Elisa There was a forced smile on my face as I looked at Collin. I was trying to be very calm right now. After taking a deep breath, I got up from my seat and walked to him with my hands on my hips. I looked at him with a stiff smile on my face. “Tell me again?” I sighed. “There were mics around the ranch.” he cleared his throat looking at me. “We took all of them down.” He looked at his feet. “No,” I shook my head, “We have been here for almost two days and you are telling me now that someone was listening.” I laughed, “Collin?” I called his name. “Look me in the eye.” I clench my teeth. “I’m sorry,” “Oh, you should,” I spoke behind my teeth with a small laugh. "I'm sick of this shit. I can't catch a break." I whispered to myself. “I was going to do a sweep, but Dario told me to focus on the digging and there was - “ “Hmmm,” I nodded. I began pacing around. Thinking. I held my hands on my hips again and heaved. I hate having headaches. I hate things that give me headaches.
Elisa I thought being with Theo would help me think and relax, but he was being too fussy today. Adding to the other problems I had. I didn’t have time for him at the moment. He was in excellent hands with Linda and Patty. I had adults to deal with. More people to kill. Honestly, people keep testing me knowing the result. I know I shout keep stop the killing because i will end u with no men but I need people who were on my level of understanding. I don't need idiots in my sight. Ace being alive was grating at my insides to a point of no return. He was my biggest threat. The sooner he can die, the better for me. I was mad he survived a deadly explosion. He was supposed to be blown to oblivion. I shouldn't worry because I have a plan. Yes. I smiled. I have a plan. I walked around, swinging my hands back and forth. I lifted my hands in the air and relaxed my shoulders. I will not let this stress me. I'm a badass, and I will be the one taking this empire. My smile widened. Power was
Filip I groaned and tried to call Ruby’s number again and again, but there was no answer. Delta and Solomon were useless; they couldn’t tell me how many men were at the ranch. I thought it was a good plan, but all I did was make Elisa aware. She found out about the hidden audios and she had Ruby. She was trying to torture me, and it was working. I was outside of Arnold’s house taking a moment. Everything around me seemed to move fast and slow. I was feeling useless. The bitch was pissing me off. Everything had all gone to shit. Ace was still unreachable and we do not know if the plane made it or not. My grandfather was a little extreme. They had to drop in the Indian Ocean. Make it look like a crash. A crush in the Indian fucking ocean like it was as simple as clicking my fingers. I don't even want to know how he came up with such and absurd plan. Hs plan could backfire. They could all be dead but I did not want to go there yet. Going there would make it real and I did not want to
Ace I think the only thing that kept me alive during this ordeal was the love I have for my son and wife. I couldn’t leave them in the hands of that insane woman. Nico's plan felt like it was going to lead to our doom, but we made it. Just as he had instructed us, we dropped on the exact coordinates. I will never do something this unhinged again. Not in this lifetime. I almost wanted to tell Nico that we would take our chances and just fly back home because his plan was wild and it felt impossible at the time. I wasn’t on board with the plan because I didn’t know if the deep-sea boats and divers were just waiting around for this moment. It was crazy to even fathom. We could have died. I never prayed intensely, but before I dropped in the ocean, I prayed that I would make it. I prayed for the few men I had left, too. I didn’t want anyone dying after I had assured them that there would be people waiting for us. “We have Lexy.” I looked at him and nodded. Most of us were in the boat
Matt Elisa has won. I give up. I was beaten. Down. Defeated. I was ready to accept my fate, but she has some crazy plans. She was killing off people, but she kept me alive. For what exactly? That question was driving me nuts. She hated me. She wanted to murder me. She made that very clear. She was keeping me alive for something far worse. i could feel it. I was the very core of the family she hated. I was a Torane. I had accepted it. Arnold proved it, so I couldn't deny it. I wanted them dead, but we now had a common enemy. Elisa. She had to be stopped. I saw the door open and watched Diya walk in with her shoulders hunched. My eye was still swollen but I could open it a little. She walked to the bed they had laid me. She was too quiet. “Oh, you are up,” she cleared her throat and quickly turned away from me. “Yeah,” my voice sounded weak. Raspy. “Elisa wants me to clean you up,” she said, and I craned my head. She still had her back on me. She was hiding her face from me. I
Ruby Dave was gone. He was killed by Elisa. This was all my fault. If only I hadn't delayed going back home, he wouldn't have come for me and now he was dead. I wish the ground would swallow me whole with him. I wish I had listened to my uncle when told me to come back home. This was my fault. This nightmare would never end. I don't know what to do with myself anymore. I feel pain. I feel numb. I couldn't believe that people like Elisa existed. She was the Devil's spawn child. She was wicked. Whatever happened to her, I wish God wouldn't forgive her. I wish she burns in hell. Elisa had to die. The burning rage inside me made me want to end her with my bare hands. She needed to be rid of this world. Her existence was too much trouble for people around here. Even her men were not safe from her. She took joy in killing him. Dave never had a chance to speak a word. I watched the color in his face drain. His eyes dimmed. I would never see him again. I beat my head with my fist and poun
