Stacy sat gracefully at a table for two in the private diner that she had reserved for her and Carlton, her delicate fingers tracing invisible patterns on the linen tablecloth, with many thoughts running through her mind. Her gaze often drifted towards the entrance in anticipation for him to arrive, practicing in her head how she would break the news of her pregnancy to him, and the expression he would have on his face. The laughter and joy they would share, and how he would shower her with kisses and love. However, her mind suddenly wavered to the meeting she had with Carlton's grandfather earlier that day during her lunch break at a private, which took her countless self-assurance to acknowledge, while thinking nonstop about why he suddenly contacted her. She remembered the stifling atmosphere the meeting started with, and each progression worse than the last minute. His words echoed in her mind from their conversation, and reality had flashed before her that she couldn't just h
“What was that about?!” Carlton stormed into the building where Marilyn texted to him, and he found her sitting comfortably on one of the seats there, and a soft gasp escaped her lips as soon as she raised her eyes to see the figure that made his way in. “You came?” Her eyes glimmered as her lips split into a bewildered smile, because she was not expecting to see Carlton that fast. She dropped the glass of whiskey that she was drinking on the stool beside her and stood up on her feet, as she began to make her way closer to where he was standing. “I just asked you a question!” He firmly stated, his eyes narrowing to slit as his face bunched into a disgusted sneer the more he looked at her face. “At least take a seat. Then we can talk then,” Marilyn moved closer as she tried to touch him, but he retreated instantly with a sneer on his face, feeling so repulsed that she wanted to touch him. ‘How dare she?’ “Can you just be serious?!” his jaws clenched as he struggled to contain h
Liam was sitting impatiently in the waiting room that was attached to the dressing room on a velvet chair, his eyes fixed eagerly on the tablet that was before him as he scrolled across the screen lazily. He couldn't be bothered less about what was going on at the moment, his eyes momentarily darting to the Patek Phillipe that was clasped around his wrist. Slowly, the doors to the dressing room parted open, and a gorgeous lady emerged from the room, dressed in a voluminous white dress of exotic lace with beading appliques made from tiny diamonds, which enveloped her slender frame with elegance and beauty. She had chosen the most expensive and luxurious one of all. “Sir, your bride is here. Isn't she gorgeous?” The voice of one of the assistants who had dressed Evelyn interrupted the stillness in the air, and his eyes raised to see her twirl and preen before him. His expression remained stoic and unmoved, his eyes, cold and distant, which betrayed the inner turmoil that churned withi
“Are you okay, Stace?” Hudson asked his sister in concern, taking his time to observe her as she sat in his dining room. He suddenly received a call from her that she was in the city, and requested that he come to pick her up from the airport. All evening since she arrived with a portable traveling box, she had not said anything, and just asked to be served all kinds of food that was available. “Of course I am,” Stacy incessantly wolfed down more food like she had not eaten all day, without even looking at the face of her brother, who seemed so bothered about her sudden visitation. “Take it easy, take it easy. You can eat as much as you want,” he urged her as he took the seat before her, still looking at her as she ate from side dish to side dish, sensing that something seemed to be wrong. He had never seen her looking that way ever since they met again. “Is everything fine?” Hudson asked again, his eyes etched with deep sorry, with a gut feeling that she was not telling him som
Carlton slumped in his office chair, his posture betraying the weariness that had settled deep into his bones, as his mind felt clouded with his thoughts swimming in a hazy fog, and tiredness obscuring his focus. His brow furrowed in deep concentration as his mind moved through the world of dazed senses, as his fingers drummed a restless beat against the surface of his desk, with nervousness endlessly brewing within him. He had not slept for two nights. How couldn't he? When the most unexpected news of him having a child somewhere barged into his life like a wrecking ball and threatened to take every good thing he had away from him?!’ The entire morning, he was unable to focus on anything, and his board of directors was at the receiving end of his shimmering anger. ‘How could he be sane when his boat which had been sailing smoothly was suddenly faced with an iceberg?!’ ‘He was sure that he could never have made the mistake of sleeping with Marilyn that night! Never would he have!
As the night descended and covered the brightness everywhere, Nadia strode slowly through a shortcut alleyway from the bus stop where she had dropped, her face etched with tiredness and somberness as she wearily inhaled and exhaled the cold breeze from the atmosphere. Nothing seemed to exhilarate her like before, and it felt like her days were smeared with hues of gray, with nothing colorful to offer her solace. Her job had become more like an endless responsibility that she was saddled with, and the people who made her happy suddenly became so far away, casting her into an abyss of amplifying loneliness. “Life is hard!” Those somber words slipped out of her lips, as she moved languidly like she had no strength in her. Suddenly, it felt like someone was walking behind her as she ambled, and her neck instinctively turned sharply to see no one walking behind her. The sound of a notification from her phone brought her feet to a halt and her mind to rest, as she pulled it out of her coa
Hudson had been feeling worse ever since Stacy left his home, and he couldn't understand why, because he was sure she had planned to stay with him longer than she had. It made him extremely bothered about her sudden disappearance, and her words to him before her phone finally became unreachable, were disturbing too. He was not oblivious to the fact that there was a palpable switch in the atmosphere as soon as he introduced Stacy to Alison. The fact that she left them almost immediately after the introduction, and didn't come out of her room confirmed that something was wrong, even if he wanted to act like he didn't notice what happened. After she suddenly left that morning, Alison also left, under the excuse that an important meeting had come up at her workplace, and that she had to leave as soon as possible. The sudden weird actions of the two important women in his life had left him estranged and flummoxed. ‘Did they know one another from somewhere?’ he pondered endlessly. ‘Were
The past few days had been so busy for Carlton after he traveled for business with James, and it had been from meetings to conferences and to inaugurations that he was invited to. As a result of his schedule that had been packed so full, his frustration had multiplied with everything too, because Stacy had been unreachable. Neither she nor Nadia were home, the morning they stopped by their apartment before travelling. His mind was consumed by thoughts of Stacy and his heart was ladened with so much confusion that it clouded his thoughts. He had contacted WILLAND hospital about her whereabouts, and he was informed that she was on her yearly leave at the present moment and had not been coming to work. The response from them amplified his fear even more, and had him spiraling in a haze of oblivion. Questions constantly swirled in his mind like a storm, and he was not able to concentrate on things he did properly. ‘Had he done something wrong? Was she still mad that he missed th