NIKAELEON***After dinner, I carried Sophia up to her room and tucked her into bed. She wanted me to tell her a story first before she slept. I sat on the edge of her and tried to remember any children stories I may have heard but as I began to tell a paraphrased version of Goldilocks and the three bears, Sophia shook her head.“No, Uncle Nik. Not that kind of story, a real life story, something interesting.” She said and blinked at me with those adorably irresistible eyes.I tried to think of anything exciting to tell her about my life, something that would interest a child of her age, but my mind was blank. I couldn’t exactly start telling her about my victories in a board room or the latest merger or acquisition I acquired. I realised then that my life was pretty boring, I couldn’t remember the last time I had any fun. My life revolved around work, security concerns, revenge and more work. I’ve achieved a lot in my short time as Don and will still achieve more but the monotony of
NIKAELEON***As we stepped into my room, I took a seat on one of the chairs facing the closed balcony windows. This sitting space was arranged for nights when I wanted to work in my room, or I invited someone in for a chat, or I wanted to eat in my room. I took off my jacket and folded it across the arm of the chair as Aina came up behind me.“So, do you want to go first or should I?” She asked as she put her hands on my shoulders and began to rub.“I'll go first, mine isn’t that big of a deal, really. I don’t even know why I’m telling you this, I haven’t discussed this with anyone.” I said to her.“Okay, now I’m curious.” She said and I sighed as she eased a tight knot in the area she was kneading.“Like I said, it’s not that big of a deal, it’s just a minor incident that happened before dinner. I wanted everyone to focus on Sophia so that’s why I didn’t mention it, and also because I don’t think it’s really important. I received a call from an unknown number earlier, it seems like
NIKAELEON**“I knew you would forget.” Aina sighed.“My press conference is tomorrow, right after the first court hearing for the lawsuit against me by my stepmother.”“Oh, right.”“It’s fine, I know you’ve got a lot on your plate right now with Sophia here and this unknown person that’s out to get you, among other things.” She said.“It’s on my schedule though, so I would have been reminded of it in the morning.” I said to her.“Do you have any plan on how you want to handle the situation? I told you that I’ll let you take the lead on this since it’s your issue, I’m only here for support.”“I don’t really have a plan, I just intend to be docile, let them play their hand and then I’ll counter it in the best available way. I want to see what angle they want to argue their case with. Do they want to use emotional blackmail? Maybe try to make it seem like I was a bad daughter, using the fact that I vanished for months after my father’s death to make me seem immoral. Or do they want to g
"Miss Koevel, did you or did you not run away from home for months after your father's death? The reason why you did so is irrelevant right now, just answer the question, yes or no?"Aina's stepmother's head lawyer asked her.The court hearing had been going on for almost thirty minutes now. I was seated on Aina's side right next to the team of lawyers I hired for her.So far, the lawyers on the other side had been going on and on asking irrelevant questions and trying to discredit Aina in the eyes of the judges, make her seem like a degenerate so they would rule against her. "Objection…" Our head lawyer spoke."... The plaintiff's lawyer is trying to antagonise my client by deliberately misinterpreting the situation and…""Overuled." The judge cut off our lawyer with a bored tone."It's a simple question, I'm sure your client can answer that without incident."Our lawyer sighed and turned to Aina to indicate for her to speak. There was a smirk of triumph on the other lawyer's face a
NIKAELEON***I could tell that Aina hadn’t yet figured out the angle the lawyer was coming from and how he was trying to trap her into saying something that could be used against her in the court.“You’re stupid if you think I would waste my time and resources protecting someone just because they offered to sleep with me.” I cut in before Aina could reply to the other lawyer.The lawyer turned to me and the sneer on his face faltered as I glared at him, silently daring to try and say any rubbish that would anger me. He could talk smack to anyone else in this room but I would not permit him to talk to me anyhow he likes. He must have seen the promise of retribution on my face so he turned away to face the judge instead.“Objection, your honour, the questions are directed to the defendant and should be answered by her. If Mr Roch wants to speak, then he should wait for his turn to be interviewed as I see fit.”“The questions you ask involve me, therefore, I’m well within my rights to r
NIKAELEON**After several seconds of being thrown off by our questions, Mr Ayan finally composed himself enough to speak.“Mr Roch, all this questioning is to counter the point I made on your motive for helping Miss Koevel, but you still haven’t given a valid reason why you just decided to take her in and spend time and resources protecting her interests. You must have something to gain from the arrangement. Except you run a charity now and anyone who thinks they’re in danger can run to you for protection and expect to get the same treatment. I don’t think that’s the case so please clarify. And Miss Koevel, you still haven’t answered my question on why you didn’t run to law enforcement first when you thought your life was in danger, that’s the normal immediate response for a normal person. I mean, that’s what they’re there for, right? To protect lives and properties. As a citizen of this country and state, especially one so well to do, they would have protected you if you had gone to
