Claire stirred in her sleep as she felt the morning sunlight hit her hard in her face, she turned to her side and stretched her hands feeling Bruce beside her. Her eyes widened.She did it. She quickly opens her eyes and sees Bruce who is up and seated with an unreadable expression written all over his face.“ Good morning Bruce" she greeted sleepily.“ What happened yesterday? Why am I naked and what are we doing here?" Bruce asked. He had woken thinking it was his room back home, only to find Claire naked beside him and clothes on the ground. He looked dazedly trying to recall what had happened but couldn't.Claire looked at him and knew the drugs had made him forgetful of last night's incident.“ Well, you got what you always wanted. You got me here because you wanted a child and that's what we did. We had sex last night as you can see" Claire answered carefully." We did what? What did you do to me?” Bruce questioned eyeingly.“ We made passionate love and you want to ruin the mo
After breakfast, Claire walked into her room and laid her back against the bed stand. She took out her phone and swiped slowly, clicking on her mail. She saw she had a new mail, and she hurriedly clicked on it, her eyes bulging out as she had her face dazed at the screen.“I knew, she was up to no good. She is a spy like I thought. Working for him. Bruce would be amazed at this information" Claire smiled, delighted at the discovery of the information gotten from her Intel. Sliding into her slides which a squeaky mouse when she moves. She liked the softness of the shoe and found it adorable and had to purchase it. She wore it and walked down to her mother's room, where she finds her almost every time of the day either on her gadget or reading a magazine.“ Mom, sit up. I have something to share with you" Claire said, making space for herself on the bed.“What could that be? I thought you'd gone up to rest”.“ I'll do that later after I have told you what I came here for. Read this for
“If this is true, Hugh Steele won't see what will be coming. It will hit so hard on the face that he won't get to rise again. I see he is playing smart. Planting a spy right under my roof to get something on me. He should have known that I don't play dirty even though I did. I wouldn't be so stupid to have it under my roof” Bruce said with a hoarse voice after assimilating the information on the phone." I had my suspicions against her right from the time I heard she came in the same day the previous maid left. It was all too coincidental and she has this special aura that gives me the feeling of a bloodbath and I knew I had to do some digging. Well, Hugh Steele was very careful to clean up any traces left and leave the simplest and unimportant information on her. But he should have known that nothing stays hidden for long at least not in this case” Claire responded evenly." Hmm, you did a good job on this. For the first time, I got fooled by a mere worker and gave her a free pass to
It had been a month. And, in just one month, Bruce and Clare got closer as they work towards eliminating Hugh Steele. Bruce had found ways to get at him. He was able to play a spy in his office who provided him with information on his underhanded means of business. Bruce had painstakingly gone around buying all the shares from Hugh's stakeholders and he was currently the biggest shareholder of Hugh's company. Claire saw that their plan was going on smoothly and Bruce was more gentle and forthcoming in their relationship. He made time to sit out with her and didn't act indifferent to her questions or topics.Claire saw this as a good sign and was happy as her plans were moving in her favor.“Ahhhhhhhhhh".“What is it? What happened Claire?" Bruce asked as he ran upstairs as soon as he heard her scream. Angela, Claire's mother followed suit, curious to find out what triggered the scream from her daughter.“My dear, what happened?".“ See for yourself," Claire said, handing over the objec
“No, we need to be prepared for everything. We need to make sure the child has everything. We would get both a girl and a boy baby things. You are going to be the mother of a child who would own all of Bruce's belongings with time. Isn't it great?” Claire's mother smiled." Mom, you are so happy. Okay, fine we will go with whatever you want” Claire replied, succumbing to her mother's suggestion." Okay, you rest up and I will have the maid bring up some cake and fruit juice for you. Be careful when walking. We wouldn't want to be careless and make any mistakes”. “Mom, I can walk down to get it. You don't have to send the maid up and especially if it's that Maria of a girl. I wouldn't want that Maria girl around me. She might use the opportunity to use it to her advantage".“I know my dear and she will soon be out of this place, just take care of yourself”.************Bruce on the other hand had gone downstairs for a drink after the news had hit him hard.“Surprisingly, I can't rem
The next morning when Bruce woke up, he saw a file enclosed in an envelope. He quietly opened it, reading its contents. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.It was the result of the pregnancy test Claire had done in the hospital.This was a strong confirmation that she was truly pregnant and was expecting his child. He knew he wanted a child but he didn't seem to have the fulfilled joy as other fathers would on hearing such news. He pondered if it could be because it was coming from Claire. He had crossed out the word, family from his life after the experience he had with his love life. He had once imagined his love life with Jade and how they could grow to become a family but fate had things planned otherwise.“ Bruce, are you okay?” Claire called out. She had stirred in her sleep and turned to find Bruce standing beside the bed stool with a lost expression. She had glanced at the file and noticed it had been moved and knew instantly tha
