"How did you get in here, woman? I ask for the last time."
Declan King sat at the edge of the king sized bed in a magnificent suite of hotel Antonio, New York.
He wore a grim expression and took a final look at the lady clinged beside him.
The lady had a red dress that hugged her curvy body on. The upper part of the dress was open in a v cut, letting the right amount of cleavage flash. The slit of her dress cut deep on the left side, giving her thick thigh away.
Declan's eyes met with hers and she gave him a curt wink, with her lower lip trapped between her teeth. Declan wasn't in the slightest entertained by her showcase.
"Ivy. Call me Ivy. And yeah, the right question should be how do you want me to make you feel...." Ivy ran her hand over Declan's shirt as she spoke.
"Don't!" Declan slapped her hand away and the top buttons of his shirt tore apart. He sprang up at once, his teeth gritted at the mess. He was about to say something when the room door opened and two ladies walked in.
"What the hell is going on here?" May Williams demanded, unable to hide her displeasure. She was Declan's wife and the last thing she expected was to walk into a hotel room and actually find her husband with a lady, half naked.
"I warned you May, this husband of yours is of no good" Clara Williams snorted. Clara was May's mom and had always been against her daughter's marriage to Declan.
"It's not what you think, May. I can explain"
"Oh! Shut your trap, cheat! You're an ungrateful bastard and you do not deserve to be married to my daughter."
"Mom...."
"No! May. Call me that when you divorced this bastard." Clara reached for her handbag and brought out a paper. "Sign this while I'm still nice" she stated and flung the paper at Declan.
"What's that?" May inquired.
"Divorce papers. This is me doing what you should have done a long time ago."
"This is ridiculous, I was not with that woman. I don't even know who she is and how she got into my hotel room." Declan tried to explain. His mother-in-law was always dramatic but he didn't see the divorce papers coming.
"Save your lies for your next victim. My daughter and I are so done."
"Mom! Please…. I need him and I to be left alone."
"I will be outside then." Clara responded and left with the lady. The bang of the door left the couple in an uncomfortable silence.
"Do you have anything to say, Declan?"
Declan's expression was flat. He felt a slight pain in his chest because she doubted him.
"If this is what you want... I mean about the divorce.... then it's fine."
May scoffed in disbelief. "What do you mean if this is what I want? You are the one caught in a damn hotel room with some lady and you don't even have a defense on what was going on."
Declan checked out his opened chest as he walked to the other side of the bed. His demeanor exudes calmness. "I don't have to go to the end of earth to make you believe me. I already told you I didn't do it. it's up to you to take my word for it or not."
May rubbed her temples in obvious frustration. He was unbelievable!
"I know what we have is not real but at least show some dignity and respect!
How do I explain to my mom about what she just saw?"
She paced the room waiting for Declan to say something but he remained calm which got her more upset.
"Still no words huh?"
Declan shrugged. his nonchalance irking the shit out of May.
"We've been in this contract for three years, Declan. Three solid years! You know how much I need you at this point in time. I can't believe you jeopardized everything you and I have worked hard for."
May breathed, trying to keep her emotions together. She was disappointed at Declan and that was understandable. But what she didn't quite understand was why she felt and showed that amount of pain. Declan was just a fake husband. He had agreed to enter into a marriage contract with her to fulfill a favor he owed her by helping her inherit her company. She didn't like how much she was affected by what she just found out.
She grabbed a glass of water from the bed stand and downed it in seconds and Declan just watched on.
"You shouldn't have done this. You just shouldn't have. I'm highly disappointed at your incompetence and new lifestyle." She paused, not sure about the next words about to come out.
"Maybe it's best you signed those papers"
Declan paused. He didn't like the sound of what May had just said but he was not going to stop her either. He didn't like the way his chest twisted when he picked up the letter and signed on it. May was devastated. The sting in her heart intensified. She took the paper and turned to leave.
"Wait!" Declan's hoarse voice brought her to a halt.
"About Lucian Enterprise, how is the project coming along? Do they still give you problems?"
May scoffed at what she sensed as his hypocrisy. "What do you care, Declan? Not like you can do anything to help right now. I will be leaving first."
May left, leaving Declan alone in self deprecation. He didn't like the fact that May felt betrayed. But there was nothing else he could do to ease her pain. He picked up his phone and dialed a number.
"Mandy? It's been a minute"
"Oh my, Declan! I'm delighted to speak to you. To what do I owe this call?" Mandy's squeaky voice teased.
