****7 weeks agoAlan was in the hospital bed with bruises all over his face. His breath was held with a deadly gasp of surprise at the divorce papers that he was to sign.How could Rose do that to him? Alan cursed Mr. Billing, Lesley, Margaret, and everyone responsible for his current state.He felt his heart was bleeding as he took the pen and signed the divorce papers. But Alan flinched when something crept into his mind.There was a lighter paperwork underneath the document that he was signing. He flinched slightly in a flicker of discovery. Perhaps he should turn to the next page to sign as well but on second thought he resisted the urge to turn the page.“That is the document, now you have all that you want,” Alan said, handing the divorce papers over to Rose. His hands were trembling because he hoped that Rose wouldn’t discover that there was a next page to be signed.But if she found out after she left, she would return with the same request so there was no difference that it
“Don’t worry about that Samuel. Let’s keep that sealed.”“Or is it because Alan now owns a consortium,” Samuel asked, his eyes twinkling with a flicker of playfulness. “I mean, which woman wouldn’t change her mind when so much money is involved.”Rose’s expression hardened with a deadly tightening of annoyance. “Sam, I think it’s high time we end this conversation. I appreciate that you find it kind enough to give me this information though.”“Alright, that is fine. I guess I will have to alight here then,” Samuel said.He alighted the vehicle and went off to his vehicle while Rose drove off. She couldn’t help but get excited that she was still married to Alan. At least, the horror show of living in Alan’s house would be no more. She would no longer have to listen to his gruesome instructions and be disrespected like a woman with no value.She couldn’t help but think about all the messages she received from the employees at Billing Corporation though.But most of all, the fact that
Rose took a deep breath in exhaustion. “Okay, if you say so. I am just really tired right now and I can’t wait to have some rest. I just hope it’s not so messy at the house like it usually is sometimes.”Her lips moved in a silent whisper of self-dialogue but the way she was moving her head to the side suggested to Brody that she might be talking to him too.Rose decided to return her focus to her worry about Mr. Billing. The questions started coming in thick and fast again - she was worried for her safety.She picked up her phone to call Mr. Billing again - perhaps this time the voices she heard the other time would be more willing to speak up and give more clues as to her father’s whereabouts.She saw missed calls from Margaret, Lesley, and her other siblings but she ignored them. She knew that they were also worried about the whereabouts of Mr. Billing but she wasn’t in the mood to speak with any of them. The number was going through again but this time no one picked up the call.
“What cruel things has he done?” Rose asked, her voice tinged with curiosity. “Did her hurt you? Talk to me, perhaps we can find a way to help you.”“No, no, no. I don’t need help. At least not right now. Perhaps you need help more than me.”In Rose’s mind, she couldn’t argue much against the fact that she needed help to be out of Mr. Lawrence’s claws. Having found out that she wasn’t legally married to him since she was still yoked with Alan was a big step but was he going to let her go that easily? He might come for Alan and his business as well.Brody continued, his voice tinged with seriousness. “I couldn’t help but cover my eyes in shame when he took me for a business event but I found out that it was only a show that was created to make mockery of other adults who were not so rich.”“What show are you talking about?” Rose asked. She could sense that perhaps she knew what he was talking about.“He told me that it was a Billing event and that—-you are a Billing right?” Brody asked
“I promise this stays between us,” Rose assured, her eyes meeting Brody’s gaze with a deadly gaze of empathy.“It’s about his ex-wife Dianna,” Brody stuttered, his face contorted with a deadly twist of unease.“Okay?”“He—-he killed Dianna,” Brody uttered, his whole face a deadly mask of horror.“What?!” Rose exclaimed, her breath coming in a ragged gasp of terror. “How do you know this?”“Shush, don’t act like that,” Brody said, looking around as if someone might be watching even though they were in a moving vehicle.Rose went back into composure as she took a grip of the steering of the vehicle. Brody continued. “You might have noticed that my dad has two main concubines who flexes on whenever he wants to have fun or when he gets drunk with wine.”“Yes, yes. Of course, I noticed,” Rose nodded her head in remembrance as she recalled the moment when she was disgraced by Mr. Lawrence in the presence of his hookers after an altercation between herself and the two nonentities.“Well, th
Rose could also tell that he must have been drunk judging from the way that his shirt collar was undone and his belt half fastened. He also wobbled along as he entered the room.Rose wondered what Mr. Lawrence was talking about. She had brought Brody back home this time so there should be no reason for unnecessary complaints.“Why did you bring Brody back home so late? Where did you go that you had to leave my son at school alone after closing hours.”Rose’s eyes darted back and forth with a flicker of confusion, her lips pressed tightly with a clamp of contemplation. What exactly was he talking about? She reasoned. “Or did you think that I didn’t see you come into my apartment with Brody? Tell me, where you took my son to.”Rose’s posture was a deadly stoop of amazement. How can a man be so blind to the truth? If only he knew what Brody knew about him and his evil acts - if only he knew that Brody knew that he was responsible for his ex-wife’s death, perhaps he would bow his head in
Mr. Lawrence moved closer to Rose, his eyes gleaming with danger. “You know what? I have heard enough of your useless talks. You are going to go to Doubas tomorrow and you are going to start work as our accountant's manager. I will be monitoring your progress from time to time.”Mr. Lawrence turned back to leave angrily with the satisfaction that he had made his wishes known but then stopped as if something had clicked into his brain.“Oh, and let this be the last time we discuss this. I need you prepared for work in a dress that I will have my stylist send to you. You see, I have ambitions, very serious ambitions and I can’t afford to have these kinds of controversies in my home ruin those ambitions.”“You don’t want to know what I will do if you dare bring up these useless issues again,” Mr. Lawrence warned.Rose’s expression hardened with a deadly tightening of annoyance as she heard those words. The fact that Mr. Lawrence wanted her to dress the exact way he wanted made her much m
Mr. Lawrence opened the door and saw that it was one of his messengers. “Sir, you have someone from—erm, the registry waiting to visit you. He says that they have been trying to contact you for a while but you haven’t been responding to their emails or calls.”Mr. Lawrence had actually seen some of the emails from the marriage registry that suggested that some issues wouldn’t permit his marriage with Rose to go through but he shrugged it off as something that can be settled with some money being put in the right pockets.Rose eavesdropped at what the messenger said and it dawned on her that it was probably the marriage registry coming to tell Mr. Lawrence that his marriage to her wasn’t going to be legal. That was a reason for Rose to breathe a sigh of relief, especially after the last few intense minutes.“Tell whoever the hell it is to give me a few more minutes,” Mr. Lawrence said, his teeth gritted with anger.The messenger used the corner of his eye to inspect what was going on i