Chapter 94 "You said you wanted to tell me something, Sir," Shirley asked Tate as she stared at him with curiosity written all over her. After she confessed her feelings to him last two days, she has been doing her best to avoid him, but it didn't work today because he caught up with her before she could run for her life. He had walked into the kitchen this morning and dragged her out to the garden wordlessly. "Yeah, I have something to tell you. About what you said last two days..." "It's fine, Sir. I already told you to let it go. I only said that to get it off my head, and not because I wanted you to reciprocate the feeling. I'm fine, seriously," She cuts him off, and he rolled his eyes as he covered the distance between them, tucking his hands inside his pockets. "Why should I forget it because you are asking me to?" He asked as he leaned forward, towering over her. For the next few seconds, her breath hitched and her heart raced so fast that she thought it wou
Chapter 95 "Ugh!" Mason groaned and ran his fingers through his hair frustratingly. Having Charity's image living in his head, her thoughts haunting her every damn second was already driving him crazy, and he would lose it anytime soon. "Just confess to him and stop being a dickhead, man," His subconscious mind said to him, and this time, he gave in. It didn't matter if he ended up getting rejected, but what mattered was to confess his feelings and get it off his mind. "Yes! That's what you should do," He muttered. His working hours soon ended, and he drove out of the company. The drive to the florist store wasn't long, so he arrived soon and headed into the store. "Are you going to propose to your girlfriend?" The florist, a woman in her mid-sixties asked him with a bright smile on his face as he tried to figure out the type of flower to buy. "Hmm. She's not my girlfriend yet. I'm trying to confess my feelings to her. What type of flower do you think I sho
Chapter 96Days later "How was your day?" Aliyah asked him as she watched him eat slowly, and he raised his gaze with a smile lingering on his face. "It was fine but stressful," He replied to her, and she nodded her head. "Sorry about that. Do you want me to massage you?" She asked as she stood up, but he quickly shook his head. "You shouldn't stress yourself, please. The baby will be hurt if you are," He quickly refused, and she rolled her eyes. "You are always using this baby to make me lazy," She whined as she glared hard at him, and he doubted if she wasn't the same woman that almost made him die of frustration some days ago. "You need to rest," He said to her, regardless. "Hmm. Did you hear from Mason? It has been a while since he was last here," She asked him as she leaned forward, supporting her chin with her palm while having her elbow on the table. "Yes, I did," He replied to her, and she nodded her head. "Our wedding is in two days, bu
Chapter 97 "I'm scared, Tate," Shirley uttered nervously, biting her bottom lip. "You shouldn't be, ok?" He whispered as he held her cheeks in his palms, assuring her. "What if your Mom doesn't want me? What if she says that I'm not good enough for you?" She asked him worriedly, but he rolled his eyes and held her hands. "Come on... Don't think about it," Again, he gave her hope which he knew deep inside him that it was false hope. Aside from the fact that he wasn't sure of his feelings for her, he knew his mom would never be in support of them being together, but he'd rather be with her than Emily. It was like a nightmare he would never wish to come true. "Hmm," She finally nodded her head and took a deep breath. "Do I look ok?" She asked him, checking herself out in the mirror in his room, and he scoffed. "Of course, you look good. You look too good," He assured her, and she took a deep breath. "I'm really scared, Tate. Your mom, what if she..."