"Oh don't flatter yourself yet. I need you to help deal with something. My wif — ex wife needs her latest project with Lucien Enterprise going, and I need you to see to that right now"
"Hope there's no problem? You sound like it's something serious." Mandy adjusted, genuinely concerned. "I'm fine, trust me. Like I said, it's for my ex, May." "Hmmm. What about May? Never knew you updated your status yet. You hinted it earlier but thought I simply heard wrongly ." "No, you did not. May and I are separated.... since this afternoon but that's not the point now. I need you to see that Lucien Enterprise keep their part of the deal and quit stressing May out already" He sounded a bit too serious in his own ears and hated it. Maybe he was becoming too desperate for things to work out. "Relax. I will see to that right away, trust me and quit stressing" Mandy cleared her throat, a known act when she wants to pry. "But why do you care so badly? I mean— she's your ex now" "We're exes not enemies, Mandy. Maybe I should get back to work now. Ttyl!" Declan was about to hang up. "Wait... One more thing. My grandpa's illness has persisted.I need your help." Mandy's voice
Clara didn't stop screaming, to Declan's amazement. He just stood still and watched her create a scene. She was beginning to attract people to where they were. "Are you alright ma'am?" A man in a security uniform walked up to them and asked first. "Please help me. This man right here tried to hit me! Oh gracious." "She's a blatant liar. I did no such thing." "Of course you did!" Clara brought out her other wrist and flashed it before the Security guard. She had an old injury on it but claimed it was a resulting injury from how Declan twisted her hand. Declan was amused by her gaslighting skills only that she tried it with him. "Can I take a close look ma'am?" "Please do" The security man surveyed the red wrist and assured her he would do something to help her. He stepped aside and spoke into his walkie-talkie. In no time, two other guards joined them, each standing at Declan's both sides. Clara had a few other people gather around her asking if she was okay. "He is a c
"You always do this, May. Do you also believe your mom to be Maniac?" Clara's voice was beginning to crack. She didn't expect May not to believe her. She needed just one person to stand by her, knowing fully well herself was a handful. "No mom. Don't do that. It's just that— I know Declan well enough and I can't imagine him as someone that will hit a lady....let alone my mother." May was disappointed at her mom but she didn't want to go too far and make her feel worse. "So you believe his words over mine? You shouldn't be rude to your mother but that's alright" Clara sniffed, to clearly prove that she wasn't okay" "The point here isn't who I believe over the other. I just want you to stay out of trouble. To be honest you've been doing too much lately and it's not good for either you or I. The company is—" "I've been doing too much, you say? Everything I did, I did it for your ungrateful ass. So don't dare castigate me like the rest!" "My bad. Wrong choice of words, sorry. I
Leo felt insulted by Declan's attitude and couldn't hide his hate any further. He walked up to where Declan stood and took the paper from him, folded it and tucked it into his chest pocket. "What if I told you I don't believe any single word you've uttered from your mouth?" Leo started to walk back to Mandy, his hands clenched together at his back as he spoke. "And I don't mean only your claim that you trained on your own. But also the whole facade you pulled on about being a doctor and scamming this desperate woman into falling for your tricks." He looked up to Declan, meeting his eyes. "You know what I think? I think you're an imposter and a quack who just showed up for a high pay. I'm not sorry to blow your cover but will ask nicely just this once, that you leave before I disgrace and make you lose what's left of your dignity." A dead silence came after Leo's last word. Declan smirked and shook his head disparagingly at Leo's attitude. He picked up the fact that Leo was ins
Leo and Mandy instantly turned to Declan in confusion. "What do you mean?" Mandy asked first. She would get pissed if Declan failed to give a reasonable explanation to the words he just uttered. "It's a deadly concoction that can leave anyone dead few seconds after it's been injected into them." He said firmly. He's not just knowledgeable in healing medicine, but also knew quite enough about poisons too. He could tell it easily just from the scent of that mixture. Mandy's gaze didn't leave Declan's face and she could tell he was dead serious. He wouldn't be so unreasonable to play a trick on her in a situation like this. But then there's Leo, who was highly recommended for his expertise. She had heard testimonials from patients he had treated before. "Don't tell me you're taking the words of this maniac seriously. I warned you about having him in here" Leo was furious at Declan's claims. He walked up to his face, anger flashing through his eyes. "How dare you slander me? Why
Grand pa Asher's breath normalized. He was still deep in a coma and needed a few more days before he woke up. "What the hell just happened" Mandy was in shock. Her hands vibrated. She clasped them together to stay still. She couldn't imagine what would have happened if Declan hadn't come through. "Wait Mandy... I can explain. He was going to be better from the antidote I gave him. We should have just waited a little longer ""Wait, you say? He was going to die, Leo! He was losing so much blood!""It's not as bad as you think. I mean.... the blood you saw was the toxins flushing out of his body. I made him better. That last concoction wasn't necessary. This man right here just wants to take the glory of what I did!""You're unbelievable! I can't imagine I trusted you with his life.""So you believe him over me now? He simply finished what I started. Yes! It was my antidote that made him better"Declan was amused at Leo's Chicanery. He was a con and a master at it. He definitely did
May didn't say another word to Declan and his worry skyrocketed. "May! May!" He screamed into the phone before the call dropped. He tried to call her back but her phone was suddenly switched off. "What's up with May? Is everything alright?" Mandy tried to hold down Declan, concern plastered all over her face. "I don't know what's up with her. She's definitely not fine from the way she sounded, now her phone is switched off. I need to get to her right away. " He picked up his jacket and dashed off immediately."Wait! The herb...." Mandy called after him. His medical herb she found was in a box somewhere in the room. She tried to get it out and hand it to him."I will come pick it up later." ***May laid on her back, staring emptily at the ceiling. Her eyes were drowsy and everything around her appeared in twos. Some even in threes. She made to get up but fell back on the bed. Her head hurt like hell and she felt like throwing up. She was in a hotel room that belonged to Nathan W
Declan looked at the men before him, fifteen of them. They were all in dark shades and their faces were expressionless "Step back!" One of them ordered again. Declan assumed he was their leader. Declan's fist clenched at his effrontery. They were wasting his time and that was enough to piss him off. "Where is she?" He relaxed his fist and asked casually. He was going to ask them just once. "Leave now while we're still nice" The leader warned, shoving one side of his blazer open to flash a black pistol. Declan smirked. It's been a while since he got challenged. He looked at all of their fifteen faces and already knew how to handle them. They outnumbered him, but he undoubtedly outmatched them. In a split second, Declan moved swiftly and grabbed the leader by his neck with his left elbow before he knew it. His right hand pressed the leader's gun on his head. "One move from any of you and he would be as gone as yesterday" Declan warned the other subordinates whose guns point