NIKAELEON***“The lawyer said he heard a rumour that you joined my company, I don’t believe that trashy excuse. One of the board members I removed must have told my stepmother about it and she told him, I need to figure out which one. Whoever it is may also be affiliated with the Black Knights and we may be able to get something useful to use against them.” Aina said as we were being driven to the venue for the press conference.“I’ll have all of them investigated. It may not even be one of the members that got removed, there may be an informant among the members that retained their seat.” I said to her and she sighed.“You’re right. All this scheming is getting really annoying.”“You haven’t seen anything yet so better brace yourself.” I chuckled.“You make it look so easy. Handling your company, taking care of your family business, keeping everyone close to you safe and destroying your enemies at the same time. Yet you’re so composed, I only have to deal with about half your worklo
NIKAELEON***“I really wonder where these reporters get the questions they ask. Most of their questions are senseless. Imagine asking me if we have a child that we’re hiding, I haven’t stayed in your house for up to nine months. How could I have gotten pregnant, given birth and gotten back to shape in the space of seven months?” Aina asked with an exasperated sigh as we got into the car.“All that doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is that we got through the press conference without incident. We just have to wait and see what they’ll publish in their respective papers and magazines.” I said as I got in next to her.“Probably something heinous.” She said and I chuckled.“It doesn’t matter anymore, what’s gone is gone.” I said and she yelped as I grabbed her and set her on me so she straddled me.Her knees were on the car seat on either side of my outer thighs, with her hands on the headrest on either side of my head. Both of my knees were in between hers and my hands were on her hip
EPILOGUE *** NIKAELEON * I thought I understood nervousness when I was about to get married, or fear when Aina had been held at gun point, none of that compared to the feeling of watching my child being born. Aina and I had already agreed before hand that I would be inside while she was giving birth. She needed my support because this was her first birth, and I wanted to watch , it would help me treasure her sacrifice to have our babies. Yes, babies. It seemed Sophia's prayer for a brother and sister came to pass. We found out we were having twins when we went for a late ultrasound scan. She screamed as another contraction hit her and her grip on my hand almost crushed my bones but I just stroked her hair with my other hand. "I don't think I can do this anymore." Aina sobbed and my heart broke for her. I wish I could take her pain away even if just a little bit and I hated being so helpless because at this point, there was nothing I could do for her. "Just a little bit more, Mr
NIKAELEON *** I never expected to be nervous today. It was usual to be nervous when you’re getting married, but I didn’t expect to be nervous, I expected to go through it calmly like I usually did everything in my life. Instead, I was fidgety, checking my reflection in the mirror a hundred times even though I looked perfect physically. “You look great, son. Stay still before you make a hole in the floor with your pacing.” My father chuckled as he walked into my room. “I don’t know why I’m even nervous. I was fine yesterday.” I said to him as I adjusted my tie again. “I was the same way when I married your mother. A lot of people no longer value marriage, but it’s supposed to be sacred. A lifelong vow of commitment to the one person you choose to live the rest of your life with. And you love her, you’re afraid of making a mistake and ruining what you both have.” I was about to protest and tell my father that this marriage was just an arrangement, after all, as a mafia boss, love w
NIKAELEON *** It has been weeks since Connor was arrested along with the leaders of the Black Knights. Some other lower ranked members had also been apprehended these past weeks. Connor and the leaders had already been tried in court and sentenced to life imprisonment. The others were still awaiting trial but it didn’t matter, they were just pawns, the main players were already in jail. Last I heard, Connor had been nearly paralysed and had to be hospitalised for almost two weeks. I had no sympathy for him and neither did the government, he was still sent back to prison on crutches to continue living with his assailants. My revenge on him was complete. Uriel had also been tried for illegal possession of a firearm and threatening people’s lives with it, but she hadn’t been sent to jail because I didn’t press charges to add to these ones. She was on house arrest for a year, with community service and court ordained therapy. I went to visit her occasionally so she could video call Soph
