelled the Raymonds corporation products herself under a pseudonym, which left her to look at them with an expression that said she already knew they were guilty. To her surprise and yet relief that they hadn't betrayed her nor violated the contract of non disclosure agreement they had signed, they shook their heads twice; they weren't guilty.She glanced at Ricky, his eyes were on her, but they were unreadable, expressionless, betraying nothing but coldness, indifference. He seemed to have hated her.She felt hurt, but tapped her fingers on the table, speaking up. "Now why would you think of such a thing sir?" Jade asked, ignoring the shar
Ginger's fingers and dimming of the hall made her eyes and mind go away from Ricky and his troubles, to focus on the screen. Her heart pounded as pictures of her modelling lingeries, cocktail, dinner, party dresses and professional wears, with her back or side to the camera were displayed on the screen. There were pictures of her long shapely spotless legs modelling foot wears and others, so many Ginger couldn't scroll down anymore.Heavens help him, but he felt the temperature of the room go up by a number of degrees. He was conversant with different models, had dated a handful of them as well, but he admitted to himself that Louisa... J.K. Raymonds was a spec. Her body was fucking banging, and he wondered again why she hid her identity.Was it because she wanted to maintain her principled personality and felt it was degrading pf her reputation to have her body exposed to international magazines?But for some reason, he didn'
Ricky Mears woke up with a start. It wasn't because he hadn't woken up with a warm body beside him and legs wrapped around his; he had stopped calling Lilian after three days, not just because he felt himself remain limp and unable to quench his desire in the last three nights they were together, but also because he could not look at her perfectly well shaped body without comparing her with the other tanned skin woman who had awoken more desires in him than he couldn't release himself from.And damn had he tried to relieve himself of the throbbing ache in his groin and failed to attain that height of release except when he imagined Jade's eyes filled with ecstasy, her back arched as she reached her climax.He had fucking become insane, a complete goner for Jade who consumed his thoughts and made his heart beat in excitement whenever he did as much as remember her.At the end, he'd had to stop having sex with Lilian, and ended it wit
The scorching skin-itching heat welcomed the two CEOs to their destination, and even before the automated voice in the flight announced that they had arrived, they knew, that they had arrived in Dubai, where scorching heat and hot sun mated to become one."Fasten your seatbelts, we're about to land." The female voice spoke again, and Ricky glanced at Jade who sat a little distance away from him to know if she was still asleep.Just as he had been stealing glances at her for the past few hours.He had to admit he had been surprised when she arrived at the airport where the jet had been parked in a private space with her assistant and the airline staff behind her carrying her luggage, before she explained that her pilot and engineer hadn't been aware that the new private jet she had purchased had broken down.He was pleased with the development, and at the same time mad at himself for being happy to be clo
She made his emotions a huddle of cacophony, pushing him into that state of euphoria and ecstatic madness and hunger. It was a kiss that expressed the feeling of raw desire which was mutual between them; unquenching thirst for each other driving them both, leading the way, making them mere passengers in the ride to Nirvana. He cuddled her neck, kissing her lips like the drink he had wanted, needed to be alive for a long time. He had missed her, and so had she, and they told this to one another without uttering a word. Their lips were the words, their touches every proof each needed to know how the other felt about them. It was he who broke the kiss, having been reminded by the medicine he inhaled on her neck that she was convalescing. He fought hard not to remember her fall, that traumatising memory being replaced by the reality of her finally being in his arms. He wasn't panting for breath, but his chest was heaving up and down, his pupils dilated wi
Ricky gulped down his second cup of coffee for the night, the bitterness of the strong black coffee making him clench his teeth. It was just as he had requested for it; black, strong. Yet he felt like calling the staff to ask for a change. But it was exactly what he needed at the moment after being awake for a long long time. It was either that or he would sleep all the way to the U.S. without taking care of the urgent issues which awaited him. He checked the time by his watch, wondering why his assistant was delaying with his luggage. Not that he couldn't travel without his bags anyway considering that he could simply buy everything he needed when he got home, but there were documents he needed to sign as well before leaving. Documents like placing a ban on the P.I. in every country of the world for daring to cross him. He would ensure that although the man could live his life however he wanted without being arrested by the police, he would never be
"But before I say anything, I request that we watch the Homestead news first." Ricky added, and then reclined against the seat while the news anchor switched the TV on.Annabelle who was holding the remote, her heart in her chest switched channels, and they watched as another presenter came into view."We are here with information regarding Mr. Patrick Raymonds, whose offences of using the company as a font for his illegal activities recently went viral."Jade inhaled a deep breath, licking her lips nervously. At this point, the world had already got to know about what she had tried to protect for years, and so emphasising it in a TV didn't ache her anymore as much as she had thought it would."Based on the evidence we have gathered so far, it has been confirmed that Mr. Raymonds forced his wife, the late Prima Donna to sign the company rights over to him, and then started using the company to aid drug traffickers in their activities."The presente