Ace It’s been rough. I made it back home. I wish it was at my house, but I had to be taken to my grandfather’s house. There was help waiting for us when we arrived and everyone was taken care of. They also needed rest. “Why are you not resting?” Celeste asked me. “I don’t need to be babied. I have to save my family.” “You won’t do them much good like that,” she added, looking at me. “I know you want to get them back, but can you at least rest? I don’t know,” she shrugged at me. “I will rest once I get my family back,” I said, walking past her. I went to my grandfather’s office. He was with Nico. They were also telling me to rest and get my strength back. There was no time for such nonsense. I was going to sleep and rest when I get my family back. “Ace, shouldn’t you be resting?” Nico asked, and my grandfather looked up at me. “I’m fine. Where is Filip?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him since we arrived. “Sit with us,” my grandfather spoke. I dragged my feet and sat on the empty
Diya “Are you sure I can’t help you?” Linda asked for the second time. “Yes,” I nodded, looking at her, “I’m almost done.” I gave her a weak smile. “Hang in there,” she came and hugged me. She has been doing this every chance she gets. I was glad my son was in her hands. She was doing something I couldn’t do for him. “Your boy will need you soon.” “Mm- hmm,” I managed, a lump in my throat. “You are stronger than you think,” she squeezed again. “Let me check on the young Torane. I will make sure to tell him you love her.” “Thanks, Linda,” i nod. I cleared my throat, hiding a lump that was almost at the surface. I promised myself not to cry, and that was what I was going to do from now on. Tears were not solving anything. I kept my head down. Working like I'm supposed to. I was trying to get everything done so I can rest. My feet were about to give up on me, but I kept working. I was almost finished. I had fed Matt and ate with Ruby. I cleared everything in the kitchen and pl
AceI had just parked the car in the driveway when I got a call from the hospital. Diya was being monitored more extensively than before. I don't understand what went wrong because when we left; she had been fine. The monitors were functioning normally. She didn't cause any distraught to nurse Brenda, and she was doing better than she normally is when we leave.The drive back was harder than I thought because I didn't want to go over the speed limit. Celeste had refused to stay, and we were all going back to the hospital. I did my best to get us back as fast as I could.I didn't wait for them when we were at the hospital because I needed to know exactly how things had changed when all was fine. We spent over two hours with no beeping. I was so proud of her. They both have been doing great. "Mr Torane, you can't go in there.""Why not?" the old nurse rushed and blocked my path"Calm down." "I am calm." I looked at her."Take a deep breath and have a seat. The doctor is with her.""I
Diya"What are you doing out of bed?" Ace sighed, handing the Ezra to my mom."I was beginning to think all of you abandoned me?""And you decided to get out of bed?" he asked.Ace carefully led me to the bed. I huffed and sat back on the same bed I have been couped up in for the past four months."I wanted to walk for a while.""How did you get out of bed?" Ace asked, shaking his head."I can show you how I did it,""No," he sighed, "Stop getting out of bed. Jesus," he whispered under his breath."No swearing in front of the kids," I glare at him before looking at Theo, "Wanna sit next to mommy Theo?" I asked."Daddy said I could hurt you," he looked down at his shoes."Hmm?" I glared at Ace."How are you, dear?" my mother walked closer."Fine," I grit out and looked at Theo, "It's okay, Theo. You can come give mommy a hug. I missed you."Theo looked up, beaming, and ran beside me. He looked up and his father for approval first before he climbed on the bed."Careful with you legs," A
AceI was sitting on a chair watching Diya hooked too many machines. I had left for a while to cool off and came to this development. Something bad kept happening, and I blamed myself. Doctor Bowman had advised me to make my choice soon because they needed to know what to do. I didn't want to make a choice. I wanted both so badly that it hurt. This shouldn't be happening to us. We were fine a few hours ago. "Ace," I looked up and saw my grandfather, "Let's go for a walk.""I want to be with my wife," "I understand, but staring at her like this won't help. Let's take a walk.""The last time I went for a walk, I came back to this," I pointed at my wife."You can't blame yourself for any of this and -""I don't want us talking about this in here." I rubbed my brow."Come then. We can sit outside and talk."I begrudgedly stood. I walked to give my wife a kiss and walked, following my grandfather out. He walked past the chairs. I didn't have the strength to argue, so I walked behind him
