The room was quiet for a while, and Gary studied Bryan’s eyes, wondering if he was someone he wanted to risk the act of working with.He had only arrived in South Hill a few days ago, several things had happened. And now a guy right in front of him who had showed up at the supermarket was asking him to work with him.The same guy had claimed knowing Gary, but then Gary never knew him.For a moment, could it be a set up?With the new life he was building with Laura, he wanted nothing at all to destroy it.After a brief silence, Bryan broke the silence.“Understandable, and I respect your decision… But if I am not involved in some deep shit?” Bryan asked, arching a brow challengingly. His thoughts revolving around his reputation again, Gary hesitated, but then he remembered something, furrowed his brows slightly, faced Bryan and said, “Then you got yourself a deal.” “Well, I can drink to that,” Bryan said with a small smile as he picked up Gary’s glass and reached it out to him.Howev
The sound of hums echoed from the kitchen as James bobbed his head to the beat of the music in his mind while frying the eggs.“James, I feel healthy enough now to cook for you guys. My pains have disappeared and I’m whole. So I can cook.”“You shouldn‘t be in the kitchen.” Mrs Gilbert concluded as she walked toward him with a smile on her face.“I know… I might be rich, but at least I'm not married yet, so I can still handle my own meals.” He turned towards her and said, “Let me remember to add this, I'm also a chef.”, I was a chef…” James blurted out.“You are wealthy, but why then should you be working on cooking your meals? Aren't you supposed to have a number of people currently working and attending to your meals?” Mrs Gilbert was surprised. Never had she witnessed such a level of humility. Those who were rich always made sure they trampled on the poor. But so far she witnessed between Gary and his friends, it had been a lot of humility. “Yea, you can say that again Mrs Gilber
A frown crossed Mrs Gilbert’s face when she snapped out of her shocked state and mumbled stiffly,” Sandra… What are you doing here?”Of course, she wasn’t excited about seeing her since the incident at the hospital. Someone who had created a scandal with her daughter's name.Mrs Gilbert looked around in fear, trying to look for anything she could lay her hand on just in case, Sandra raised any mischief.“Can I come in?!” Sandra asked impatiently, seeing that Mrs Gilbert was blocking her way. Although she wasn’t someone who liked confrontation, she knew if Fallon knew Sandra is here, it would stress her daughter up, and the fact that she was sick, the last thing Mrs Gilbert wanted was to see her daughter upset or her headache worsen.“I am sorry… but whatever you have to say, tell it to my face, right out here.” Mrs Gilbert uttered firmly, trying to sound as intimidating as possible because she didn’t want Sandra arguing with her about this.But just like the brat that she was, a fain
Sandra sped through the huge open gate, and drove through the yard, into the garage, and then Sandra hit the brake pedal hard. She had to hit the available flight back to North Hill just to get some issues settled.Her little interaction with Gary had her in all her feelings, and her mood was a mess as she pushed the car door open and stepped out onto the concrete of the front walk. In front of her was a two-stories, enormous fancy mansion with glass panes and a white wraparound porch. Palm trees were lining the driveway and an immaculate flower bed was along the side. It showed how much the Larson had put into renovating their building in the recent time. However, to her, none of that concerned her if not for the pending issue she had at hand.The frown she had on didn’t leave her face even after she got to the front door of the mansion and hit the doorbell.As she was about to ring it for the second time, someone opened the door, and she was met by a tall man in his late sixties
A gentle knock on the door made Mr Bamford look up from the case file on his desk and stared ahead, calling out, “Come in.”When the door opened, his secretary Kirby entered his office with a soft smile, saying, “Sir, there‘s a visitor for you.”“‘Who?” Mr Bamford replied without looking up from the case file, still reading through the information about the crime he was currently investigating.“Madam Alora,” The pen in his hand dropped on the sheet as he lifted his head slightly to glance at his secretary with an eyebrow raised.Then he rested back in his seat and sighed softly, “Send her in,”“Yes, sir,” Kirby said with a nod.Silently, Mr Bamford watched her walk out of his office and waited until she closed his door before turning his attention back to the papers on his desk.A couple of minutes went by, and then the door opened again, this time to reveal Mrs Haye. She had her hands tucked into the front pockets of her black fluffy coat as she stepped inside before closing the doo
The sound of her room door opening made Fallon raise her head off the pillow and gazed at her mother, standing in the doorway, smiling at her. “Can I come in?” Mrs Gilbert asked cheerfully, closing the door behind her and stepping inside the room.Slowly, Fallon sat up from the bed, hugging her knees as she rested her head on her kneecaps, feeling a sense of sadness welling up within her as she watched her mother approach her with a warm smile and sit down beside her on the edge of the mattress.“James made chicken soup for dinner with rice and vegetables.” Mrs Gilbert told her kindly.Shaking her head slowly, Fallon said with a sad smile, “I‘m too full already, Mama.You should go ahead and eat without me.”“Fallon, you have been here all day. You missed breakfast and now you're trying to skip dinner?!""You have barely put much in your stomach. That‘s not healthy!” Mrs Gilbert chided her, gently squeezing Fallon‘s hands. One look at her mother and Fallon could see her concern clear
The dining hall was eerily quiet as everybody slowly digested what Alora had revealed. “A man like Bryan Checks is getting involved with our family?” Kyle, Alora's first son, Sandra's father questioned, frowning slightly.“Why? How can a man like that possibly be interested in helping Fallon and Gilbert though?!” another person exclaimed angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists, feeling angered and confused.Looking at Alora, Raphael frowned slightly at the stress he saw in his grandmother's eyes and mumbled, “He is someone that never just gets involved with people without ulterior motives! He loves money and power… nothing else matters to him.” “Money, power, and women,” Clarie, Raphael's mother added.“What?”“We are all missing the bigger picture here. Fallon is a woman. Bryan is a man. Men usually get protective over the one they are interested in and would do whatever it takes to keep them protected no matter what, right mom?”It was like a light bulb switched on in Alora‘
A look of fear sparked in Clarie's eyes as she helped Kyle tie his tie around his neck, and when she got done, she whispered, “Honey, our daughter has suffered a lot.”“What is that supposed to mean?!” Kyle said, sounding quite annoyed at the sudden turn in the conversation.Lowering her voice, even more, Claire continued, “Silver GIlbert insulted our daughter when she went to the motel yesterday. Sandra was quite devastated when she came to see me yesterday.” At his wife‘s words, Kyle‘s brows knitted together into a tight frown as he uttered coldly, “Is that so!?”“I know Sandra did wrong by marrying that man, but Silver GIlbert doesn‘t have the right to discipline our daughter when you, her own father, have never raised a voice against her.” Claire said, looking up at him with watery eyes as she cried. “Do you understand what I‘m trying to say?” “I know what you are saying… Silver GIlbert should worry about training her daughter and not mine. But since she has crossed the line, the