They pulled away, and Oliver's head turned around. His eyes landed on me, and they immediately grew murderous. He released Cecil and stormed towards me. I tried to hurry away as fast as my legs would take me, but my back collided with the pillar, and panic came to my face."Oliver!" I whimpered out."I told you I didn't want to see you. I didn't want to hear your voice, and I didn't want you anywhere near me. What the fuck are you doing here?!" He sneered at me, and I trembled all over."You moved on," I mumbled, but he heard. "With my best friend?""You were fucking my brother while being married to me." He countered, "Or did you come to lie and deny?"I had no memory of what happened that night, and the harder I tried to remember, the blanker it became. I had no feelings for Seth. Yes, I kept the things from him because Seth and Cecil begged me to. I was with Seth only because Cecil didn't want to be alone with him. I thought I was a helpful friend-a good friend.Cecil had planned th
My heavy lashes fluttered, but seeing came a few seconds later. I found myself on a bed in a white, empty room, and I stayed, unable to move; all I could do was stare at the white ceiling with its chandelier hanging over me. It illuminated a golden light, and my senses tried to make calculations of it. It was beautiful and peaceful, and though I couldn't remember much, I knew I had not felt this way in a while.Was this heaven? Was this my heaven? If it was, it wasn't so bad; the peace and beauty were like none other, but this wasn't heaven. There would have been much joy, happiness, and people if it were. Also, I would be able to move.I wanted to move, though, but I couldn't; I couldn't move my head or my mouth. The only thing I could move was my eyes, which scanned as much of the big room as possible. My eyes found a beeping monitor above my head, which made it hard to spot, and beside it was an IV pole with a drip on it, connected to my hand. I noticed I had a respiratory mask ove
Four years later“Well, what are we looking at?” I asked as Marlo, my cousin, projected his presentation on the screen for me and the eight other board members to see.“Expansion, Ms. Garcia,” he answered. “The Garcia Group has dominated the European market since its inception. I believe it is time to expand.” He concluded with pride that I couldn’t wait to tear down.“We are the most dominant financial firm in Athens, Paris, Australia, and South Africa,” Kian Lopez, a board member, countered. He, too, seemed not to get the point Marlo wanted to make.“They aren’t the biggest market; the United States is,” Marlo argued.His research plan was half-baked at best, and he wanted us to run in and approve it just because he presented it.“The United States market isn’t the best place to expand, at least not with your presentation. We don’t just look at the country’s market size and decide on expanding our firm. We look at economic stability, security, competition, the availability of resour
Ocean was the best thing to come out of the hell I lived through four years ago. I didn’t think he would even make it after everything I went through, but he was a fighter from the beginning. The world didn’t want us, but here we were, shoving our middle finger back at themFour years ago, my life took a significant turn I never imagined: I met my father.Marcel Boris Garcia is a Russian-Spanish billionaire businessman. What were the odds that instead of drowning, as my attackers intended, I would be found by my biological father?After my recovery began, I asked Marcel about my mother, Otaria Barau, and he told me what he knew about her. She was the woman he met and fell in love with after he visited Port Harcourt.He had separated from his wife, Felicity, a year prior, and meeting my mother was a breath of fresh air. Their love story would not last because Felicity returned after seven months, wanting them to give their marriage another shot.When he told my mother, she was brokenhe
"You wish to return to the States?" Marcel asked as I told him that Garcia's Group might be going to the States after all."Not return, but rather to move the firm there, papa. I took time to review Marlo's presentation, and after considering all the odds, I saw we could make it work," I answered.In the last week, I dedicated myself to Marlo's insane proposition, trying to make it work. I had to tear it all down and rebuild it back up. I would have thrown it into the trash and left it there, but things changed."Pensaste que la idea de Marlo era el suicidio. (You thought Marlo's idea was suicide.)" He pointed out.I didn't like Marlo's proposal because it lacked depth. He probably saw the "Land of Opportunity" and thought it was for him. He lacked vision, and it showed in his rash decisions and actions. As I pointed out during the board meeting, there was more to research before considering expansion. He didn't do his homework, but I have. I also never thought I'd want to return to
Oliver’s POVThe door to my office flew open, and the angry Ivory marched towards my desk with a stack of files in her hands. She looked pissed, and I knew she was about to tell me why, even though I was not interested."Well, come in.” I ushered dramatically since she didn’t do the courtesy of knocking. “And it is nice to see you, Mom.”“What the hell is wrong with you?” She exploded, and her high-pitched voice made my head ring.“I am not a magician; I will not know unless you tell me.”“Do not play coy with me, boy. The finance team returned with their annual report, and the company has lost more this year than it ever had.” She said that and threw the documents at me, causing them to fly everywhere. “At this point, we will be lucky if anyone will offer a hundred thousand dollars to buy this company when we declare bankruptcy, and we will because we are at an all-time low."She placed her hand on her waist and took the well-known Ivory's stance. "Do you have the desire to run every
Cecil went on a girls’ trip to Puerto Rico this morning and said she would be back in five days, and that wasn’t long enough.I love Cecil, and she has been there for me through a lot, but some days, I feel suffocated by her presence, which is the last thing I want.I couldn’t tell her this because the last time I opened up to her about how I felt, she cried for three days and made me feel like a horrible person. It was best to leave her alone and only wish her away in my mind. It was best for my sanity and her happiness.“Speak of the devil,” Vivian said after pulling out his vibrating phone. “Hello, babe.” He said and shifted away.I instructed the bartender to keep it coming while I drowned in my thoughts and sang along with the music playing to distract myself from that cuteness. It must have been longer because I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was Vivian.He had a mischievous grin, and I was not too fond of that look.“Have you ever done something crazy?" he asked, his grin lin
The door to my office opened, and Vivian walked in with a broad smile on his face. “I saw the news, man. Congratulations.” He said.I smiled, dropped my pen, and leaned against the chair. “Thank you.”He sat and crossed his legs majestically. “So tell me, were you nervous?” He asked with a curious brow.I was nervous when I asked Imela to marry me, but with Cecil, “No, I wasn’t.” I replied with a shake of my head, adding, “When it’s time to make the move, you know.”His eyes flickered, and he nodded. “I guess I will take a thing or two from your book of confidence and follow in your footsteps with Julie.”I wanted to tell him there was only misery in store if he followed my path, but I didn't want to dash his confidence to the ground.“Have you shown Julie your tattoo?” I asked, changing the topic.“I’m meant to show her in person, not over the phone,” he answered, giving me a duh look.That made sense.There was no way around it, so I was just going to ask. “Do you remember much of w