Damien would have acted as though he did not know who she was talking to if she was not looking at him in the eyes. She was very confident in her claim, and Damien knew she was asking just for verification.Damien did not want to say anything to her. In fact, right now, he was not Damien Alfredo. He was Damien the bodyguard because he had nothing under his name. He was disowned years ago because of his stupidity and right now, due to the things he had gone through while being married to Rebecca, his confidence was close to none.Starting his life afresh with Rebecca taught him he had to stay low. The streets were rough. He thought it was only between rich people that people were downgraded, but it was everywhere and it hurt more when you knew you had what they mocked you about but now do not.He stayed silent and emptied his glass, passing her a smile as he placed his glass down. “I’ll be outside,” he informed Joanna before walking awayJoanna nodded, and the two ladies watched him le
Damien turned to her and feeling his eyes on her, Joanna looked at him. “I’m sorry. I just-” Joanna tried to take her hand away but he stopped her “It’s okay,” he told her and even squeezed her hand a little to calm her down After a few minutes of silence, he asked, “She said something concerning Gabe, didn’t she?” Damien had it in mind that she would not get upset because of him. She hummed not turning to look at him. She was really upset. “Take a detour at the park” she instructed the driver A walk was what she needed right now to clear her head. Joanna never thought the topic of Gabe was going to make her this upset. Damien was understanding why she needed to go to the park. He too needed a walk. The park was not too far from where they were so they arrived in minutes. Damien opened the door for her to step down and again, she held his hand. Damien kept reading it as she wanted a little comfort even though being close to her this way was making him have ideas he should not have
During breakfast the next day, Damien could not help but notice Joanna's gloomy mood. She had made it seem like she was better as they came back home but then she has not been able to hide it since this morning came.“You’re still worried?” Damien asked and she nodded, staring down at her food“Did he sound that urgent for you to be this scared?” He added and received a nod from Joanna “I’m sure it's nothing for you to worry about”“I want to believe that but-” “Just believe it” Damien interruptedJoanna decided to believe in what Damien said. It was hard but she knew she did not need to be scared. In a way, she feels she might have messed up the work he had asked her to do so that was why he was upset.Throughout the night, she had thought of any possible things that would cause him to be upset and the only one was the project she was to handle and if she was being honest, she did it well to the best of her knowledge.She quickly got dressed and headed out of the house with her driv
Damien sat on the couch, ready to watch something on the television. He was done with all he needed to do in the house and was now ready to unwind. He was loving his job. For now, he had no idea why his job seemed fun.Was it the pay that was to even increase at the end of the month? Or was it how flexible the job was? Or was it his nice boss? She never stresses him or gives him tasks that he cannot handle. In fact, she rarely gives him things to do. He was the one to volunteer to do some things.If not that he asked that Joanna stopped ordering cleaning services for the house, he would not need to clean the house. All he would do was stay around the house with nothing to do because most of the time she did not have events that she needed her bodyguard to come with her.Damien loved being busy now. Yes, he enjoyed the occasional breaks and free time, but at least the working environment was friendly. Unlike his previous job. They worked him so much but still paid him peanuts that woul
“Isn’t that Damien?” Rebecca muttered to herself, squinting her eyes to have a better look at who she was staring atIt was indeed Damien. His heart dropped to the ground when she finally began moving towards him. He swore he could have run away from here if she was not looking at him right now. He could not cowardly run away, could he?“Damien, crazy seeing you here” Rebecca’s idiotic brother wore a smug look on his face as he accompanied his sisterRebecca sized him up. He still looked the same. His hair was neatly cut, his skin looked cleaner, but his attire still looked like someone who had no money. “Still broke?” again her brother of hers tried to insult himDamien refused to say a word. He let him keep asking senseless question. It was none of their business. They had nothing to do with him anymore, so it should not bother him if he was still poor and wandering in the streets of New York.“You still look poor.” It was then Rebecca’s turn to downgrade him. “Where do you stay? Un
Luckily, Joanna did not try to pry more into the matter. A part of her had a feeling that it was someone from his past life, but the issue was that she did not know who exactly the people were. Damien had not spoken much about his ex-wife and anything that related to her that did not involve her cheating on him and how the family treated him once they smelt wealth.She did not know what he looked like or those that were around her. Again, she glanced at the spot where he had spoken to those people, then at Damien, who had his full concentration on the road. He was trying as much as possible not to think of them, and he also prayed that Joanna did not ask for more information.They insulted him, and that was it. Nothing special. He was used to it. Joanna let it all rest. She was not going to bother herself about it and from the look of it, so will Damien. The month ran out so fast. Joanna got more busy with work and she rarely stepped out. Damien continued with his usual duties. Since
The entire room was bustling with laughter and chat. It did not take long being in the room surrounded by hypocrites, did he know they were hypocrites. Some laughed because others laughed and they did not want to be left out. Some were not rich but posed like they were.Some were rich but were brats. There were a lot of people and characters in one room and Damien, even though he did not know them by their names, knew how crazy they all were and, most importantly, how hypocritical they were.It was easy, maybe because he had been in this kind of gathering before back in college. He went to a prestigious college and a lot of people came in. Those with scholarships and those whose parents owned a lot and were able to afford the fees, even though they were as dumb as hell.The crazy thing about them is that they end up graduating with the best results. The craziness of the system and, most importantly, the injustice of the system still marvels Damien to this day. Everyone drank alcohol.
