Damien 145.After numerous camera shots and fake smiles with fake compliments, I was finally able to have a seat with the senator. He seemed to be in a good mood as he joined me on the table that had been set up for the both of us."It's the launching of a new restaurant and as part of the campaign process, Senator Kelly is doing the honor of launching the place," Camilla had filled me in with the details."It still does not explain why I am supposed to be present," I told her as the SUV moved through the traffic."Renaissance is sponsoring his second term in the office and the restaurant is part of Renaissance. We are branching out to the world of cuisine," Camilla replied.My phone buzzed with a message and I looked at it."You sent Natalia to my place knowing fully well that I was not home," I said to her."I wanted her to get along with your wife," Camilla said with a playful shrug. I had no idea what she was up to.I had sent a quick messages my mom. I did not trust Natalia and I
Isabella 146I was not really close with my husband's mother but I was glad that she was here and I particularly loved the fact her presence made Natalia leave. I wondered how it got so bad between the two of them.Ava was the actual executive officer of Renaissance and I did not even know that until it was too late."How have you been?" She asked me."It is my first day of being a complete house wife, so I do not know how to feel at the moment," I told her."I wish we had met under different circumstances," Ava said to me as she sat down.We were both quiet for a while when she said that."Why?" I asked."Maybe your relationship with Damien would be easier today," She replied. "Because our family is a warsome one, even from the womb, we were fighters," She added.I could be a fighter too if only your son would let me help him. I thought to myself."Why does it have to be that way?" I asked. "Why does he have to fight to be with me?" I demanded from her
Damien 147.Everything was a painful blur as I had lost count of how many hands I had shaken today."Your vote counts, so vote Kelly so you can count for something great!" One of the campaign managers said with earnest conviction. It was sad to watch."When is this going to be over?" I asked with gritted teeth as I looked around."Bored?" Camilla asked."Out of my mind," I replied."This is mostly what you will be doing, Damien," She said."Attending parties filled with old bored people with too much time and money," I said."Meeting important people who have the power to bring about real change," Camilla."You sound just like them," I said to her. She merely shrugged."How do you like it so far?" Senator Kelly Holland said as he looked around with pride."A lot of people," I said."Yes, and they all came out to see just me," Kelly beamed."This is not really my scene if I am being honest," I told the senator."It was not mine either until I found myself here," He replied with a shrug
Chapter 148: Isabella's Revelation**The weight of uncertainty hung heavy in the air as I sat alone in our dimly lit living room, the soft glow of the lamp casting long shadows across the walls. Damien had been acting strangely lately, his once warm demeanor replaced by an air of tension and secrecy that left me feeling unsettled.Damien and I had come home together after his public tryst with the senator."He was the one who wanted you out of the company, somehow, Isabella, you are involved in all these and it started with your parents," He told me. "Most especially, Emilio, he knows way more than even a Renaissance employee does about this company," He added.When we got into the house, we went into our separate rooms. We had not yet amicably solved the issue of me seeing my father.I couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss, that there were secrets lurking just beneath the surface of our seemingly perfect life. And try as I might to push aside my doubts, they continued t
Chapter 149: Unraveling Truth~DamienThe weight of uncertainty hung heavy in the air as I sat alone in my study, the soft glow of the desk lamp casting eerie shadows across the room. My mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts and emotions, each one vying for dominance as I tried to make sense of the chaos that surrounded me.Ever since Natalia's unexpected visit earlier today, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Her cryptic warnings and veiled threats had left me on edge, a sense of foreboding gnawing at the edges of my consciousness.But it wasn't just Natalia's ominous words that troubled me. It was the nagging suspicion that there were secrets lurking just beneath the surface of my seemingly perfect life, secrets that threatened to unravel everything I held dear.As I sat lost in thought, the sound of approaching footsteps broke the silence, pulling me from my reverie. With a sense of trepidation, I rose from my seat and made my way to the door, my
Chapter 150. IsabellaIt was a relief to know that Ava was staying with us. It had not been easy with getting along with Damien ever since I showed him the file that Emilio gave me. We had both seen the content of the flash and it was horrific to watch.I had seen clips of an underground medical facility with patients behaving erratic."Damn," Damien could only mutter.The most shocking one was the one that depicted men in yellow hazmat suits dumping corpses into the back of a truck. Those were the failed experiments Emilio was talking about."They are using people like lab rats and dumping their bodies away like pieces of garbage," I said out loud just to make it make sense to me but it only terrified me the more that I thought of it.Damien had a focused grim look on his face as he watched with severe silence. I admired his composure as he looked on. There were flash footages of men and women who were in straitjackets. They all looked sickly and unkempt.One of them shat himself whi
151 Damien.I had seen enough to know that it was time to take charge of Renaissance. The company was filled to the brim with secrets and conspiracies and I was on a mission to unravel the mysteries surrounding my place of work. It had been a mission of mine to make Renaissance a symbol of hope for the modern world.This dream came from the time I left the army. I had followed orders without question. They liked me because I obeyed. But there was a problem and that was what made me quit. Politics. I had taken on a case of internal corruption within the army and when I began to unravel the level of illegal activities the big men at the table had pulled me off the case.All my life, I had always had something to prove to everyone. Vito, Ava and even Natalia but after that day when the Major had casually told me to drop the case because it would make the men at the top look bad, I had become disillusioned about following orders.When mom at told me that I was a chosen candidate for the s
Isabella 152.I heard him knock and call my name. But I was not in the right frame of mind to see him at the moment. I did not want to say it but it was beginning to feel like I made a mistake with Damien. I should not have ignored all the warning bells that showed me just what a bad idea it had been to had said yes to him.I had been pulled into a world that I no longer recognized by a man who had never been honest with me right from the start. If he truly cared about me as he claimed, he would stop all further involvement with Renaissance but he had been even more determined.I curled into a fetal position as I replayed the footages that I had seen over and over again in my head. I tried to make of sense of it all but I just could not get it. Was this how people made money nowadays?What bothered me the most was how long their operation had gone on without the authorities ever finding out.I was feeling claustrophobic the more I was inside so I went into the bathroom and had a cold