"What about another bottle?""Alcohol is not good for you."On Claire's request, Bruce took a drink with Claire. She was carrying his baby. Despite the fact that things were not going as he planned, he was still ready to at least be accommodating. Plus, Claire turned out not to be too bad after all.Before, he could say any more word, she got a bottle of whiskey and some ice and yogurt for herself.“Since I have to minimize my intake of alcohol, I would take yogurt instead. So, you continue taking your whiskey while I take my yogurt and we will both talk."Bruce nodded.“Don't hesitate to let me know if you want anything. I want you to be happy and content. Be it cravings or your desires. Let me know and I will make it available for you. You let me worry while you take care of yourself and the baby."Claire smiled. She liked the sight of him being kind. This was the first she would be seeing this side of him in a very long time. Bruce hurriedly poured in a drink for himself and too
"Claire?"Claire got off Bruce immediately she heard her name. She frowned. Wasn't he supposed to be fast asleep? Claire wondered."Wow! I hope you never have to undergo any form of surgery because anaesthetic would definitely not work on you," Claire said and then she chuckled.Bruce feigned a smile, confused as to why his wife was in the position she was when he woke up."I have had my heart broken in the past few years, so I drank a lot. The upside is that I'm able to tolerate lots of sedatives now."Claire smiled and she relaxed on the bed, ready to fall asleep."Why were you hovering over me with your pillow just now?" Bruce asked. He wanted to be sure of what was going on with Claire."Wild thoughts," Claire said almost in a whisper. "I remembered something and I don't know why I did that. I have another human in me which is not very physiologically normal. My hormones were fluctuating and I did what I did without thinking. I personally don't know what I was doing.""Oh!" Bruce
"My Dad? How is that possible? How did he know that I was here?" Jade looked at Bruce, wondering if he had a hand in what was going on. "Did you know he was coming?" She asked Bruce and he shook his head. "Bring him in," Bruce ordered. "Yes, sir." The butler left and he had no time, she returned with J. J. Fulton. Jade gasped when she saw her father. His clothes were faded. His hair and beard were unkempt. He had lost a great deal of weight too. She wondered what was wrong. He had enough money to take care of himself even without working. He could only lack money if he lost everything in a gamble and she knew that her father would never do such. Jade actually expected more from her father. Sure expected him to multiply the money he had. Or, was he this way because he missed her? Jade wondered. "I'm sorry for how I treated you, Jade." He turned to Bruce and placed his palms together. "Please forgive me for having a hand in your parents' death. I don't deserve your forgiveness, bu
"She'll be there all her life?" Jade's mouth hung open as Bruce and Archibald broke the news to her. She was packing to leave for Beijing and hence had little time to be at Claire's trial.It's been weeks since Claire got arrested. She was sentenced to stay imprisoned for life."I think she deserves it," Jade added and Bruce nodded in agreement."She threatened to throw her child off a tall building. Of course, she deserves something worse than a life imprisonment," Bruce said."And her mom?""She's going back to her hometown. I gave her some money to take good care of herself. She has her flaws but Claire's mother does not deserve the pain her daughter caused her.""Jade, tell me you're not still thinking of going back to Beijing," Mr. Archibald chipped in. "I thought both of you got married."Jade and Bruce exchanged looks. Mr. Archibald was right. They were once married and have never had a divorce."You can go back first. I'd prepare the divorce papers," Bruce said and Jade nodded
"Sir Archibald-" Bruce's voice trailed off. He was short of words."What is it now? Don't tell me you're not happy to see me."Bruce looked at Jade and then at Mr. Archibald and smiled. "Of course not. I'm very happy to see you."Bruce got out of the chair, rushed to Mr. Archibald, and gave him a hug. "I was scared that I would never get to see you again.""You were scared and you did not bother to call me.""You told me not to. That you wouldn't answer even if I did. I'm sorry."Mr. Archibald smiled. "You're like a son to me. I will always answer whenever you call."Bruce pulled away from the hug and smiled. "I was so dumb not to have realized that much earlier.""And I should not have tried to force you to marry Tricia." He turned to Jade and smiled. "I should have forced you to find Have instead."Jade smiled nervously. "We don't intend to get back together. I'm leaving immediately my work here is done and that is to make sure Bruce gets his properties from Claire.""And, how does