She rubbed her stomach for the umpteenth time, that completely flat abdomen of hers that had served as a habitant for food and drinks...Now carried a child, one created from her and Ricky.She now had responsibility for two; whatever she did would affect the tiny foetus probably struggling to mature into a baby.She wanted to cry, again."Say ahh, Jade."She forced her mouth open, accepting the porridge oats that Chloe held out to her. Now, she couldn't refuse to eat anymore, because one other tiny human would be affected as well.Chloe reached out to wipe the corner of her mouth which the oat had spilled on, and then scooped another spoonful of the porridge.For the past three days since she had woken up, Chloe had been taking care of her during the day, while Annabelle stayed with her at night, during which her sister returned to spend the night with Esmeralda.It had felt strange at first, being at the receiving end o
The last time he had got drunk, and drowned himself in a pool of alcohol because he needed to forget everything that had to do with reality, it had been the night he'd seen Jade with Rafferty at the restaurant, the night he had made the mistake of sending the red haired Kimberly to the floors and Jade had looked at him with those hard eyes.Tonight, he was here because his girlfriend and mother of his child hated him; because he had made another mistake of causing her reputation to be ruined, and killing the trust she had in him.."One more round, sir?" The bartender asked, staring at the empty glasses that Ricky had drained down his throat with skepticism."Yeah, fill everything up.""Just two glasses will do, Robert." Another voice intervened, that familiar teasing voice that Ricky had grown up having beside him."Okay, sir." The bartender replied, without making any pretence of feeling confused about whose order to take. When the owner of the ba
'Some time' became interpreted from hours to days, during which Ricky never left her side. It didn't matter how many times he received calls that the scandal was affecting his stocks as well because he and Jade had openly declared their relationship. Neither did it matter that in the expansive VIP room, Annabelle, Chloe who arrived the morning after the accident and Kiara took turns there as well, and urged him to go home even if it was for a day. He cleaned her every morning and night, his palm lingering on her stomach which was still so flat he still felt it was a dream that his baby was growing there. Outside, security was tightened both in front of her room and the entire hospital as well. Because the media was still outside, camping like locusts and waiting for either him or Jade to come out and give an interview. They had continued writing shit of course, stating that she must have hidden in the hospital room to avoid being prosecuted. B
"You didn't know she's pregnant?" Those were the doctor's first words when he announced after the first examination and scan that mother and child were safe. It had been followed by silence, throwing open of lips like a box of cookies and the question, 'Pregnant?' "No, no..." He muttered, shock gripping him whole. With the help of Kiara, he had carried her to the back of his home where Jade's chauffer had been waiting. Well, waiting for a healthy boss walking with her both legs and seething in anger, not being carried to the car by a crying man soaked in a flood of her blood. She had been admitted into the VIP floor immediately, and sent to the ER where she had been examined and scanned. Now, the good family doctor of his who was attending to her stood in front of him. "It's okay, Ricky. She'll be fine okay? Just get a change of clothes while we prepare for surgery, there's nothing you can do here anyway." The fuck he would have the co
After a while, she excused herself slid off the bed, her actions so calm it scared him so much. More than he could ever explain. He watched her pick up her phone and type some messages, before wiping the tears in her cheeks as though they encompassed a salty liquid of annoying flies rather than evidence of her pains. Then she walked to the closet, and pulled out her office wear. "Babe... Babe please, where are you going? The reporters must be outside." He dared to ask, standing and walking towards her as well. "I already asked my assistant to send for my chauffer. He will pick me up through the back gate. Is that okay by you?" "Fuck" he cursed beneath his breath, it was the tone of sheer politeness and emptiness, worse than the one she had used when they had first met. In desperation, he rushed towards her and wrapped his arms around her from the back, burying his head in her neck. "Jade please, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for l
She went deathly pale, green veins popping up visibly on her forehead, and spreading across her shaky palms; teeth clenched tightly together; lips quavering as her eyes failed to focus on a particular object. Seeing that she wasn't going to tell him anything, and that she kept hanging up on callers, Ricky took the phone from her, his heart skipping when his palms made contact with hers. Hers had gone cold like those of a person who had ceased to breathe and function normally. He read the information online as quickly as he could; it had exposed every damn thing about her family and business from Esmeralda's parentage, Chloe and the sleazy bastard who had denied the pregnancy, all the way to her father's crimes while in power as the CEO of the Raymonds corporation. He had committed all sorts of atrocities; using the company as a font for his illegal drug trafficking activities and their warehouses to aid female trafficking. And Jade was being accused o