/Elena’s POV/
I make my way to the ground floor and on getting to the ground floor I could see that someone was thoughtful enough to get the ambulance over there while I was trying to explain things to the incompetent bastard in a security uniform.“What do I do now,” I start to pace around the front of the hotel after trying to get close to accompany the ambulance to wherever my dad had been taken to in vain.“Let’s get my father's right-hand man here,” I decide as I make a run for the parking lot where my dad's car was parked earlier.“Liam right?” I inquire on recalling the driver whom I messed with his intelligence just to be able to get myself into the car trunk and he nods.“What are you doing here ma’am,” he inquires.“My father was gunned down in that hotel so you will have to take me home so that we can get Austin here ….. that way, I will be able to stay with my dad since everyone around knows him but not a single person knows me,” I instruct.“Why don’t we just give him a call to come over here while you go in to gather information about where the prime minister is being taken at the moment,” He suggests. “That is a nice idea…….That I didn’t think about, so just put a call through to Austin and get him here,” I instruct before rushing in the direction of the hotel.“Good evening,” I greet the security official who is completely different from the one who was rude to me earlier, flashing him a pretty smile.“Good evening ma’am..how may I help you,” he asks me politely.“I want to have a word with your hotel manager,” I decide to use this approach so that he wouldn’t deny me access.“It’s business-related,” I add as soon as I see the hesistance written all over his face.“Do you have an appointment?” He inquires.“Not yet….I was hoping to make an appointment today,” I answer him.“I am afraid that won’t be possible,” he says, shaking his head in disapproval.“What is wrong?” I ask him as I reach for my purse and squeeze something into his hands.“I can’t go into details, but all that I can tell you is that we had a major situation that is life-threatening in the hotel earlier, and as we speak, the hotel is under lockdown because they are trying to nab the perpetrators and also extract CCTV footage of the prime suspect of the whole situation so that it can be presented to the police, so I am afraid that I can’t help you,” he says as he tries to return my money.“You can keep that for your time, but I will need you to answer a few more questions,” I stop him from returning the money, hoping to extract some more information from him.“You mentioned prime suspect….was he or she caught?” I inquire concerned.“While they were trying to send the VIP’a body to the hospital, she escaped during the chaos,” he answers looking downcast.“VIP’s body?” I point out.“Is the person in question dead?” I ask fishing for the answer.“I really can’t answer that question, All that I can tell you is that he has been sent to the hospital,” he answers.“But you just said ‘the VIP’s body’ and a living person is never referred to as a body but a person so that is why I am asking,” I press“I don’t know….the only thing I know is that the medical personnel that came to get him to the hospital kept on saying the VIP’s body so that was exactly why I said that,” he clarifies.“Thank you very much… I really appreciate it” I thank him before moving towards the parking lot to continue waiting for Austin.*******After waiting forever, Austin stepped out of the car, so I quickly rushed to meet him to feed him the necessary information that he required.“You are finally here,” I sigh in relief as I walk to Austin.“Yes I am,” he answers reassuringly.“The driver told me everything that happened over the phone, so I tried to get in touch with the manager of the hotel but I couldn’t get much from her because they are still investigating but they have a prime suspect in mind and that person resembles you,” he gives me heads up almost immediately.“Me?” I pause in shock.“That's ridiculous,” I let an awkward smile.“It is highly ridiculous, but the description of the prime suspect that she gave me matches everything about you so wait here till I come back, and don’t try to do anything,” he says before dashing off.“I need to wait again,” I puff out a frustrated breath because waiting around without doing anything is starting to drive me nuts, but at the same time there isn’t much that I can do apart from waiting around quietly like I was told to.“The news is confirmed, Your dad is dead and his remains have been sent to the mortuary,” he rushes his statement upon returning“He is dead?” I pronounce.“Just like that?” I ask.“And you expect me to believe that?” I raise a question at him.“I need to go talk to those people myself…. I need to go the hospital to see for myself,” I refuse to believe what he is saying to me but he holds me back.“You can’t move around right now given that you are the prime suspect of the prime minister's murder unless I can prove your identity as his daughter and also prove that you had nothing to do with his death,” he shakes my shoulder to probably knock some sense into me but it is not working.“I don’t care if anyone believes me, I just want to see my father and at this point, even the devil can’t stop me from seeing me,” I inform him as I start to move towards the direction of the hotel to have a conversation with the people that know something about the hospital that my dad is, only for someone to pull me back roughly and give me a tight slap on my cheek“You slapped me?” I pronounce in astonishment“Yes I did,” he answers me sharply.