CHAPTER 38ANDREW'S POVI wanted to fill Alex's shoes when he died. I wasn't interested in my father's business so I lived a carefree life knowing Alex was there to handle things, and he was good at it. He never had any problems dealing with gamblers and druggies, he never hesitated to send his men after you when you didn't meet up a deadline the for payment of your loan, he didn't have any problems with becoming more and more like Dad. I did.While I went to parties and traveled the world being the family's prodigal son, Alex stayed and worked hard. I didn't live like that because I wanted to, I just didn't want to do business that way. I had other plans.I wanted a clean, legal business. One that didn't support drug dealing, cheating people on the gambling tables and victimizing the poor debtors with exuberant interests on their loan. I wanted a business out of the streets. But that was father's life and he was slowly sucking Alex into it.And then Alex died.His death put me on th
CHAPTER 39ANDREW'S POV.Lorena had mentioned that she hadn't been to many places. Her parents must have been so protective and strict with her, probably to protect her from her father's creditors. What kind of life had she lived exactly? She said she had been homeschooled too.Was that why there weren't any records of her? I was curious. She wasn't registered, that meant no birth certificate, no identity, nothing. Or was she an immigrant?There was no record of her being adopted so her parents had to be her biological parents. I wanted to understand all of this but I had no idea how to approach her and ask. There was so much to Lorena Tanner, and I was going to unravel her.I asked her to meet me here because I knew she hadn't really experienced what it was like to have a fun time with friends, party, dance, get drunk even or just share a laughter.I had no idea why, but I wanted to do these things for her. I wanted to make her laugh, take her dancing and show her the world she hadn'
CHAPTER 40ARIANA'S POV.My head ached and throbbed even more when I tried to open my eyes and sit up. I couldn't move. A faint beeping sound filtered into my subconscious and I tried to focus on the sound. Where was I? Why did my head hurt so much?I tried to open my eyes again and as they fluttered open, I stared into a white ceiling with bright lights. I moved my head to the side and saw an ECG machine and a needle connected to my veins. A plastic bag hung above me and the liquid flowed steadily from it into my body.A hospital? Why?And then the memories came flooding in. Everything. Everything I had forgotten and everything I knew now. They swamped my mind and made it hard to focus. I felt a surge of diverse emotions ripple through me with each memory that unfolded. Pain, fear, and a sense of loss. Confusion boggled my mind. I held on to my head and felt bandages wrapped around it. I had hit my head during the fall."Ariana! You're awake!" Sophie exclaimed, rushing to my side. "I
CHAPTER 41LORENA'S POVI am getting sick of this drill. Why can I not just go out and come home without having anything dramatic happen to me? I was having a great time dancing and watching Macho expertly mix drinks that tasted so good. It was a great experience and I was enjoying every bit of it. It was so good that I had to put off going to the bathroom until I couldn't hold it anymore.I asked Connor where the bathroom was and he pointed me towards the ladies bathroom. Through the loud music, he offered to take me there but I declined, not wanting to interrupt his fun time. He was showing off his moves on the dance floor , trying to impress a girl, so I let him be. It was just the bathroom, I could find it myself. I walked towards the bathroom and located it without difficulty. Thankfully, there wasn't a long line. I washed my hands and dried off before coming out."Hey, are you Lorena?" A drunk lady asked me."Yes, why?""Some guy told me to ask you to meet him out back." She s
CHAPTER 42ZOILA'S POVThe car pulled to a stop in front of my house and I unbuckled my seatbelt."Thanks Dev." I said, patting him on the shoulder."It's nothing. I've been your personal driver ever since I got my license so...""It's not my fault I keep failing my driving test." I said with a chuckle."You're a cop Zoila. A cop who can't drive." He teased and ruffled my hair. "Good work last night, you're like the awesomest partner ever.""Awesomest?" Devon always knew how to make me laugh. I've had a crush on him ever since I started to know what those feelings were but I could never muster the courage to tell him. Besides, we grew up together and had more of a brother- sister relationship. I didn't want to ruin our friendship by falling for him. What if it doesn't work out, then our friendship would be destroyed. So I kept my feelings to myself."Hey, you're nervous, aren't you?" He asked.Right. I was going to ask my parents about the documents I saw days ago. I couldn't keep it
CHAPTER 43LIAM'S POVI didn't want to be here but I just had to make it through dinner with them. I'd spent a week here already and it's the longest I've been home ever since I moved out to go to college. College didn't work out as I had other interests, interest my family didn't support. I mean, what was wrong with being a movie director?I had a passion for film and art and the theater but my family wouldn't let me do that, especially my mother. She desperately wanted me to follow in my father's footsteps and take over the company when he finally retired. But I wasn't cut out for such boring, monotonous life. I was adventurous and there was so much I wanted to do.Sure, I made a mistake and had to quit school, but that didn't mean that I'd given up on my dreams. I had a few projects I was working on but the fundings for them weren't available. Weird right? How can the son of a business tycoon and owner of a conglomerate not have money to fund a little film production?Easy. My pare
CHAPTER 44ANDREW'S POVMy entire body was numb and as I lay in bed, my mind began to wander, trying to gather the puzzles that was my memories. What exactly happened to me? Why was I all bandaged and bruised? I tried to piece the bits together but I still couldn't connect all the dots.I opened my eyes slowly and swallowed to moisten my parched throat. I needed some water. My eyes roamed in their sockets. I recognized where I was, I was in my bedroom but something was different. My doctor had visited and I knew that because I still had a drip fixed on my hand. I tilted my head to the side to see if there was anyone nearby I could ask for some water. Where was Alfredo?She was there instead. It looked like she never left. She still had the same clothes she had on since the previous night. The sun was up now. Did she stay with me all night?It was then I remembered last night at the club and how Lorena has done missing. I remembered seeing Ivanov's face and everything that happened at
CHAPTER 45DEVON'S POVI have always found her breath taking. Her smile, her cerulean eyes so full of life and her bubbly personality. She made me want to be around her all the time. My heart ached for more than just friendship but I was afraid. She was my best friend and I didn't want to ruin it. What if she didn't feel the same way about me and I ended up complicating things? What if she rejects me if I tell her how I felt? Things between us would become awkward and that wasn't good, especially since we were partners at work too. So I bottled up my feelings and stuck by her side as her friend and someone who would always be there for her.I looked up and saw her walking towards me, her brown hair a shade of red under the sun. She smiled immediately her eyes met mine but there was sadness in them. I knew her like the back of my hand. I guess she'd had the talk already."Hey partner." I called, my arms open wide. She walked right into my arms and buried her head on my chest sobbing qu