Chapter 98 Nina checked her wristwatch for the umpteenth time and scoffed unbelievably. "Is he really going to stand me up and not show up?" She mumbled and rolled her eyes. Of course, she knew he wouldn't dare to do that, knowing what she was capable of doing. As said the previous day, Nina has been waiting for Knox at the restaurant they met at yesterday night as scheduled, but he was yet to be here. "Do you want to place your order, ma'am?" The waiter that just walked up to her asked, and she smiled at him brightly. "Sure. Just get me a glass of wine. That will do for now," She replied to him, and he bowed before he left to get her order, and barely a minute after he left, he returned with a glass of wine and served her. Seconds slowly ticked into minutes and the footsteps drawing close behind her made her scoff. "You finally came. I thought you were not going to show up, but I knew you would, anyway. Why won't you show up when you know what I'm capable
Chapter 99 Knox's ringing tone pulled him out of his deep slumber, and he groaned tiredly as he reached out for it, swiping the answer button without checking who the caller was. "He...hello Sir... This is Becca, Mr. Daniel's personal maid," Hearing the feminine voice quivering from the other end, he sprang up to a sitting position as his eyes suddenly cleared of sleep. "What happened? Is Grandpa ok?" He asked as he glanced at the wall clock and found out that it was midnight. "Mr. Daniel's... I don't know what happened. He...he...he was shot... I found him bleeding in his room," She shrieked from the other end, and his eyes slowly narrowed as he raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean? What happened to him?" He gulped down the lump that formed in his throat, and Aliyah was forced to wake up from her deep sleep this time, sitting beside him on the bed while wearing a confused expression. "You need to hurry to the hospital right away. He has been taken to the
Chapter 100The world seemed to freeze for seconds and his jaw dropped as he stared at the horrible sight in front of him. He tried to walk over to her, but he was so shocked that he couldn't even move his legs. "Ba...babe? Aliyah?" His voice quivered as he finally managed to push his leg forward, and just like that, he went to squat beside her. He tapped her cheeks gently in a bid to wake her up, but she was already gone. The floor was soaked with her blood, her eyes were closed and her face was already looking pale."No...no... This is not happening," he slowly shook his head as a drop of tears finally dropped from his eyes. Who did this to him? What has he done to deserve this from whoever did this? Those were the questions he asked himself as he picked her up in a bridal style and stormed out of his room, heading downstairs, and once he got to the parking lot, he dropped her carefully on the backseat, hopping on the driver's seat and zooming out of the compound afterward.As he d
Chapter 101"Did you do it, Father?" Janice asked her Dad after she stopped pacing in the living room, but Mr. James scoffed as he rose to his feet."How could you suspect your Dad of such an act? How could I have done that to my own Dad and my nephew's wife?" James yelled at the top of his voice, enraged, but even acting like that didn't convince Janice that he was really innocent."I know you, Dad... I know you more than anyone else does, and I know what you are capable of doing...""Are you saying I tried to kill the two of them? How could you have said such a thing?" He yelled, running his fingers through his hair."I'm not saying you did, Dad. I'm just asking you to tell me the truth. Did you do that? Grandpa is in critical condition right now. Knowing the person won't undo what has happened, but I need to know. What if the cops barge in here now? You know Knox won't let this go...""What are you saying, Janice? Don't you at least trust me? You are the only one I have, so how cou
Chapter 148 Two weeks later Aliyah tossed on the bed for the umpteenth time, lazy to get off the bed. Her eyes felt heavy and her head wasn't exempted from the feeling. "What's this?" She mumbled as she finally managed to sit up on the bed, rubbing her fingers gently on her forehead while groaning in pain. Knox has traveled on a business trip since three days and she was left here by herself all alone. Her Mom only comes by once in a while, and now that Tate's fiancee is pregnant and also they were planning to get married, he didn't have enough time to come by. Mason has been busy with work and his girlfriend too, while Janice and Lee traveled on a honeymoon trip to Italy, so she was left here all alone by herself. "I should've just gone with Knox," she regretted her hesitance to go with Knox when he asked her to. "It's just five days you are going to spend there, so it's fine," She had said to him when he asked her to come with him, but now it felt like he has been gone for thre
Chapter 147A lot has happened in the last few weeks. James and Janice have sorted things out, and even after all the hatred, James realized his mistake and asked Janice for forgiveness, and to make up for everything that has happened in the past, he said he was going to take the blame for all the things Janice has done in the past. Janice was going to turn herself in, but he refused. To him, it was all his fault and he should take the blame for everything and let Janice live her life like nothing happened. Besides, she still had a whole lot ahead of her and he didn't want to be in jail.James was put on trial after series of investigation which all proved that he was the culprit, and found guilty of murder, taking the blame for his daughter and going to jail in her place so she could have a good life ahead. Lisa was also given life imprisonment for the murder of Rebecca's husband and an attempt to kill her husband and stepdaughter, Aliyah. Everything has gone back to the way it used
Chapter 146Aliyah stared at her reflection in the mirror, and as she thought about what happened in these past few months, then she could only be grateful that everything although would remain in her heart forever, was always going to be memories to her.Knowing that everything was over now, she was finally at peace. No reason to worry when her husband leaves the house, no need to worry that some assassin might break into the house and harm her. There was nothing to worry about, but most importantly, having her parents alive and healthy was what she was most grateful for, but it hurts knowing that her stepdad died protecting her Mom. He never deserved to die.The sound of the shower in the bathroom finally stopped after a while, and the door opened, revealing Knox. His body was dripping wet and his hair was damp. He had a white towel wrapped around his waist and a little bulge down there."Hey..." He smiled brightly as he walked over to the closet and picked out his robe, dropping it