“Why?” I query.“To snap you out of your delusional state,” he answers calmly, and that fuels my anger.“You have no right whatsoever to raise your hands on me,” I warn him sternly.“I know that I don’t, but that slap that I gave you is for your father and If Have to do it again and again, I will gladly do it,” he answers without the slightest hint of remorse on his face or his voice. “You can slap me on behalf of my Dad, but can you answer the multiple questions that I have in mind for my dad concerning why he hid me away for fifteen years, why he arranged my marriage to a prince I know nothing about, and why he ended up being dead after meeting the crown prince of the nation,” I pour out my rage in front of him.“Can you?” I press him for an answer desperately because I am sick and tired of being the only person in the dark while every other person is well aware of the situation at hand.“I can’t answer all your questions at the moment, because if there is one thing being your father's assistant for years has taught me, it is the fact that there are questions you should not ask because knowing the answers will not make your life any better,” he tries to discourage me, but I don't look convinced in the slightest way possible.“If you can't answer my questions, then at least link me up with the crown prince of the nation since he was the one my father left the house to meet,” I suggest thinking it will be a win-win situation for us both.“If I were you, I would do my dad a favour by getting into that car and going home while I allow people that have a proper knowledge of the situation to sort things out,” he advises as he drags me towards the direction where Liam parked.“Why should I just sit back and do nothing while my father's body is being wheeled to that cold mortuary and his murderer is gallivanting around,” I question Austin, disengaging my hands from his as soon as we approach my father’s car.“You should sit back and do nothing because your father tried his hardest to keep you safe so don’t make him worry about you in the afterlife okay?” he says looking me in the eye.“Stop trying to dig up what you don't know anything about okay?” he admonishes, but I shake my head in disapproval because I am not satisfied with the utterances that are making their way out of his mouth.“I know that whatever I say now won’t make you feel any better, but I want you to be safe because your father loved you so much and he would have given his life to ensure your safety, so hold on to this in case anything happens to me,” He says passing me a blue velvet box.“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask him visibly confused.“I just lost my dad, I can’t afford to lose you too,” I plead in desperation.“I will be fine, we will all be fine, so go home with the driver,” he emphasizes as he opens the car door for me. You“Okay,” I agree as I get into the car, giving in without a fight.“News confirmed…..he is dead,” echos in my head as I step into the car and hot tears roll down my cheeks|ELENA’s POV| “Is there anywhere you would like to drop by before going home?” The driver inquires after driving me away from the hotel. “I don’t want to go home, but at the same time I don’t know anywhere in town so can you keep driving around till we get to a place where we can grab a nice drink?” I inquire. “Okay ma’am …. I know the best place for you” he says as he ignites the car engine and drives away. I try to relax in the car, thinking about what is going to happen to me now that my father is dead……. I barely have a life, and being another lock and key is the only thing I have gotten used to over the past fifteen years since my father thought that it was going to be a wonderful idea to hide me away. I wanted change so badly, but if I had ever taken a peek into a 30-second trailer of my life and found out that getting the freedom that I wanted would make me lose my father, I would have compromised my freedom. Right now, I feel so numb because I don’t know if I am suppo
/ASHER HARRINGTON’S POV| “It’s bad enough that the prime minister and I finally decided to be seen together in public to finalize a whole lot of things after years of coded communication so that our plans don’t get exposed to the wrong people by using the arranged marriage between the Harringtons’ and the Grayson’s that I have been trying to find a way around because I was not comfortable with getting trapped in an arranged marriage when there are other ways that I can get stuff one, why did I have to walk into the hotel to find Dylan Grayson’s body on the ground when I already made preparations to tighten the security of the hotel in advance?” I ask myself for the umpteenth time. “Can you just stop blaming yourself already?” Malcolm, 3 in one groans from the driver’s seat. “How won't I blame myself?” I question him. “The prime minister lost his life over my carelessness, and it is more than annoying that he got killed right under my nose, and that too when everything that my fat