NIKAELEON***A FEW DAYS LATER*The courtroom buzzed with tension as the arguments echoed through the room, each side presenting their case for Sophia's custody. It was Manolo’s turn to speak now."Your Honor, We have substantial evidence to establish that Ms. Uriel is mentally unstable and unfit to provide a stable and nurturing environment for Sophia. We also have expert testimonies from qualified mental health professionals who have evaluated Ms. Uriel and have concluded that her mental state poses a risk to the well-being of the child."We gave the court a video clip from the security footage from the mansion showing the moment Uriel had grabbed Sophia roughly after Sophia announced that she was having a sibling. There was no sound because it was CCTV, but it was evident that Uriel was being aggressive to Sophia. That was enough to help our case.Uriel's lawyer countered with equal enthusiasm.“Your Honor, I assure you that my client is mentally sound. Those reports were taken wh
NIKAELEON***“I know what you’re going to say, Aina. You want me to release them without punishment, but I can’t do that. Yes, I know they’re in love and no one is above mistakes, I also know that this crime isn’t as bad as it would have been if he had been the traitor.” I said to her as we stepped out of the interrogation room and began to walk towards the back entrance to the house.“If you know, then why can’t you just release them?” She asked.“I’m sure you already know why. I set my rules for a reason, and if someone breaks any of my rules, no matter how justified they are, there has to be a consequence or no one will respect my rules. That’s why there are laws, and prison is the consequence if those laws are broken.”“Can’t you make an exception just this once? She’s pregnant, Nik.” She said and I sighed.“I’m not sending them away if that’s what you think. For their own good and mine. If they aren’t here, they’ll be easy to kill by my enemies or captured and tortured for infor
NIKALEOEN***“Fine. You can come along. But don’t interfere.” I said to her and the look she gave me said she would definitely interfere.“Don’t interfere too much.” I acquiesced with a sigh and she smiled.“And you better not cry.” I said to her and she huffed.“I’m not a baby.”As much as I wanted her by my side, I knew the path that lay ahead would test the limits of her resolve. "I never said you were a baby, Aina, this won't be easy. I may have to resort to violent means, and I may do things you may not approve. I don’t want you to resent me for it and begin to see me as some kind of monster. I really don't want you to witness what might transpire in that interrogation room. It could get ugly." I admitted.“I’ve always known there is a dark side of you, Nik. And I’ve made my peace with it. I know you don’t just go about torturing or hurting people on a whim or for fun, and when you do anything, it’s for a reason. I won’t blame you for anything you do today, you’re trying to pro
NIKAELEON***“And I also wanted to apologise for the scene I caused, it wasn’t my intention to let Sophia know that you’re my baby’s father. I just wanted to get her mind off seeing you both fighting so I told her I was having a baby and showed her the sonogram. When she asked me who the baby’s father was, I just replied without thinking and then she bolted out here to tell you before I could stop her.” Aina explained.“It’s fine. I know you didn’t have an ulterior motive for telling her, and I could see the look on your face when she ran here with the sonogram, I knew it was just a mistake and I don’t blame you for it. In fact, I think I’m relieved, I’ve been thinking of a way to tell Sophia that she would have a sibling soon, wondering how she would react. Now I know that I was just worried for nothing.” I replied to her.“Yeah, she’s so excited to be a big sister. She has already told me in detail all the things she plans to do, and by the way, she says she wants two siblings, one
AINA***I led Sophia away and she followed me, her tiny hand clutching onto me tightly.I took her to my room and sat down on the bed with her in my lap. I put her small hand on my tummy.“I have a baby in my tummy now.” I said and her eyes widened in surprise and childish delight.“You swallowed a baby?” She asked incredulously and I burst into startled laughter.“Oh! Heavens no! I can’t swallow a baby, I’m not a cannibal. The baby is growing in my tummy.” I said to her and there was a look of childish wonder in her eyes.“Babies grow in tummies? I thought they were sent from heaven by storks, I watched that in a cartoon. All the animals were on a train and when it was time for them to have babies, the birds carried the babies in white cloth and dropped them off one by one in the mummy and daddy’s cages.” Sophia said and I laughed again.I definitely wasn’t having the talk on where babies come from with her. It had been awkward when my own mother had ‘the talk’ with me, and I wasn’t
NIKAELEON***“We need to talk, Nik. That’s why I’m here.” She replied to me and I nearly chuckled at the audacity she had to show up at my house to demand an audience with me.“We have nothing to talk about, Uriel. Or rather, I have nothing to talk about with you even though you may have something to say. I have no interest, nor do I have the time or patience to listen to whatever nonsense you want to say to me. So leave before I have you arrested for trespassing.” I said to her.“You can’t do that.” She said and I scoffed.“You have no idea what I’m capable of, Uriel. I suspect it’s the reason why you dare defy me so often.” I said to her. “If the police come, I’ll just tell them that I came to see Sophia and you denied me entrance. It will look bad on you while the custody case is still being deliberated on by the court.” She said.I was about to tell her to go fuck herself when Aina put a hand on my forearm. I turned to look at her and she didn’t need to speak to communicate her