Chapter 145"I'm scared, Tate. Are you sure about this?" Shirley asked after they alighted from the car."Come on, I told you that there's no cause to be scared. I'm here for you... We are in this together," Tate cupped her cheek in his palms and assured her, looking into her eyes. As planned, Shirley was going to move in to live with Mrs. Andrews. This was the only thing she could do, she was determined to do it earlier, but now that she was here, her fear was already taking over her. What if her plans fail later? What if she ends up getting thrown out of the house? What if she insists that she can't marry her son? What will become of her."I told you there's nothing to worry about. Why do you look so scared like my Mom is a masquerade," He pinched her cheeks playfully, but deep inside he knew that there was really need for her to be worried knowing the kind of tough person his Mom was."Come on, smile for me," He uttered, and she forced a smile."Wait while I go get your things from
Chapter 144A few days later Knox pulled over at the parking lot of the restaurant and stepped out of the car. He then proceeded toward the entrance door, and found Janice waiting for him as soon as he walked inside. She had texted him yesterday and asked them to meet at the restaurant this morning so they could talk about something important, and that had made him curious since last night as many negative thoughts won't stop coming to his mind. Did she change her mind about turning herself in? That was one of the questions he kept asking himself, but he would soon find out about it, anyway."Hi! Did I keep you waiting?" He asked when he got to where she was seated, pulling out the chair across from her and settling in it."Not really. Good morning," She forced a smile at him, tucking her hair behind her ear. She was cladded in a short black armless gown and a pair of black heels like someone going to a funeral."Why is she dressed in all black? Is she planning to do something evil?"
Chapter 143It was a beautiful morning and a special day for Lee and Janice as it was their first day going out as official couples. Janice stared at her reflection in the mirror, trying everything she could to hold back her tears. It was a great day for her, a day she should push all the negative energies away and focus on her man so they could have fun to the fullest, but knowing that this moment won't last long for them was something she couldn't hold herself back for."It's ok, Janice. You already said you were going to enjoy the remaining days to the fullest. You said that you won't let anything tamper with your joy," She assured herself, fighting back the tears that already brimmed in her eyes."Yeah... There you go," She whispered as she leaned forward and cleaned her tears, adding some makeup to cover up her eyebags."Yes! That is perfect," She forced a smile at her reflection, then took a deep breath."Enjoy your day, baby girl," She said to her reflection and finally left t
Chapter 142A few weeks laterArnaldo has long woken up from coma and has been recovering over the last few weeks, but Rebecca was yet to recover although she has woken up too. Knox has been doing well too.It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and the day set for Arnaldo to go see Lisa in the prison along with Aliyah and Knox.Sitting in front of the mirror and staring at her reflection, Aliyah sighed as the thought of everything that has happened in the last few months played in her head. How they were able to survive until now was still like a miracle she couldn't comprehend, and she could only be grateful to her maker for being there for her all along. If anyone ever told her that the one behind the shit that has happened to her was her stepmom, she would've been the last person to believe it. The woman has always been good to her, and although she was never comfortable being around her, she never gave her any reason to doubt her pure heart toward her. She didn't imagine that she c
Chapter 141Aliyah paced restlessly along the hallway, her eyes filled with tears. Her hair was disheveled as a result of constantly scattering it. She looked horrible, but that was the least of the things she cared about at the moment. Her husband and Mom were in the ER fighting for their lives and she was hoping they'd survive it."Just this once, please... Please spare them for me. Please don't take them away from me," She fell to her knees and prayed silently, hoping he'd prayers would be answered. At least just this once.The sound of her ringing phone pulled her attention, and if not that the call was from her dad's maid, then she wouldn't have answered it. "Ma... ma'am Aliyah... There is a problem. Mr. Arnaldo... Blood... He...he was shot," The feminine voice quivered at the other end, and her heart sank into her stomach. Her jaw dropped."Wh... what did you say?" She stuttered, her lips trembling as she stared into space. No! This is not happening, please. Not now."I came ba
Chapter 140 Mr. Arnaldo paced restlessly along the hospital hallway, worried about Rebecca who was in the ER, fighting for her life. Why was this happening? Who was behind everything that has been happening? He asked himself, running his fingers through his hair, but couldn't come up with any answer, so he sighed deeply. Knox was also present in the hospital, and Aliyah too was worried. She was sitting on the bench and burying her face between her palms, crying her eyes out. She has just lost her foster Dad, and it hurts. "Babe, you need to be strong, ok?" Knox tried to comfort her, sitting beside her and wrapping his arm around her shoulder, but more tears came streaming down her cheeks. "What should I do, Knox? Why is everything falling apart?" She cried, and he wished he could provide an answer to her question. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly, slowly patting her hair assuring her yet again that everything was going to be fine even though it was obvious that t