|Asher’s POV| “What is going on here?” I ask the waiter. “This lady is a new customer that I was trying to introduce to our facilities at RIL, and she seemed like a promising customer, so I talked to my colleagues to allow her to do her thing since she seemed to be in a really bad mood, then come back to proceed with the formalities when she feels a little bit better,” the waiter starts.“Was was her take on that?” I further ask the waiter “She was fine with the suggestion, and she even gave us her premium card to made payment for her membership so I was 100% sure that she is legit,” one of the waiters involved in the commotion explains. “Who says I am not legit?” the stranger from the hotel suddenly jumps in front of the waiter as if she wants to start up a fight. “How can I not be legit when my father is the prime minister of Orion,” she argues. “This is the problem that I have with her, she remembers every other irrelevant thing, and she keeps claiming to be the daughter of th
|ELENA’S POV|The soft morning light filters through the curtains, casting a warm glow on the space while I struggle to open my eyes and slowly sit up, feeling a mix of regret as a result of my pounding headache, dry mouth, and desperate need for water.I notice the rumpled sheets and the faint scent of cologne lingering in the air as I wrap the duvet around my naked body and I stumble out of bed. I groan and hold my head trying to shake off the remnants of the previous night’s activities as I try to search for an aspirin to help dull the pain with a tinge of uncertainty in me, but it turns out that I didn’t return home yesterday night.I feel a mix of emotions, like excitement, curiosity, and maybe a hint of nervousness as I look around the room, trying to take in the details while trying to piece together the events of the previous night.After realizing that I had thrown myself at a stranger and lost my virginity when I was supposed to be mourning my father just because I was in d
/Asher’s POV/My eyes flutter open to the room bathed in a soft morning glow. As I stretch, a hint of nostalgia, a touch of excitement, and perhaps a tinge of guilt dances across my face as Memories of the passionate night before linger in the air, like the fading scent of perfume on our skin.“Fuck!” I exclaim in realization.“The situation just got really messy,” I remark as I take a moment to reflect on my thoughts but a whirlwind of intimacy and connection overshadows me so I scramble to locate my clothes instead.After managing to put on my clothes, I scramble out of the private lounge, trying not to wake my supposed fiancé that I just had a one-night stand with because I didn’t know how exactly to face her, and I start to dial Malcolm's number.“Where did you keep your phone?” He suddenly starts to nag, forgetting that I called him because I have something to say to him.“Where are you right now?” I answer his question with another question.“I am in the palace, trying to conceal
|ELENA’S POV|“How do I navigate my way around a city that I barely know with a frozen bank card, in that skimpy clothing that is all over the news with this face card of mine that is on the decline after I was declared as the prime suspect of my father’s murder case,” I pondered as looked around the room bathed with soft light with a pitcher of water, a chair in the corner, monitor beeping softly, creating a rhythm in the soft room.“At the time that I was brought into this hospital, my face was swollen which was quite distorted from the pretty face that was all over the news, but if I don’t get out of here soon, all my effort at putting my life in danger will be in vain,” I told myself as I carefully removed the iv that was connected to my vein as I got down from the bed and packed up my valuables and the only outfit that I had before I made my way to the door.I opened the door slightly, looked around, and ensured that nobody was watching, and on confirming that the coast was clear
|ASHER’s POV|After getting off the call with Malcolm, I made my way to the hospital that the prime minister was taken to the previous day, and there were a whole bunch of people, both young and old, men and women claiming to be strong supporters of the dark raven and they were demanding to have the body of the prime minister handed to them after they found out on the news that their founder is dead and will not be buried properly because of the link that he had to them while he was still alive so they requested to be given his body so that they can be allowed to perform the las right for him since he had no kids.The whole peaceful protest was starting to get out of hand because the angry mob camped in front of the hospital with different weapons, threatening people as they went in and out of the hospital refusing to leave until the hospital instructed the people in the mortuary to hand over the body.It was quite difficult for the hospital to go about its daily activity when they ha
|ELENA’S POV|After waiting for so long for the power-hungry crown prince of Orion to get off my father’s property, I crawled back into the house using the same dog hole that I used the first time I crawled into the mansion, but I met the mansion in a deserted state, and not a single soul was left in that mansion.Initially, I was saddened by the bustling mansion that I came back to after being away for 15 years that has turned into something else, but I decided to see the good in the bad because I convinced myself that not having people around would make it easy for me to search the nook and crannies of the mansion for a lead.I spent the whole day searching, and even though I didn’t know exactly what I was searching for, I just knew that I needed answers, but in the process of my ultimate search, I harvested a lot of expensive things instead.I put together a few of the expensive jewelry that I came to Orion with and some antique items that I could sell and make money from because I