Back at the Presidential Hotel, Isabella held Raul's hand and dragged him into the restaurant section of the hotel. "Let's grab a light dinner before booking a room." Since she had warned Andrew and Miranda to stay away from her, the pair sat on the chairs some distance away and stared at their sister. "Tea or coffee?" A young man in a white suit and blue apron asked. Isabella ticked some numbers on the menu list in her front and said, "Bring me a cup of coffee with lots of milk and sugar." "Coffee for me too. And I will have whatever my sweetheart ordered." Raul wished he hadn't gotten a lady pregnant. Sitting in front of him is a rich lady from a wealthy home. 'I will ask Roana to abort the pregnancy. I can't leave someone like Isabella and settle down with a poor lady from a miserable home.' "Hello, my love. I hope you are enjoying this serenity?" Raul smiled back in reply. Of course, he is enjoying the splashy large hall with an industrial air conditioning machine. Bein
Inside the Arkansas prison cell, Raul looked dishevelled as he peeked into Simpson's eyes. Simpson glared at the shivering man in front of her and asked, "Who will believe we will be meeting again? The world is indeed a small place." Five years ago, Simpson met a young man and they became lovers. Deceived by the man's sweet talk, she immediately falls in love with him. "I need three million dollars to buy crude oil from West Africa" the man informed her, after long and tiring lovemaking. "How much did you have in savings?" "Two million dollars. The total cost is five million dollars." "Three million dollars is a lot of money, honey. Where did you plan to get such an amount of money now?" "From you, dear. I promise to return the money in a few weeks." "I don't have such an amount of money." "Removed it from the hotel's fund. I don't want to miss this supply." From the hotel fund?" Simpson asked back. "That's stealing. No, I can't do such a thing. "You are only loaning me fo
The security guard was tied down beside the steps, blood trickling down his face and he looked as faint as death. The old man gasped for breath as soon as the cloth stuck into his mouth was removed. "What's going on here?" Andrew asked in a whisper. "I have no idea, Sir. I was so tired and I decided to take a nap when some people suddenly appeared at my back and then whacked something on my head," he paused his speech, swooned backwards and lolled on the building wall. "I lost consciousness and just woke up when you arrived here." "Let's wait for the cops. They should be here in a few minutes." Isabella looked around and then sighed when she discovered Andrew had hurried out of her sight. Just like the compound, the parlour was empty. "Let's check the corridors and the Ante-rooms." Mary was found unconscious inside the washroom, and Madam Alice was seen tied down on one of the cushions in their parlour. After pouring water on Mary to revive her, Andrew kneeled in front an
He parked at the end of a deserted street, hopped down the car and stepped into a roadside bar. "A glass of vodka, please." A man in his late sixties is the barman. He is fat and grimly looking with a scar over his face. He served Andrew his order, glared at him for a while, and then shook his head and went back to his section of the Inn. Andrew brought out his phone and then punched some numbers on the screen. "Hello. What's the update?" "We have been able to track her line to a remote area and we will be on our way as soon as possible." "What is delaying you? You should have called me as soon as you found her location. " Andrew disconnected the call, hissed, swallowed the content in the glass belched with contentment, and then ordered a glass of tequila. He was on his fourth glass when two young men wobbled into the bar. "Is that not Andrew?" "It's him. What is he doing here?" The men were his friends during his youth days. Several years later, he decided to quit hanging w
The moon was already glaring in the sky when two trucks filled with armed men stopped in front of a large black gate. A tall and sturdy man in a black shirt and pants hopped down from the truck and then gestured to the rest of the gang to come with him. "Are we passing through the black gate?" Andrew who lagged at the back of the men asked. "No. We are jumping over the fence. I prefer we were unseen throughout the operation," the sturdy man answered back in a whisper. He smiled and said, Don't be scared. You will be protected by me. Or better still, you can stay inside the car till we are back." "Am not scared. I just want to know your plan," Andrew let out with a smirk. "How are we scaling over the fence when there are electric wires on top of it?" 'Did you have a better idea?" "No." 'Then watch us do our work." The seven men stepped closer to the rear side of the wall. One among them removed a gadget from the bag in his hand and then pressed a red button and everything
'Is Andrea part of this deal?' Andrew asked himself. 'That's the only explanation for her being a guest here… Geez! Not when I planned to forgive her.' Ratty turned toward Andrew and said, "Now that you heard that she is here as a guest, what is your decision?" He realized it was foolhardy to turn back now. Not after coming this far. "Tell them to bring her out." Ratty shrugged and asked, "What if she refused to follow them? Should I tell them to drag her or knock her out if she proves difficult? " "Maybe I should come with you. She will willingly follow you when she sees me." "No. I suggest you stay closer to that fence and wait for us. " Even though he wasn't satisfied with the instruction. Andrew had no choice but to stop on his track and said, "Do all you can to bring the two of them out of here. " "Things may get bloody inside that house. I don't want you to be caught in between the crossfire," the tall and barrel chest said. He turned at the men at his back and ann
Andrew woke up on the third day and was disoriented for two more days. During his first few days at the hospital, he noticed Andrea beside his sick bed but he was too weary to talk to her. And then, she abruptly stops coming when he becomes strong enough. "Where is Andrea? " Andrew asked the first day he had the use of his tongues." "Your daddy stopped her from coming here. He believed you were almost killed because of her, " Simpson answered back. Just like Andrea, everyone received their share of tongue-lashing from the angry man when he heard of Andrew's near-death condition. Because of this, Simpson was more than happy when Andrew finally regained consciousness. Andrew nodded his head and then winced with pain as a sudden headache thunderclap on his forehead. "What about my son? " "He is in your villa in Orange County with the rest of your family. They wanted to transfer you down there, but the doctors kicked against it because of your critical condition. " Andr
Hundreds of patients were cramped in the tiny room. The lucky ones gawked at him from their lice-infested bed, while the less fortunate moaned from the blankets on the floor. "This is West Wing A, " Benita explained. "It's the ward for those with terminal disease… Those on the floor were those who can no longer afford to pay for the hospital bed." "Why are there so many people inside this small ward? This place is overcrowded." "That is why it's called a public ward," Benita answered back. "And that's my sister over there. " Like the majority of the patients inside West Wing A, Benita's sister lay on a blue blanket with her eyes closed. And she immediately opened her eyes when she heard her sister's voice. "Hello, Amelia. Meet Andrew. He is also a patient here." The lady lying down was a shadow of herself. Thin with jaunty skin and shallow eyes. She looked up, offered a thin smile and let out, "Hello Andrew. Nice to meet you. " Just like her sister, Amelia is tall and she po