Jade stopped before a hotel."This is where I stay.""Why stay in a hotel when you have a family house?""It's sold.""No, it isn't. I bought it back.""You did?" Jade's face brightened, then it became dull. "Claire now owns all your properties, so it's hers now.""I bought it in your name," Bruce said dryly and got out of the car.Jade beamed. "Thank you."She was here because she wanted to give him his money, but knowing that Bruce still cared made her happy."Then we should go there, instead of staying in the hotel. I'll quickly go to my room and get a few of my things."Bruce got back into the car and Jade got out.She walked into the hotel. After about ten minutes, she came out with a traveling bag and dropped it in her boot.Jade handed out a debit card to Bruce immediately after she got into the car. "It has your five hundred million."Bruce took it from her and mumbled a thank you."What about Mr. Archibald?" Jade asked, breaking the silence that lingered between them as she d
Bruce's eyes flung open. His breathing was back to normal and his heart stopped beating fast. He felt everywhere was brighter too. He guessed right. The door was opened and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion immediately he saw who opened it. "Jade?" "Bruce." She ran to him to check if he was alright, but when she touched him, Bruce slapped her hands away from his body. "What are you doing here?" "If I had not reached here on time, you would have died." "That's what you want, isn't it?" Bruce scoffed. Jade shook her head. "If I wanted that, I would not have risked my life to save you." "Risk your life? I know you're on Claire's side. Stop the pretense. I know you somehow found out that I had a mp3 player that could land Claire in trouble. You told her about it and like you wanted, she was not absent. As a result, the case was dismissed. " "That's not true," Jade said, defending herself. "I was the one who took the audio recording. I asked the old man to give you
"He is your son too. Are you seriously going to kill your son?" Bruce could not believe his ears.Claire scoffed. "He is your son. Not mine. According to the contract I signed, you did not need a mother for your son. You only wanted an heir. You planned on paying me off so I could leave the child I would give birth to with you.""He is your blood. Don't tell me you're this heartless.""You know what poverty is like. You know what being powerless is like and what being powerful is like. So you should understand when I say that I want power and money. I want to teach those who have ever looked down on me a lesson. I want to be able to get what I want whenever I want. I want people to look at me with respect. I want the kind of money you have without being at your mercy.""Claire, don't I give you what you want whenever you ask?""You can wake up one day and decide you don't want our marriage again. What should I do then? I refuse to be at the mercy of a man. I want to have your money. I
It's been two months since Bruce saw Claire. She was nowhere to be found. He involved the police, and his men and searched for her himself but he still could not find her.Finding Claire was the only exciting thing that had happened in the space of two months. He worked from 7 am till 9 pm, then from work, he would go to the bar.Once in a while, his eyes scan the bar for Jade. The night before his first trial was the last night he saw Jade. He never saw Jade again after that day.Bruce looked around his office. The furniture was sleek and modern. The floor-to-ceiling windows gave the office a good view. He placed his hands on the mahogany desk, his eyes on his phone.His phone rang and he picked up the call immediately."Have you found them?""Ava still lives in this city but Naomi has relocated," the caller said and Bruce Ace nodded."Text me Ava's address."The last time he saw them was the day Claire ditched him on their wedding day. He smirked, remembering how they had looked do
Bruce Ace sat on the wooden bench. His eyes moved around searching for any trace of Claire. The courtroom was filled to its brim. The judge was visibly annoyed at everything that was happening.Murmurs filled the air.It's been an hour since the trial should begin but Claire, the plaintiff, was absent.The judge finally raised his court to talk. "The plaintiff seems to be nowhere to be found. In this light, the case is therefore dismissed."Bruce Ace frowned.He was ready for her.He has something to prove his innocence. Something to show that Claire was the guilty one here.Bruce was fixed to his seat. Refusing to get up. If this was the case, everybody would think that he had paid her off to shut her up.They will think he was the cause of her absence. Not like he cared what they thought of him but he wanted to shut her up the lawfully way.He wanted everyone to get a glimpse of what he had to go through because of women.Bruce finally left his seat and headed for the exit. His body
"Claire?"Claire raised her head from her food to see who was calling her. Her eyes flew open."Jade."She frowned."Oh my! How have you been?" Jade asked, joining her at the table. "Where have you been?"Claire raised an eyebrow, wondering if Jade had no idea of the ongoing case between her and Bruce. The news was everywhere. How would she not know?"Are you talking to me?"Jade smiled. "I know we don't have a good past. The issue with my brother and Bruce and stuff like that, but now these people are no longer in our lives, so I think we should be nicer to each other now.""Have you not seen Bruce?""I've seen him." Jade's face fell. "I saw him in a bar yesterday. He only talked to me when he did not know who I was. When he did, he yelled at me and left. He was telling me something about his wife trying to kill him to get his property and that she had sued him for beating her up which is not true. Do you know how he has been?""You don't know who I am?" Claire asked, just to confirm