The cool breeze from the overlapping water ruffled the white tufts of hair on the old man’s head as he looked out at the gurgling river from his garden.The Aquae Sulis river ran through the back of the home he chose for himself as a sanctuary. The home where he awaits his granddaughter.A closer look at the man showed the sallow look on his face, his veined hands and his thinning hair.He held a gold walking cane in his hands as he stood at the unfenced perimeter of his ten acres of land where the sprawling wood and stone-modelled mansion was situated. The environment suited him just fine.The nearest neighbour was about ten miles away.“Where are you, Millie?” he muttered to himself as he breathed in the fresh scent of water over fertile soil.He felt the cleansing deep down to his toes. It felt like a cleansing of his soul. He felt like the chemicals and cloying smells had been washed out of his system. He was never going back. If he had to go, then he would go on his term. Not bei

Andre Fitzgerald was unable to keep the promise he made to himself. His intention to get in touch with the patriarch on behalf of his erring son had not been actualized. Since he collapsed after leaving his son’s bedside the other day, not only did the doctor tell him to stop doing anything strenuous or emotion-wracking; he was advised to have total bed rest. Not only were his limbs getting weaker, but his immune had also taken a hit as well, and ailments that others take in their stride will not only bring him low, it could ruin his chance at longevity. Andre, being Andre, did not listen of course but then after an episode where his phlegm was stained with blood after a wracking cough episode, he stayed put. He stopped going to the corporation as he was known to do at least once in a month or whenever the urge hit. Matteo was sure he was sad about his father’s deteriorating health, ofcourse he was. He was also glad that he would finally be in charge of things at the corporation. Hi

Jason made sure to check out the layout of the cabin’s interior. The inside was more spacious than the minimal look the single-story building gave off from the outside.The clapboard and cedar shingle used predominantly in the construction was well incorporated that it gave off a comfortable aura that invited one to sit back and relax. Nothing was relaxing about the men that lead the newcomers in though.Jason saw that the bungalow cabin was the straight-planned type as he followed the men without making obvious the calculations he was doing. The fire crackled in the kitchen to their left as they passed. Two men entered the kitchen going straight to the round table in the middle of the kitchen. The slab wood counter closed to the range looked serviceable enough.“Kitchen,” the man leading them said tersely. Then a few feet to their right, he motioned without giving them time to check it out. "Restroom" A turn from the restroom area and the men stood abruptly when they saw what was pr

Mia’s eyes bulged when she saw the last message that her mother had on her phone; the alert! “Ten million dollars? Mum!” she looked at her mother with incomprehension. Her mother nodded to her as she gulped down the water again “Welcome to the club”“Are you sure this is from Jason, mum? How?” Mia asked in confusion.Celia raised her brow at her as if to say “You are asking me?”“My God” she laughed “Jason is something else. Why would he…Oh” her mouth rounded in a perfect shape of O, her coral lipstick glistening as comprehension dawned “Your birthday, mum. This is your birthday gift! Uuuhhh. What a big show-off! How exactly am I supposed to brag about being the favourite kid now? Damn it. How can hard brownies compete with ten million dollars?”“Compe…” Celia shook her head at Mia. “Is that what you should be thinking about now? You are not even thinking about how he could afford to send such an amount to me? This is ten million dollars, Mia. not ten bucks”Mia sighed softly “You a

“Get up, you lazy bones!”Jason jolted awake from the banging on the door. He rubbed at his bleary eyes and fantasized briefly about how he would like to wrap his hands around the neck of that bastard who took great pleasure in giving them a hard time. It’s been two weeks now that he had been on the NMN farm. He had done things he never believed he would ever have to engage in. No matter how hard life had been before he met the Rouarkes, he had been a city guy after all. Who knew he would end up mucking stalls and picking eggs from angry-looking hens with the ability to peck one’s eyes out?The gore he had to deal with when he was ordered to deal with the birthing of a calf was enough to make him want to scrub his body for hours without stopping. That was not possible though as they were barely given enough water to even clean themselves properly.They were still in the probation period and Slasher had not decided if they were worthy enough to be brought into the inner circle yet. Th