The setting was picturesque, with the tranquil lake shimmering in the sunlight and the gentle breeze rustling through the trees. Friends and family had gathered along the water's edge, their faces reflecting the joy and anticipation of the moment.Reed stood proudly by Ryan's side as his best man, while Kayla stood beside Anna as her maid of honor. Both couples shared a bond that went beyond friendship – they were family, bound together by love, loyalty, and shared experiences.As Anna and Ryan stood hand in hand before their loved ones, the air was filled with a sense of excitement and anticipation. This was a day they had been dreaming of – a day to celebrate their love and commitment to each other.Anna was radiant in her wedding gown, her eyes sparkling with happiness as she looked into Ryan's eyes. With a trembling voice, she began to speak, her words filled with emotion and sincerity."Ryan, I never thought I would find love again after the tragedy that befell my family," Anna b
Reed sat impatiently on the hard bench, the uncomfortable wooden surface digging into his skin.This has got to be the worst day of his life because he never saw himself in a courtroom, with harassment and rape charges lobbied against him.His lawyer, Mr Ralph McLauren was on the other side of the bench in a casual button-down shirt and pants.When he first saw Ralph walk in, all my hopes sank. Was this the lawyer that would get him out of this?Not to sound rude but he didn't have much faith in the man.Suddenly, there was movement at the back of the room and Reed turned to look.That fucker.His boss, Walker Rhomes walked in with a smug smile on his face, closely followed by his lawyer who when compared to Reed's, dressed sharply in an expensive-looking suit.His hopes dropped even further, but I refused to be cowed.When Walker sat down on the plaintiff's seat, Reed leaned over a bit so he could hiss to him. “How wicked can you possibly be, showing how brazen you are? You're the o
“You have 10 minutes,” the guard told them as he walked away to give Reed and his wife privacy..Immediately the judge passed on his verdict a week ago Reed was whisked away without being able to confront his lawyer to call his familyThe judge was only able to send him away for a year because there was no concrete proof to hold him in for a longer time.A year of being away from his family. His wife, Mom, and his daughterHis wife, Kayla visited him in prison a week later, Reed found out as he was escorted to the meeting roomSeeing his beautiful wife lifted his spirits, and his steps quickened.Even though there was a see-through glass between them, it didn't diminish how sad his wife looked.Picking up the phone, Reed spoke first. “How're you, and the kids?Kayla tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, giving him the first unobstructed view of her face. “We’re fine.”“And home?” He asked, eager to get information.“Home is good.” She looks away. “Uh, actually we're not staying at th
Reed was so stunned for a moment, that he didn't know what to say.“K-kayla, what are you doing here?” More importantly, how did she know he was going to be here today? She didn't respond, still keeping a stony look.She took a step forward which was when he saw the man behind her back. What the hell?Instantly, he bolted out of his chair, the divorce papers forgotten. “Mike?Mike was one of the men who testified against him for a crime he didn't commit, but he had the balls to show up here.Hell, no.Reed was so angry, he didn't think, launching himself at the lying asshole.He gripped Mike's collar firmly, tightening the space around his neck. “Why did you do it huh? How much did they pay you to snitch on me?!”Mike grunted, not saying anything, and that even aggravated Reed the more. He struck, sending Mike crashing to the floorKayla screamed, running to Mike's defense while she tried to make sure he was okay.“What is wrong with you, Reed?” she shouted at him.“What's wrong with
Bzzz….bzzzz…The sound of an incoming message drew Reed's attention and he looked up from his feed to look at his inboxThere were new messages from different people requesting his services but it was the one at the foremost center that prompted him to open itOut of curiosity, he tapped on the icon and his eyes widened…$100,000The amount of money on bid wasn't the surprising thing but the name of the person assigned to kill wasWhat the hell did Mr Walker do to piss someone offEven a mere punk was worth, at most, a couple thousand dollars,what made Mr Walker so specialThat stumped Reed but then his eyes wandered over to the bottom half of the screen.The Commissioner?Thankfully, the mode of payment was cash in person which was convenient since Reed couldn't afford that kind of paper trail.Even though it was pretty confusing to him, Reed decided to go ahead since he always had a desire to see the CommissionerBeing smart, he created a fake, anonymous account to accept the bid an
The lady started to explain. “The owner of the laundry is a drug dealer, the laundry is just a front. The guy is part of a very large trafficking network but from what I hear, he runs this city. My brother Matt was lured into taking drugs, and soon after, he became addicted and my parents had to cart him off to a rehabilitation center when it became too bad.” Moisture gathered at the corners and she angrily swiped it away. “Matt was a minor, you know.” She tried to explain to him. “And rehab didn't work since there were still drug dealers in there and guess what, they were even more cheaper!”She stopped talking for a minute, her eyes appearing glassy as she got sucked into her memories. Reed had to prompt her. “So, what happened?”“My parents of course went to the cops and reported the whole situation, who then traced it back to Walker but no way to even hurt him or pinpoint it to him.” She scoffed. Reed patiently waited her out, allowing her to let it all out of her system.“They
Reed had to make a pit stop at home so he could change into decent clothes that could at least show he belonged in a fancy restaurant.Upon getting there, he discreetly looked around for his ex wife but couldn't find her.“Sir, can I help you with something?” A harried-looking waitress tapped her feet impatiently, looking over his shoulder.Crap“I…um, I'm meeting someone in there.” The lie rolled smoothly off his tongue, while he pretended to look through his phone for a fake name.Thankfully, there were a lot of people on the line and the lady couldn't wait for him to figure it out so she just waved him in.Once he was in, it was easy to spot his stealing wife.It was Mark's birthday and Kayla was doing some type of grand gesture with her friends and his.Reed's eyes widened when Kayla whipped out a very expensive box that had a designer watch. He could overhear some of the guests murmur in surprise, saying they didn't think that Kayla had that type of money, after costing they conc
Reed watched Mike receive a phone call, moving farther away so that Reed wouldn't listen in to his conversation.Reed moved around as if trying to pick things up while craning his ears.Mike went white fast, making Reed wonder what was going on, that was when his eyes snagged on the suit Mike had on.Reed's eyes widened when he placed the Brioni custom-made suit.That suit costs thousands of dollars! He would know because back then when he used to profile high-value clients, most of them had a Brioni suit in their collection.“How the fuck was Mike able to afford that on a salesman's salary?”Reed carefully cataloged everything Mike was putting on for his birthday dinner while he talked and summed the total up to be $3-5k.Reed immediately did some digging and found Mike's apartment, which was a very luxurious building on State Avenue…he was still working at the car wash.Mike was no big fish, born into a wealthy family so the logical explanation was…the owner of the car washHe was a