Few weeks later
~Christian~
'President, the same lady is here again, requesting to see you'
I snarled angrily. 'Do you need orders to send her out?'
He bowed slightly. 'I'll do that right away, sir'
Before he had the chance to depart my office, she stumbled in, scurrying close to where I stood. She looked disoriented, unlike her usual self. Her hair was a mess, her face had sweat smeared all over it, and her eyes were red and swollen. The mere sight of her triggered memories I'd tried so hard to seal within me.
To my irritation, she dropped to her knees and looked up at me with tear-filled eyes. 'What do you want me to do hunhh? To portray my remorsefulness? To beg for forgiveness? Tell me. I'll do anything you want' she clamoured.
My expression turned cold. Few days before, this was what I wanted. Her kneeling before me, begging desperately with doleful tears in her eyes just like she made me plead but now, it angered me that she was doing this.
I allowed my hostile blue eyes to peer deep into hers. 'There's nothing you'll do that'll appease for your sins, woman. Stop pestering me and save yourself the tiny dignity you have left' I croaked frenziedly, turning my back towards her.
She grabbed my legs to stop me from moving. 'I made you. Don't forget that!' she squealed.
I spun to face her. 'I won't remind you again to leave my office!' I roared rigidly.
She slouched her shoulders, weakly stumbled to her feet, stare up at me scornfully and whispered. 'How did you turn a devil overnight?'
"Overnight?" I asked, my voice dangerously low as I froze. Even though the sight of her irritated me, I squatted and leaned over until my face was mere inches from hers. I needed to be looking at her eyes for this. "Did you just say overnight?"
"Yes!" she yelled. The spark in her eyes expressed elation that I finally gave her attention. She thought she got me. "You were not like this! This is sudd-!"
I grabbed her by the neck before she could even complete those words. "Shut up."
"W-What are you doing?!" she shrieked. Her elation quickly changed to horror as she finally noticed the hatred in my eyes.
"This wasn't overnight, you made me into this," I snarled at her as I finally let go of her. She immediately scurried away from me the second I let go of her as her facial expression was one of terror. That was the look I wanted to see her have, but even this wasn't enough. I wasn't satisfied yet.
"B-But, I'm sorry," she stuttered. "All I ask is that you at least listen to me."
"Why?" I asked. "You think you could just say sorry and everything would be okay? You ruined my life, Laura! You broke me! You, Laura Palmer, killed the Dylan that you once knew."
"And I'm sorry!" she yelled. "Why don't you understand that? What more do I have to say?"
"Nothing," I replied calmly. "The Dylan you used to know might have listened to you, but Christian Forbes has better things to do than giving his time to a gold digger."
"Dylan-"
"Kick her out," I ordered and the guards immediately moved over to her, threatening to make her leave by force.
"Don't touch me!" she yelled as she stood up. She looked straight at me for a few seconds as crocodile tears trickled down her cheeks. " Your life is in danger. Be careful where you thread."
I cocked an eyebrow at her "Is that a threat?"
"No," she shook her head. "It's genuine concern for you, Dylan. The man I-"
"Throw her out," I interrupted her and she was ushered out of the office as quickly as possible.
There was a deathly silence in the office as I slumped into my seat. "I need a drink."
I made my way to the bar on the right side of the office and poured myself some vodka. "Things just keep getting tougher and tougher the higher I go."
"Good day, sir," a calm feminine voice greeted as she made her way inside without knocking.
"And who are you?" I asked.
"Your new personal assistant," she smiled. "My name is Donna."
"I don't remember hiring a personal assistant," I said in confusion. "Infact, I just acquired this company."
"Oh, is that so?" she placed a finger on her chin, strangely unperturbed by the awkward atmosphere. "I guess I was employed by the former owner then. I'll just start working with you."
"The former owner had a PA," I informed her, reaching for the bottle of vodka on the bar counter. Laura's words replayed in my head as I kept my distance from the strange woman.
"Oh?" she smiled. "Are you scared of me?"
"What are you doing here?" I asked calmly, gripping the bottle tight.
"To do my job."
"What job?"
"To be your PA."