AceWhat was I thinking?That’s right, I was not thinking but reacting. Doctor Bowman had suggested that Diya could be pregnant, but we both know she could not be pregnant. She can't because of Elisa. That psycho bitch was still bringing hell to my family.Even now, as I stood and watched the doctor, I knew I should have agreed to forget about this with Diya. Things were great between us. We just welcomed our son. It hasn’t been a day yet, and we were doing an ultrasound for Diya.I ran my hand on my chin, and I watched my wife. I was afraid to look anywhere else. This was going to wreck my wife. I don’t know how I will pick up the pieces. All the words I told her were encouraging, but if I cannot keep my word, then my family would never recover.“Ace,” I heard Diya’s strained voice.I looked at her and grabbed her hand. Nothing was happening, no matter how much he moved. I was not this type of man anymore, but I would have killed this man for making us briefly believe in something we
DiyaAce’s suggestion to have a baby through surrogacy had been so random, and I had been against it because it was soon and Theo was not even five yet. We had struggled with Theo before and the vacation had helped the three of us. We had only got our bearings and bringing another baby seemed like a stretch. It looked impossible, but I was glad he convinced me I agreed.Watching Ace turn into this big teddy was worth this. His happiness made me see how much he wanted a huge family. I don’t mind or feel hurt that I can’t carry children because we have options. Options I would gladly be open to doing again soon. This house was still small for us four alone.I fished my phone from my pocket and took a photo. It was adorable seeing him and Theo together, watching the baby sleep. I couldn't get over such cuteness. We had been worried Theo would be jealous, but he was happier and always asking to hold his little brother Ezra.I was surprised too because we hadn’t discussed baby names. My gr
AceI was watching Theo ride his bicycle. He has been growing up so fast. Every day, he seemed to grow an inch. I had missed two years with him and I don't think I was ready to see him grow older yet. I wish I could freeze time and get as much of him like this as I can.“Are you looking, daddy?” he shouted, looking back. "Look! See!"“Watch where you are going. You will crash.” “Are you looking?” he asked again.“Theo, watch out,” I sighed when he almost hit a guard, but he stopped his bike. “Move! Move! Move!” he shouted.“Theo?” I called, “What do you say?”“Please,” he pouted.“That’s my boy.”I smiled and watched him move his bike around again. My phone rang in my pocket before I could answer. Theo shouted again. “Daddy, you are not watching.” "We are on our way,” I responded on the phone quickly and hung up.I smiled and looked back at Theo, but he was not on his bike and he was walking to me with a frown on his face. I smirked and raised my brow. This boy was me in every sen
Diya One year later, I paused and stared at the long table set before me that was filled with laughter. I smiled and looked around, my heart relieved. The past couple of months, if not years, since the night I saw Ace kill were rough. Ace slid his hand under the table to lace mine before he leaned in closer to my ear. “You okay?” he asked as he kissed my cheek. “I’m okay,” I smiled at him as I looked around the table before looking at him, my eyes shining, “How can I not be happy?” “Mommy,” Theo screamed and my head snapped to him, but I wasn’t frightened because we were safe. We had been safe for a while now. “Faster, run faster Theo. Make the old man sweat.” Ace shouted beside me and I shook my head. Theo was running as Arnold chased him around the table, making everyone around the table laugh harder. My grandparents who I had finally met were sitting at the table laughing at something my mother had said. “Sorry guys we are late,” Ruby walked in with Filip in tow. “Slow down
Ace I opened my eyes and looked at the blinding light. I closed my eyes trying to speak, my throat dry, like someone had forcefully shoved a sandpaper through. As the sound pierced my ears, I tried to speak, but my heart rate spiked and I couldn't. The next thing I saw were people towering over me. It took me a few seconds to remember everything that had happened. Elisa. The shoot out. Matt, the fight. Diya. I tried to shove the people off me and get up. I needed to see her. Someone held my shoulders, and I felt a push back. Two people came on both sides to hold me down, as I was still fighting them. I have no idea how long I was like this, but I need all the tubes and wires off me. I was fighting a losing battle. I could feel whatever drug they had injected in my veins, and I relaxed. The pain I had felt earlier was fading slowly. The machines quieted down as I unintentionally closed my eyes. ***** The next time I opened my eyes, I was reclined, not laying flat on my back anymor
Ruby The metal benches at the hospital are colder than the howling wind outside. I got up and paced as I bit my nails. I was trying to think of everything and how it all went wrong. The doctors had said nothing. Things were looking bad. I tried to think of something else. Filip seemed aloof toward me. He looked at me as if it was my fault. I wiped the tears away. It was my fault. I was the only one who was still walking. Most people I knew were dead, hurt, or fighting for their lives. The emergency room swarmed with people in a short period. My breath hitched as I clung to the wall, trembling like a leaf. My legs felt weak before I saw Celeste walk in with the armed men. “Ruby,” she ran to me. “What is happening?” I whispered in my weak voice. "Are we still in danger?" “Where are my grandsons?” I was blinking and looking around as Celeste held me and helped me to have a seat. I looked at the men as the flashes of my first encounter with Elisa rushed through my head. All the p