Seeing that his wife's demeanor had shifted, Zane cleared his throat, not expecting things to turn out like this, and then, he asked with a small smile, “Have you decided what you want to eat?”Just as Emma was about to respond, she heard a voice that immediately ruined the peace of mind she had tried so hard to gain, cringing at the sound of Ava's words, “My dear cousin…”Turning her head, Emma locked eyes with Ava, who smirked at her with a bunch of her girls friends following her.‘Great,’ Emma grumbled to herself as she dropped her gaze to the menu to hide her glare.The mere sight of Ava made Zane growl low in his throat as the ladies approached them.“Good evening, cousin-in-law.” Ava drawled sweetly as she stopped and stared down at the couple.When Zane ignored her greetings, that cleaned the smirk off her face, and she looked back to see her friends giving her a questionable look.“Emma, it’s been awhile since you moved out of the mansion with your husband, and you have negle
Between Mr. Bradley, Mr. Kiyoshi, and Mr. Curtis’s projects, the morning was busy for Zane as he sat at the head of the table, in the conference room, staring at his employees' faces, but he was overwhelmed by the encounter he had yesterday evening.His mind kept drifting back to that moment, and unknown to himself, his fingers had curled into fists and he could feel the muscles in his jaw tense up and relax in a manner most unlike him. He couldn't get out of his head, and his patience was running thin the more he sat there with only one person crowding his thoughts, leaving no room for him to care about anything going on around him.“Boss, do you have any imports on the layout team presentation?” Mr. Parker asked a bit louder for the fourth time.Finally, Zane tore his gaze away from his hands and looked up at Mr. Parker, and replied “I know you guys are trying to spare my pocket and work within a reasonable budget, but my decision to charge my clients less should not affect the qual
The quietness in the room seemed deafening as Zane took a few steps backward, breathing heavily, trying to stay calm, and looking anywhere else except the doctor who was sitting in front of him.“Did you meet with Damion before coming here?” Zane asked the second he could control his emotions again, forcing himself to breathe normally to prevent another emotional outburst.When Zane turned his gaze finally toward the doctor, Mr. Norsemen didn't shy away from his eyes and said, “No. Your father-”“I told you Damion is not my father.” Zane interrupted him a bit calmer this time, but just as tense.“I am sorry. I don't know what happened between you two-”“I will tell you then. After your so-called treatment that led to my mother’s death, I was sent out of the country-”“My treatment did not kill-”“Please let me finish.” Silence settled in the room after those words, and then Zane continued, “And that's how I found out the truth... That she was poison because whatever I was suffering f
The seconds simply went by in silence as Zane stared into Mr. Briggs' eyes, waiting for an answer. But Mr. Briggs remained quiet and stayed calm, staring back into Zane's eyes without any expression on his face whatsoever.“Who are you protecting?” Zane asked, his voice low and filled with malice and anger.“You,” Mr. Briggs whispered, keeping his gaze fixed on him. “I am doing this for you.”A scoff left Zane's mouth at these words, followed by laughter as he shook his head in disbelief, and then he said, “No, you are not. There is someone else that you are trying to shield.”“Maybe... But that doesn't erase the fact that I am trying to protect you too.” Mr. Briggs replied, sounding almost desperate.Another laugh escaped Zane's lips as he pulled away and studied Mr. Briggs carefully while shaking his head again, this time with a smirk on his face, and he said, “There is always the easy way or the hard way. You are going to talk one way or another, and honestly, I don't care which met
The Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4WD that slammed into Zane's side of his Black Audi A4 4WD immediately pulled back, its tinted windshield blocking the driver's face from those that witnessed the accident, and then the vehicle sped off.Two cars behind, Chad’s Mercedes Benz GL-Class 4WD waited in the traffic that the accident had caused, and after witnessing the accident, seeing how the car ran into Zane’s and then fled the scene, Chad seemed to care not all, and he pulled out his phone and made a call.“Boss, we are set and waiting on your order as you ask us.” A raspy voice said through the speaker.“I am at the keypoint intersection now. But there's no need for you all to be on standby anymore. Someone had just ransacked that bastard and given him what he deserved.The noise from pass-Byers and other divers that witnessed what had happened grew louder as a look of horror settled on their faces as they stared at the upside-down crash-in car.“Boss,” Yoko's weak voice cried out from the
As the door to Mr. Briggs's office opened, he raised his head to see his secretary walking into his office with a tiny plate with a mug on it.Her gaze never met him as she slowly walked over to him, her eyes focused on the cup, and she placed the plate on the table, saying, “Here’s your afternoon ginger tea, boss.”“Thanks,” Mr. Briggs mumbled, his mind still disturb by the agreement he and Zane had earlier that morning.As he reached for the mug, she watched calmly until he took a huge gulp of the tea, and then she walked out without looking back.The tea helped calm him down. But the feeling remained as he looked at the computer screen and then he turned it off, knowing that he wasn’t in the right mindset to work.Afterward, he rested back in his chair, staring at the ceiling for a while before reaching for the tv remote and then turning on the news channel. “We have identified those that were involved in the accident from earlier, that took place at keypoint intersection, where a
As Mr. Briggs slowly regained consciousness, it took a couple of seconds for his eyes to focus on the room he was in, and another few moments for him to remember where exactly he was and what had happened.When it all finally registered in his mind, a look of horror washed over his face and he started coughing aggressively, and it didn't take long for the door to his bedroom to open.“You!! It was you! You... betrayed... me!” Mr. Briggs wheezed through the sobs that ripped from his throat. “I trusted you! Among them all, I trusted you the most.”Shugging, Austin looked at his brother, not saying a word for a couple of minutes, and then when Mr. Briggs started coughing even harder, he walked over to the table, pulled water into a cup, and then walked over to the bedside.“Drink,” Austin said softly as he held out the cup.Glaring at his brother, Mr. Briggs grabbed the cup, poured the water into his mouth, shook it in his jaw, and spat it on Austin's shirt.“Come on Damion,” Austin huff
Nightmares are supposed to be fiction, a product of the imagination and mind. The only thing that should scare you is fear itself. However, in this case, it’s not quite the same for Zane as he grabbed onto his blanket, tightly in his grips, his eyes shut, and his chest rising and falling rapidly. He was breathing heavily, his hands were clenched into fists, and his face was contorted with pain as his life experience became the nightmare that plagued his dreams.Finally, after drawing a deep breath, his eyes opened and he sat up, his head spinning slightly due to the sudden rush of adrenaline. A few moments later, he felt like he finally could breathe again as reality set in. He slowly reached up with a shaking hand to touch his face which was still damp from tears.It took a while, and then he stepped down from his bed, headed into the bathroom, and got into the shower, letting all his emotions run wild as the water ran cold on his bare skin.After that, he got dressed in a pair