"We aren't hiring."
Her smile immediately turned into a twisted snarl as she took out a pair of daggers. "From hell, that is."
"Shit!" I hissed as she charged at me, throwing one dagger at me with pinpoint precision which I barely avoided and stabbing at me with the other. I swung the bottle at the blade hoping to parry it but it luckily ended up smashing against her fingers which caused her to let go of the blade.
I immediately tackled her down to the floor with a spear to her torso and immobilized her by straddling her and pinning down her arms.
"This is a precarious situation," she breathed heavily. The spear from earlier must have knocked the wind out of her lungs. "I came here for an assassination, not to get raped."
"Who sent you?" I asked.
"Beep, error," she smiled. "Confidential information. I can't disclose."
"You would be spending a lot of years in jail for this," I threatened her.
"No, I won't," she replied nonchalantly. "Wanna bet?"
"Then why don't we make a deal?" I said. "Whatever you were paid, I'll triple it. Work for me instead."
"Hmm, I was paid quite a large number," she said. "Are you sure you can't triple it?
"Try me," I smiled. "Do we have a deal?"
"What kind of work are we talking about?"
"Protect me," I said. "I'll pay you whatever you want for that."
"I'm an assassin," she replied. "I don't babysit."
"You don't have to babysit all the time," I insisted. "You can do your job, but make sure to keep up appearances once in a while."
She hesitated for a few seconds.
"Think about it," I smiled. "It's cool cash when you don't have a job at hand."
"I'll hold off killing you for now until I see the cash," she finally. "So we have a deal for now."
"Good," I stood up from her and adjusted my outfit. "You're hired as my PA, Donna."
Christian~~~~The events of yesterday replayed in my head countless times as I remembered how close I was to dying again. It worked out in my favour as I gained a strong ally, but it was another one of the many close calls I've had with death and it's beginning to irk me a lot.I already knew the people who wanted me dead but I can't do anything about that for now. If even one of them dies, I'll be blamed with good reason and I could end up losing everything. The fact that I'm powerless against them just makes me want to expand my influence even more. Now I understand what rich people mean when they say money without power is basically useless. I am as rich as Audrey now if not richer, but I'm still powerless against him because of his influence. "I need power.""You don't get that by sitting on your ass and reading papers all day," Donna said with amusement in her voice. She was sitting in the chair opposite my table and reading through some papers. She seems to have fit into the r
~Lauren~ I got a call from the hospital the umpteenth time in seventy minutes. Releasing a heavy sigh, I answered. The words that followed had me hitching my breath 'Ma'am, your brother has been transferred into the emergency room again. His stitches tore and this has caused more complications. We advice that you make in an instant payment so the treatment will be carried out.' 'Noo. You don't have to wait for payment to be made. Treat him immediately. I'll be there in few minutes' I yelped frenziedly, worry and anxiety settling in my bosom. Only few days ago, I sent a thousand dollars so he would get the surgery done... It was all I had on me... Nothing else. I couldn't ask Gabe for help. I hurried into my car and drove like a human possessed, only barely staying within the speed limit and begrudgingly stopping for the red light as a ticket would only delay me further. "Please, be fine. Please, survive," I chanted the words like a mantra as my anxiety grew even more. It was gett
Audrey~~~~"Fuck! Fuck!! Fuck!!!" I yelled as I smashed the mirror with my phone. "Why is that fucker still alive?!""Audrey, calm down," my mother yelled. "You're distracting me.""What the fuck is there to not be distracted about?!" I hissed. "I paid a huge sum of money to that broker and I got nothing in return. That idiot is still alive and I'm stuck in here hoping this shit doesn't blow up in my face any second from now!""Yelling isn't going to solve anything," she sighed."But it sure as hell is making me feel better," I retorted. "Fuck! I don't feel even a little bit better!""See?" she sighed. "This is just a waste of your energy. This anger is supposed to be directed at finding a solution to this problem.""And what solution do you propose?" I hissed. "Because I sure as hell don't see one. Just how hard is it to kill one stupid man?!""Calm your ass down!" she yelled, standing up abruptly. "I warned you to be sure of the people you hire in the first place. Just how stupid ca