Joanna stared at the man in front of her, surprised with each word he spilt. It was a shock to her because not once did she expect something like this to happen. She knew Charles for a long time now and he did not seem to have such intentions for her.Everyone knew Charles to love his wife, who had to go overseas for a degree, so what was he saying? She was about to say something when she heard the door open and then close. From the back of the person, she could tell who left. She then turned to the man in front of her, still holding her hand. “Charles, it’s Joanna” she tried to give him the benefit of the doubtCharles smiled. “I know who you are, Joan. I won’t confess my love for you if I did not know you,” he saidJoanna angrily took her hand back and glared at him. “Don’t you ever try this nonsense again,” she warned, then stormed offWhat was wrong with him? He had a wife, and he was hitting on her for what reason? Did he think she would support such an act because he confessed h
The doctor nodded. “He is unconscious, but he is responding to treatment,” the doctor replied to Joanna. It was a relief to everyone to hear that news. No one wanted to lose Damien for any reason, especially when it came to the situation with the business. Everyone was aware of the threat that came with him taking on the position of the CEO and they understood that situations like this were going to arise. However, they thought they would be able to handle it if it came to that, but they did not see this attack coming. It will be a great loss to them if Damian died. Joanna surely would not be able to handle his death if it had come to that. They all sighed with relief. “Can we see him?” Joanna asked quickly. “Not right now. The nurses are currently carrying out some final touches,” the doctor said, and they all nodded. Eliza hugged Joanna, who had tears rolling down her eyes. She was relieved to hear that Damien was okay. They stayed in the hospital for some time as they waited fo
No one expected the police to be on them that quickly. Joanna's father was called, as she wanted to get Damien rescued as soon as possible. She was frantic. Ever since she saw that video, it felt like her entire world was spinning. No one had called her to threaten and demand for one thing or the other. She had a guess at which the kidnapper would want to request for, but they were going to find their way around it if it came to it. Unfortunately, no one called. After spending only a few minutes, she knew she had to call her father. He was the one with the resources, and he could get anywhere at any time because he was the president of the country. This kind of things would not be hard for him, most, especially because he had people in every part of the country, especially this city. It only took the special defense team to track those who kidnapped Damien. It wasn't so easy because Damien's phone was in the car, which would have made things easier, but thanks to a particular phone
That action was not something he planned to do. Damien carried it out without thinking of the next step. The moment he pulled the trigger at Mr Blue, he rushed off the chair, heading for nowhere in particular. The warehouse was not completely lit, so he could not see every part of the warehouse except from where he was sitting. He rushed over to the only pillar he saw and then hid behind it. He knew he could not be completely invisible to them, but he had to be sharp in his dealings. He was not going to sign off on everything that his father had worked for to someone who did not know how tough it was to build an empire such as the Alfredo company. Damien peeped out from the pillar, so he could see what was happening. To his surprise, none of them were moving to even come to him. It felt like they did not mind that he was about to leave their crutches. He knew he could not be happy just yet. He dabbed his body, trying to figure out where his phone was. It then occurred to him that hi
Sarah quickly requested for a bottle of water so she could splash it on Joanna. The moment Joanna came to, she instantly began crying because of the situation they had found themselves in. Mr. and Mrs. Alfredo came into the office and saw Joanna in that state. They quickly helped her up and took her into Damien's office so they could have some time on their own. In a matter of minutes, Joanna was in a messy state.She had not thought something like this would happen and so soon. She kept asking what they were going to do now. Mr Alfredo was making calls to everyone that he knew could help, which also included the police. They needed everyone to help find the CEO of the company. Mrs Alfredo was vested with trying to calm Joanna down, and so did Sarah. After what felt like an hour, Joanna spoke. “I need to call my father,” she said and immediately began searching for her phone. None of them stopped her because they needed everyone. Mr Alfredo did not know who might do this. One person
