Chapter 2
Adrian was sure he didn't just hear divorce.“Awwn! Surprise, surprise”, Lily said in her usual high pitched voice, giving a short scornful laugh at the end. Sean joined her too.“Oh stop Lily. The poor fool. Did you really think Rosa here was down for you? Really? Is that how you really think of yourself?”, Sean said, with a scoff.“That's enough Sean”“What? It’s not like I’m lying. I’m just stating facts”.“I said enough!!”“Rosa…”. Adrian tried drawing closer to his wife,but she stepped back, using her hand to stop him from coming any closer.“Look Adrian. I'm tired. I want a divorce”“A divorce?Are you serious right now?”“Yes Adrian. I want a divorce. Here and now”, Rosa said, her hands folded under her chest.“I… I don't understand Rosa. Wh.. wha.. what's going on? Where's all this coming from all of a sudden?”“All of sudden? This isn't all of a sudden Adrian. You've just been too blind to see it.”“What are you talking about Rosa? I don't understand”“Clearly his mental faculty is unable to comprehend it all. I'm sure he doesn't even know the meaning of divorce”, Sean whispered to Lily who giggled loudly at the insult.“What don't you understand Adrian?! I want to a divorce! I'm tired of this marriage! Ok? Haven't I had enough? Haven't you done enough to disgrace me? Haven't I suffered enough of you constantly making a mockery of me and my family? I have been with you five years! Five years Adrian and not one day of those five years did you ever add something tangible to this family or to even the company. If there's anyone who doesn't understand here, it's me because I'm clearly at sea of why dad would even approve of our marriage. I don't even know what he saw in you because now it's so obvious I made a big mistake.”“Finally she sees”, one of the Dalton aunties said with a scoff.Adrian was completely baffled. It was the greatest shock of his life for him because he couldn't believe that Rosa, his college love who he'd loved wholeheartedly could turn her back on what they had. Yes, Rosa may have suffered her own lot from the fact that her family was totally against their union but he reassured his love for her and she often tried her best to stand by. So what had suddenly changed?“Five years Rosa? You want to tell me you didn't love me all those five years of us being together?”“Oh please!”, Rosa's mother cut in rudely. “Shut that filthy infested mouth of yours! And what if she says she never loved you? Huh? Are you worthy of even being loved? What do you think you are? Some “special” orphan boy with no roots in the world? Well, if you ever thought that was special Adrian then it isn't. It's pathetic and disgusting. It's a disgrace to your identity and you don't even have one! And somehow, you managed to smother your shame on this family. You criminal!”“Yes! You are a criminal. And if she wants a divorce, you had better damn right give it to her now! You cheap skate. Ah! I don't even know where Rosa gets these boys from”, her aunty said in a frustrated tone.The whole family threw insults at Adrian and his blood boiled by each passing second. Nancy got the divorce papers and flung them at him. Some of the files spilled halfway out.She dropped a pen on the top of the brown file on the ground.“Take. There. Sign it and let's get this over with”Adrian picked up the file, trying desperately to contain his anger. All the insults he was receiving made it all the worse as their words pierced into him. At this point, he didn't even care anymore. If this was how she wanted to end their marriage, then so be it.He took out the files, reading through before he signed each one. Luckily, she wasn't even demanding any money from him. As he signed, he noticed that she'd already signed her part of the divorce papers.“I signed them at the office, just in case you are wondering”When he'd signed it all,he shoved the files back into the envelope and handed it over.Nancy snatched them from his hands, eyeing him as she did. She pulled out the files to make sure they were all surely signed. One file wasn't.“You missed a file, you blockhead”, she said, throwing the piece of paper at him. The crowd that had gathered erupted with laughter and some of them scoffed too. Adrian caught it and looked at it. He hadn't noticed this one. It must have been stuck to one of the other papers.Hastily and in rage, he signed it and gave it back to his mother-in-law. In the same manner, she collected it from him.“Finally, you do something right”, she said, eyes rolled at him. When she'd confirmed all the documents, she handed them over to Rosa . She gave a disgusted stare at Adrian who had his head bent and fists clenched, trying to contain his rage.Rosa felt a strong hand behind her, wrapping her waist from behind. It was Mason Hamilton.“So glad you finally did the right thing”“Thanks babe”, Rosa said, smiling at him.“Now that you are no longer a member of the Dalton family, ex-brother-in-law”, Lilly said, giggling in her usual mocking way.