Christian's POV Lauren looked like she would collapse at the sight of the men behind me, but I am not exactly concerned about how uncomfortable she might be feeling. I had come to check on a property of interest near the hospital and I saw her about to enter her car. It amused me, they say think of the devil, and it will rear its head. I asked for us to sit at the café opposite the hospital. Just when I was still thinking of ways to get my revenge on her and make her pay for the pain she caused me. Staring at her, a part of me feels some sort of attachment towards her. “Control yourself!” I cautioned myself. “Are you sick? Did you visit the hospital to abort Gabe's pregnancy?” I asked in amusement. Lauren blinked slowly, but she didn't respond to my taunt. Instead, she said. “I am surprised you called me here to seat, thank you for giving me this opportunity.” Lauren amuses me, why she thinks I would ever want to seat with her after breaking my heart and humiliating me. I am
Lauren let out a dry chuckle. “I'm no fool, Dylan. I see how hard it is you are fighting the urge to express how hurt you feel. But, I will tell you this; you should be thrilled that your real father found you. If your life was really continuously miserable as it is from the start, you would have eventually committed suicide or delve into crime.” She paused, “how long was I supposed to endure for? It's been four years. Four years of my life hoping you would get a better shot at life. But you were such a coward, even a little child will ride you. It was always painful to watch. I wanted a better life for myself and I went in search for it.” I laughed at her last statement, “and how does your life look any better now? You are out of job, and Gabe seem to enjoy tossing you around to plead for a job to feed the both of you. Aren't you back to square one?” “And I hope you feel really better now that you bought M&F Jewels. I hope it gets you to sleep at night. You bastard!” That was i
Christian's POV I have always seen fast and furious in the movies but I never thought I would be practicing it one day. My heart was in my mouth at the sight of the horrid look on the assailants faces. Coming after us in powerbikes with guns that look murderous enough on its own. Oh, lord save my soul. If I end up dying in this type of attack, I should definitely belong to the members of heavens. I can't go to hell like this. "How the hell are we getting out of this?" I blurted, bending down to avoid getting hit. Not even a bullet proof car would save me from the bullets of those wild guns. "We have more men on the way sir." The wounded guard assured me. How they could be calm in this ruckus is something I would never be able to fathom. And I really don't care at the moment I just want to be save. I tried to pay attention to the attack, the gun men weren't exactly shooting at the car windows, it's more of targeting the car tires. Almost like an attempt to bring the car to a
Audrey's POvThe back of my neck ached as I tried to understand what the fools in front of me were trying to say. This is the second time in a row I am sending my men out to get me a person and they return with no good newsI really don't want to believe what I am hearing right, I chugged down the rest of the vodka in the glass I held in hand. Tossing the glass at the stupid men in front of me, it hit the wall directly. They are lucky I have a poor throwing capability."What bullshit are you telling me right now?" I inquired in the calmest tone i could muster.The head of the team, Carlton stayed stiff. "We did our best sir, but their men and the police had outnumbered us.""I asked you to get Lauren. My brothers girlfriend, how can someone like her have access to guards?" I was boiling with steam now."She was with Mr Christian, sir." Carlton responded.I sucked in a breath, gritting my teeth hard. Whatever it is protecting Christian really has to be something unheard of. I have neve
Christian POVWords about my attack has been rounded in the news before I left the city, this local news seem to enjoy drama. I had called Donna to ensure its brought down before I return.Lauren's noise was getting to me, I had asked for her to be gagged. Her stubbornness is really out of this world. Despite being tied down, she keeps trying hard to free herself. Lauren thought I was joking when I asked for her to be taken into the prepared jet for our flight. I don't want to hear anymore excuse that she has, it's enough that she boldly looks me in the eye and gives me curt responses. The day would have been a bit of pleasant if Audrey didn't call me. It's the nerve for me. He makes it seem like everything happening has nothing to do with him and it irks me that I have to put up with his bullshit till I get to the bottom of everything. If I try to talk to dad about it, Audrey might end up doing something worse. The depth in his words being said to me was delivered well. For now I