Nadia looked around the calm terrace as she reached for her cup of coffee trying not to cringe at the consistency of these memories. Last time, she had talked with Kate in the same place, smiling at her and supporting her to become the next heir of the Talbot family. Just remembering it makes her feel disgusted enough to forego brunch. But her upset stomach was also partly because of how much she drank last night. “You’re lost in thoughts,” Dean said as he reached across the table handing Luke a plate full of cut pancake pieces. “I was just lost in memory lane,” She answered with a smile ruffling Luke’s hair as he munched at his pancakes. When she woke up this morning, she found herself alone in the room. Going out hunting for Dean, she found him deeply asleep with Luke in his bed. She barely remembered what happened last night and she wanted to think that suspiciously close kiss was a figment of her disillusioned drunk mind. But it was hard seeing as Dean left the room to her all

“Mommy sure is taking a while,” Luke said with a sigh as he swung his legs holding a book in his lap and making an adult-like face. “She sure is,” Dean said chuckling at the boy’s mature display. “It looked like some urgent business, maybe the meeting ran longer than expected,” Ray said and Dean nodded. “Probably, I will take Luke down to the nanny and go check on her,” Dean announced and Ray nodded. “Alright, I will meet you later. You said you were going back next week?” “Yeah, that’s the plan unless something urgent came up,” he explained. Soon, Luke was safely playing in his room with an even more cautious babysitter. And Dean was making his way to Nadia’s office. He was told that the meeting seemed to run longer than expected so he was making his way back to the room when he heard the door open and two men come out chatting. “What were you thinking interrogating her like that,” said the older man in the pair, “Her son was almost abducted by that man, and she had been obviou

Nadia felt the cool metal against her fingers as she directed the gun toward the man before her. He was looking at her anger evident in his face. He was outraged because she was aiming a gun at him. Shouldn’t be the other way around? Shouldn’t she be the one getting angry because he was entering her office? No sneaking into her office in the middle of the night. The way her life was twisted sound their convenience to the point of denying her her most basic rights was maddening. This lunatic felt like he had some claim on her, and that she didn’t have the right to stop him. Well she did, and she was going to stop him. “You think I won’t shoot?” She asked calmly aiming at him her eyes focusing on him. He was advancing toward her but seeing her cold gaze and the determined set of her jaw, he paused. “Hah, You seem to have grown a backbone after all,” He repeated. “You tried to hurt my son. That’s as far as you get to go, Mark. You should have realized this a long time ago. You canno

Her hands trembled as she reached out for her phone. Slipping to the side of the building where no one could see her, she let the phone ring impatiently, waiting for an answer. But there was none. Cursing under her breath, she redialed again and waited, only to be met with a disheartening silence. She couldn't afford for Mark not to answer at a time like this. Panic clawed at her chest, and she could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead. It was supposed to be a seamless operation, but now the walls were closing in on her. "Come on, Mark, pick up," she whispered fervently as the call continued to ring. Minutes stretched into an eternity, and every unanswered ring felt like a death knell for her carefully laid plans. She couldn't risk being exposed, not after all she had done. The hotel was her life, and she couldn't afford to lose it all. And if Nadia finds out what she had been up to, there will be no mercy for her. "Come on, Mark, answer!" she muttered through gritted teet

“Aren’t you going to answer?” Dean asked as he looked at Nadia. Miller made a show of pulling a seat and leaning back crossing his legs and making a showman’s gesture for her to answer with a smile. Nadia sighed at the overly dramatic agent taking the seat Dean was offering her and then looked at the phone. “I Should…” She trailed off. Nadia hesitated for a moment before tapping on the screen and answering the call. “Hello?” She could hear street noises on the other side and knew that the woman wasn’t in the hotel anymore. Did she run away? “Did you get my messenger?” Grace asked through the phone. “What are you talking about?” Nadia asked feigning ignorance for now. “You know very well what I mean, Miss Hotel Heiress. It must be nice living in luxury all your life,” Grace trailed off and Nadia put the phone on speaker and motioned for Dean to record the conversation. Dean nodded putting his phone beside hers. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say,” Nadia repeated and Gra