“You are automatically not invited to our party anymore. Bye-bye”“Yes she's right. Leave now. You've signed the divorce papers so what are you doing, standing there and looking all stupid. Do something sensible like finding your way to the door at least. It would earn you some dignity”Adrian clenched his teeth and took a deep breath in before he headed for the door. He walked slowly and he was almost at the entrance of the hall when someone in the crowd exclaimed.“Ahh!”The whole crowd turned towards where the voice had come from. It was one of The Dalton's business partners.“What happened?”“My expensive necklace. And my bracelet. They are all gone!”, The woman cried in horror.“Gone?”“Yes. I… I don't know how. They just.. left me”“Someone must have stolen them. Who could have stolen them?”“Stop! Stop him! Don't let anyone through that door!”, Mason ordered, walking fast towards Adrian.“You criminal! Empty your pockets!”“What?!”“Empty your pockets you lowly thief!”Mason said, trying to rough handle Adrian. Adrian pushed him away and he almost fell over, if not for the wall.“What the fuck do you want?!”“Empty your pockets, you freaking thief!”The crowd by this time, had reached where both men were.“Empty your pockets Adrian! Now!”, Nancy said sternly as she came forward.“I have nothing on me ma'am! What's the meaning of all this?” She signalled the guards at the door to search him. As soon as one guard dipped his hand in his inner jacket pocket, he felt the expensive jewelry. He brought it out and the bracelets followed.“Oh shit!, I've been …”“Shut up!” Rosa ordered in anger.“You thief!”, Nancy said, sending a smack across Adrian's face. “Haven't you disgraced yourself enough, you idiot? Aren't you tired of being a fool?”“Where is he?”The deep voice of the elder reverberated in the hall and caused silence to fall on all. She stormed her way to the front and slapped Adrian again, sending him across the floor.“You’ve disgraced this family enough. I don't want to see you anywhere near any of my family members. Did you hear that?”“I've called the police already, Elder Dalton. They'll be here any moment”, Mason said. Adrian got up from the floor, giving Mason a dead stare. Mason smirked at him and Adrian knew at once. He remembered that he had put his jacket on the chair and Mason had passed there, a glimmering jewelry in his hand. It was him. He was the one who framed Adrian.The police got to the venue in no time. They whisked Adrian away roughly and the police car drive off speedily.Chapter 3 Adrian sat bruised and battered in his cold, dingy prison cell. He paced the small cell, a stabbed feeling in him. He had now spent three endless months locked up for a crime he didn't commit. The wounds from the daily beatings were nothing compared to the sting of betrayal he felt. He couldn't still comprehend why the woman he'd dedicated his life to loving would order for a divorce so cold-heartedly - in a way that was capable of striping him of every last form of dignity he had.“Get up you idiot. You have a visitor”Adrian stood up reluctantly, not wanting to go through another round of beating for stubbornness. He was in no mood to see anybody be they his friends. Not to even talk of any of his in- laws. Now Rosa had come once again to torment Adrian under the guise of being a concerned ex-wife. “Oh Adrian, look at you! This is what happens when you try lying and avoiding accountability for your actions. All this pain could have been avoided if you had just admitted
Chapter 4“Adrian!”“Who… who's there?”, Adrian looking around him. The thunderous sound of the voice had caused him to almost fall over as he managed to catch his step from all that stumbling. The voice seemed to walk on the ground around him, with something heavy to his feet striking on the ground, like metal hitting metal - a vibrating aura to it.Andrea rubbed his eyes, finding it hard to believe what he was seeing. The form was obviously headed in his direction and a strange feeling overwhelmed him. He could feel the strange energy in this ethereal place and it sent chills down his spines. He didn't want to be overwhelmed by fear so he asked the questions.“Who … who are you?”, Andrea said as the blinding figure came within his view. It was in the form of a man and his face was illuminating extremely, that Adrian couldn't even look at him straight.“Adrian”, the deep voice called out to him again.“What.. what do you want from me?”, Adrian said, his arm over his eyes to prevent t
Chapter 5“Master? Good… morning Master Adrian”, Martinez greeted again, thinking Adrian hadn't heard. But Adrian just continued to stare on at him, his eyes darting quickly away to other things. Martinez watched his master act strange. He touched his body like as if he couldn't believe he was alive and looked all over the place like he had never been there. This was a first.“Master, are you okay?”, Martinez asked in concern. Adrian just looked on, his face pale with shock and confusion. “Certainly, I must get the home nurse”, he said to himself finally. On hearing that, Adrian quickly stopped him as he was already on walking his way to the door.“Hey! Hey! Stop!”, Adrian called out to Martinez. His legs were already out if the duvet ready to catch up with him.Martinez breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh master! For a minute there, I thought you had gone completely dumb, Master. You looked so lost. Is anything the matter, Master?”“No…I'm fine. I am”, Adrian replied, trying to look assu