Joanna stayed home for a few hours without doing anything. There was nothing work-related that she could do either, so she was just bored at home. She tried to watch a few movies and series, but it did not keep her mind occupied. For some strange reason, she felt really restless and could not pinpoint where the problem was coming from. She sent a message to Damien, and all seemed well from his side. She even called her father, asking him if everything was okay and he was a hundred percent positive that everything was okay. It troubled her a lot and after being bored and restless for a very long time; she called her friend Sarah. Sarah was more than happy to hear from her and even invited her to come over to her studio. Joanna quickly obliged, as it was a way to get out of the house. The bodyguard which Damien had put in place tried to follow her but she stopped him as she did not want to have him following her. She was fine and certainly; she wasn't going anywhere that would seem u
Damien frowned. Why would his mother so readily want to give Joanna her ring? It was hers. He still remembered how she was when it came to this ring of hers. She cherished it and rarely allowed anyone to touch it if that person was not his father.“But it's yours. Joanna would need to keep it after” Damien tried to reason with his mother, but she seemed not to mind. She smiled.“I do not mind if she takes it. I actually want her to. It's an Alfredo heirloom. Your father's mother gave it to me after our engagement ceremony, but I don't want that for Joanna. I want you to propose to her with this,” Mrs. Alfredo said. Damien nodded, understanding what his mother had planned. However, he shut the box, then handed the box back to his mother with a smile. Mrs. Alfredo looked shocked at this. “You don't want to use it?” she asked, sounding upset.“I really want you to,” Mrs Alfredo added “Mum, I know, but not right now. I cannot propose to Joanna right now. But I will. Once I am ready, I w
Joanna and Damien snapped their heads to the door, with their eyes wide. Eliza's eyes matched with theirs before turning around. “I'm so sorry. Sorry,” she said as she walked out the door, shutting it behind her.Joanna turned to Damien, and Damien tried to kiss her again. “Damien” she called out to him with a tease“What?” he acted as though he did not know what she was talking about and still tried to kiss herJoanna tried to stand, but he held her down. “Just one more,” Damien pleaded. Joanna smiled before kissing him. They were about to sink in when Joanna quickly got up.“Eliza would be waiting outside,” Joanna said, unable to contain her smileJoanna adjusted her dress, and so did Damien for his suit. “You can come in now, Eliza,” Damien said once Joanna was seated across from the table with her legs crossedEliza opened the door slowly, poking her head into the office and darting her eyes around. She wanted to be sure that nothing was going on inside the office anymore. She had
Mr. Blue knew he had made a big mistake. He needed this job. Unfortunately, he did not have much going on in his life, which was all the more reason he wanted to be the CEO of the company. It has been his dream.He glanced around the room. Hoping that someone would stand up for him. They could not really side with Damien, who they had only known for two weeks over him they had known for years, right? They could not just abandon him, right?He glanced at the only man on the board who had defended him moments ago, but the man quickly averted his gaze. Mr Blue just got fired, and he did not want to also get fired. He needed the job. Damien just proved to them he would work hard and far to get all of them to act right.He was not his father who would keep them because they were of value. Now there were people who would readily take their position and were more competent than them, even though they lack the experience. Mr Blue, seeing that no one was going to stand up for him, stood up.“Y
Damien worked into the office with a stern expression on his face. Every staff knew not to mess with him at this very moment or else they stand a chance to get fired.Just by mere looking at him, they knew something was up. Those who feared and did not fear him before now did. He was in no mood to play with anyone. Even Joanna tried to cheer him up, but he was really upset. She only successfully cheered him up when she was around. But from the moment he stepped out of the house heading for the office, the frown he had kept aside reappeared. Most people thought Damien was soft, but he was not.Yes, for a while he has been away from the business, but that does not mean he does not know how to play his cards very well. Those men thought they could mess with him but failed to understand that he got some traits from his father and he was going to utilize it very well. The meeting was scheduled for one o'clock, so for now, he was in his office attending to other documentation. He took up