"Trevor?" Anne repeated, not sure she'd heard right. But when she saw Trevor walk up to them with a determined look on his face, she knew he really had something to say. At the far end of the room, Lola and Asher's sisters kept gaping with open mouths. They were obviously just as unaware as she was. No wonder he'd shown up randomly and seemed to know about the wedding even when no one else did. When he reached up to them, he smiled and shook Asher's hand like they were old time friends. "A lot of you don't know, but Mr Ingram is now a very good friend of mine," Trevor began, addressing the crowd. "I have just started a small company in Chicago and it's very successful, all thanks to him." He gave Anne a slight nod of acknowledgement before he brought out a small flashdrive. "Some months ago, I met up with an old friend, Jason in Chicago. Unknown to me, he'd traced me there because he needed a favor from me. The favor was to burn down Anne's home with all of them in it." The cro
Six months later "Stop shuffling Danny. Don't you want to look good in the Christmas photo?" Anne warns, trying to keep smiling and also tell her kids what to do at the same time. It's Christmas eve and they're taking a family photo but the kids for some reason can't stay at a spot for more than a minute. "You heard your mother," Asher says in a deeper, sharper voice and the boys stay still as the cameraman once again takes the shot. "Aha. This is perfect!" he exclaims, urging them to remain in the same spot. After a few minutes, the photoshoot is finally over and they collectively breathe a sigh of relief. The pictures look so clean and beautiful on camera, even the boys look delighted. "I'll send the photos immediately after I'm done editing them," he says. "You have a beautiful family," he adds before leaving and Anne mouths 'thank you', with a blush. As they all sit down to have dinner, all in their pajamas, the word 'family' keeps ringing in Anne's ears. Even after six mon
(Five years ago)"Please sir.." Anne begged, her bare trembling legs sprawled across the floor, quite unsure what to say. "Get out of my house you slut!" The old CEO thundered, completely red in anger. Anne shakily hugged the flimsy material of her nightdress around her body in a hopeless attempt to cover up her nakedness. She felt fear, despair and shame. How could she defend herself when she was almost completely naked in his kitchen? How could she explain she'd still been a virgin an hour before? "I'm sorry…" she babbled, her eyes fixed on the floor, not wishing to look any of her oppressors in the face. "I'm not a slut. I'm…Your son and I love each other." She lost her balance and her covering when the slap came, so unexpected, it tingled her cheek. Her lips quivered along with the rest of her body as the tears began to fall. She watched them all; her best friends who'd shared their dirty fantasies with her, the old CEO who'd hated her from the start and the few maids whose con
Five years later "Hurry up and do the freaking designs I showed you! How do you manage to screw up every single thing you put your hands on?" The words coming out of Anne's mouth sounded nothing like hers but in her position, anyone would have done the same. "Ma'am, we're only three in this kitchen and we're doing the work of more than thirty people." Rain, her least favorite employee, spoke up with a voice dripping with sarcasm Anne's mind was all over the place so she didn't even give her a reply. Her kitchen looked like someone had set a zoo on fire, with pans and ruined cakes all over the floor. She was livid. The most important people who had the power to decide the fate of her bakery and ultimately her life were right behind that door, and if she didn't deliver her best, she was screwed. "Drop your pans and get the fuck out." She ordered quietly, her forefinger pointing to the door. She couldn't stand Rain anymore. If anything, the puny woman had been nothing but a setback ev
Anne sighed as she closed the bakery, desperately hoping she hadn't just closed it forever. She felt exhausted, mentally and physically. Her last order had been testing but she'd put in her all.Her chest felt heavy as she went home, thoughts of having to depend on her grandmother once again, weighing her down.After losing her both parents within months of each other, Anne's monthly visits to her grandmother's had become permanent. She blamed herself for their deaths. Her father had died of a heart attack not long after she gave him news she was pregnant and her mother had grown thinner each day after, wasting away so badly that when she died it was like she'd already been dead for a long time.Anne had just had her babies then and with no support from anyone else, she'd felt so alone in the world. She'd spent each day staring out the window, neither eating nor feeding her babies until her grandmother forced her to. She thought of her life each day, her hatred for the Ingram family g
Anne felt all kinds of emotions at once. She was standing face to face with the man who'd single handedly ruined her life in one day and had never turned back. He had left her pregnant, humiliated, alone, while he enjoyed his perfect life. She'd had to quit school indefinitely in order to take care of the kids, his kids. He hadn't shown interest even after she'd sent him dozens of messages, emails and calls he never responded to. She'd received nothing following her parent's death, only news that all her father's property had been willed to some mystery brother she hadn't known she had. Her mother had been too depressed to even notice or complain. Now she was standing face to face with the man she hated most in the world but she didn't know what to do, how to translate her feelings into words.She thought of him everyday. The hurtful things she'd say to him whenever she'd meet him, how terrible she'd make him feel just like he'd done to her. She'd always imagined she'd be extremely w
After a long day of sitting down at the long conference table, listening to old men who happened to be the board of directors, speak about the things he already knew, for hours, Asher was more than due for a break. He knew he'd already begun to accomplish more than his father had as CEO, and the constant get togethers were just excuses to remind him of his superiors. He'd had to stay. He couldn't bear them going back up to his father and giving the old man a reason to see him sooner than he needed to. Strangely, after the meeting, Asher did not feel like partying or seeing anyone. That was not all true, though. He felt like seeing one person, but he doubted she'd ever agree to come if she knew it was him, judging from her actions the last time. He came up with an idea. A few hours after he'd placed an order, a different one this time in order not to raise any unnecessary suspicion, he'd placed the delivery address to a different mansion of his which he rarely used. There was really
Her skin came alive under his touch, exploring every inch of her body while he kissed her neck, making waves pool beneath her stomach. She writhed underneath him, paving the way for his torturous pleasure. His lips left her neck and moved slowly downward, leaving kisses in their wake, making her go mad with anticipation. He took one tweaked nipple in his mouth, tasting then sucking on the budded flesh. His fingers trailed the center of her moist womanhood, making her cry out. A finger stretched her open, then two until she felt she couldn't take it anymore. "Are you ready for me?" He asked out of breath. She nodded, pulling him in. Anna woke up with a start, feeling hot all over. It'd been months since she'd had such a vivid dream. Rubbing her eyes, she glanced around at the room, getting confused. The room was unfamiliar. Her fingers trembled and she felt her legs give way even on the very plush bed she was on. This wasn't right. Where was she? Where were her children? What had