Chapter 6Martinez was back yet again but just as alone as he had gone. This time he looked more upset than the last time. He was complaining, throwing both hands in the air.“Yet another incompetent housestaff!” Martinez shouted as he walked into Adrian's room.“Can you believe, Master? The house nurse didn't even clock in for work today! How outrageous? How can anyone decide to take a one day vacation with a crucial role like that? How can the head of staff in the house allow such negligence of duty? Isn't that madness, Master? I mean…”“Hey, hey, calm down…”, Adrian said, slowing down on his last words as he noticed the name tag on his servant. “Marti…”“Oh my name tag, Master? I forgot to even mention it to you, Master. They spelt my name wrong”“Ahhh… let me see”, Adrian demanded and Martinez dutifully took off the tag and handed it to his master “Martinoz Lucruez”“Can you believe, Master? Tell me, who can't spell Martinez right? It's the simplest Spanish name!”Adrian smiled,
Chapter 7The soft knock came on the door just as Adrian picked up the cufflinks. It was Martinez.“The car's ready, Master”“Oh, okay”. He picked his jacket up which Martinez took from him. Giving one last comb to his hair, he looked at himself in the mirror shortly in the mirror. He couldn't deny - the suit looked really good on him. He smelt nice too- the scent of deep masculine musk all over him. Adrian hesitated, wondering what new faces he'd see if he went down the stairs.“Shall we?”“After you, Master”, Martinez said, opening the door. It made a beep sound immediately Martinez closed it, indicating that it had automatically locked. Adrian went down the stairs slowly and as he did, the maids greeted him. Martinez seemed to savor such things, because he let out a deep breath of satisfaction as they stepped out into the verandah.“ At least, a few dutiful ones”, he said under his breath though it was just loud enough for Adrian to hear. As he went down the steep stairs that led u
Chapter 8 Silence fell on the rest of the board as soon as the Sales director finished his presentation.“A commendable presentation”, Leonard complimented, breaking the silence immediately. “Any Questions?”, He asked, glancing from left to right. Adrian wondered if he should speak up now. What he had to say would not only discredit the Sales director's work but would definitely get him sacked because there was no way he could say he made such a big mistake in reporting. It was obviously schemed and he probably wasn't expecting that the Shilla would do her own reporting. But if he didn't say anything, then the information provided would prevent the company from improving and he could definitely see unrecoverable loss in the future, not to mention the fact that there'll be more chances of embezzling funds from the Sales department.“Very well then… I …”Adrian raised his hand, cutting his Father off.“Yes Adrian?”“Thank… Thank you sir”, Adrian said, clearing his throat at the end o
Chapter 9“Welcome Master”, Martinez greeted with a bow as Adrian came to the room of the door. “Martinez, how are you?”“Very well, Master. Should I have them bring up your lunch”“Umm…not really, Martinez. I had lunch on my way here”The gasp that escaped from Martinez made Adrian think he'd just murdered someone. “What?”“Master, why would you choose to eat lunch at some local undeserving restaurant, amongst…. uhhh”, Martinez said dramatically, shuddering at his last words like he'd just seen something ominous and overwhelming.“What… What's wrong with that? Did I do something wrong?”“Wrong?!. It's outrageously forbidden to be caught outside as a Grayson. What if someone caught you on camera or some paparazzi videoed you, Master?”“Calm down, Martinez. I'm… pretty sure there wasn't any … paparazzi anywhere” “But you can't be too sure, Master. They are very sly people and they could get such things all over the internet in no time!”“There was no paparazzi Martinez”“But Maste
Chapter 10 He ran a finger over the mark. It was bold and dark, contrasting deeply with his skin. It seemed to be divided into five and it looked so real, like it was more of an engravement than a stain on his body. He'd never noticed such a mark before on his body and he wondered if it was some kind of Grayson birthmark.His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.“Master?” came Martinez' voice.He came out of the dressing space, fully dressed, fastening back his Rolex to his wrist. “Come in Martinez”“Sir, the cars are ready”“I’ll be down in a minute”“Ok Master”, He said, disappearing almost immediately. Adrian slipped his legs into his shoes and went over to the mirror to check himself out.“Alright, alright. Your boy's looking good alright”, his said in an accent. His muscles were quite accentuated in his sharp white Polo sleeve. The V- neck showed off some of his nice chest hair and the shirt slimmed into his trousers perfectly. Taking the lightly scented perfume,