NIKAELEON***I woke up with my arms wrapped around a soft body, and I was disoriented for several seconds before I became fully awake, wondering why there was someone in my bed.When I opened my eyes, I saw that I wasn't in my room, that was when I remembered where I was and why I was here. I hadn't planned to sleep over in her room after our one night stand, but I was too tired to leave when we were done. I fell asleep immediately after Aina closed her eyes. The curtains were shut so I couldn't tell the time using daylight, and in my position, I also couldn't see the alarm clock. Even without knowing exactly what time it was, I knew that it was really late, maybe almost noon. It was time to leave.I tried to untangle myself from Aina but she turned and I groaned as her body rubbed against my morning wood. I could wake her up for one last round, but I had work to do and I needed to leave before the house staff came in here to clean thinking she had left for work, not knowing we were
AINA**I blinked groggily as I slowly came awake. I immediately knew that Nik was no longer in bed with me and the thought made me sad for a few seconds before I remembered that we agreed to this to avoid complications. I had woken up once very briefly and discovered that we were tangled together while sleeping, his arms were wrapped tightly around me and he looked so peaceful while he was sleeping. I savoured his warmth and for those brief seconds, I could even pretend we were really lovers and that it wasn’t our first and only night together. He must have been too tired to leave my room even though I heard him say he was leaving before I fell asleep. I sat up on my bed and stretched. The curtains were closed and when I checked my clock, I was so surprised to see that it was evening already. Well, no one would blame me for sleeping in after the sex marathon I had last night.I felt how sore I was between my legs when I woke up, but on the contrary, the feeling wasn’t unpleasant. It
NIKAELEON***“Nik, we have a problem.” Aina said and I faced her immediately.“What’s wrong?” I asked her.“Cudjer Inc just launched a project, my project.” She replied to me with her attention still on her phone.“It’s exactly the same concept even though it was presented differently.”She was typing fast as she spoke, probably responding to a message or sending one to someone.“How is that possible? We haven’t made a public announcement yet, only us, the board members and the project supervisors know about the…” I paused and Aina looked up at me.We were both thinking the same thing, someone leaked the details of the project to a rival company. I sighed.“There’s a mole in your company.” I said to her.“Yes, that’s the only way the details of the project could have gotten out. We already suspected there was someone among the board members that was still in touch with my step mother or affiliated with the Black Knights. Armando hadn’t been able to find anything leading to the culpri
NIKAELEON***“Right from the start, I warned you all that she is the epitome of irresponsibility, and a prime example of an entitled brat. How did she ever expect to handle such a great company? She has only been here for a little while and everything is falling apart. I’m sure it’s that bastard she’s sleeping with that leaked the details of this project and now we’re ruined. How did she even expect to have a business rival among the shareholders and not experience repercussions just because she's whoring herself out to him? It’s outrageous. I don’t know about you but I will stand for this foolishness no longer….”Mr Helmont’s voice was loud enough to be heard all the way from the elevator as he kept on berating Aina in front of the other board members. So this was why he leaked the project. He wanted to blame me and take Aina’s position as CEO. How stupid of him.“... Aina Koevel must be removed from this company as soon as possible.” His voice grew louder as Aina and I stepped thro
NIKAELEON***My ears were still ringing from the loud noise of the explosion but we had to go outside the office and check the situation of things. I helped Aina up and we both walked past the partly unhinged door that had a huge burn mark on it that I only noticed now that we were close to it. The assistant must have been standing close to the door when the package was opened. I turned Aina's face away as I realised what the splatter on the wall was but shielding her from seeing the innards on the walls was of no use. There was blood everywhere in front of her office, and body parts were littered around. The package must have been close to the assistant’s torso while it was being opened because the part of her that were completely destroyed was her midsection.There were people littered around, some screaming, some crying, some just staring in shock while some tried to take pictures or videos. The bomb didn’t have a wide range, it was only meant to kill one person, and would have on
NIKAELEON***“Miss Koevel is responsible for the attempt on my client’s life.”“Objection. The plaintiff’s lawyer is moving from questioning my client to making false accusations. Proper evidence should be provided before trying to indict my client.” Our lawyer said.“Sustained. Mr Ayan, I advise you to be cautious in your questioning. You can’t declare anyone in this court guilty unless they’ve been proven otherwise without a shadow of a doubt.” The judge said.We were in court for less than fifteen minutes and Aina’s stepmother and her team of lawyers were on the offensive. They were trying to blame Aina for the attempted robbery incident that was planned against the stepmother even though they had no evidence.“You honour, we may have no evidence, but you have to admit it’s suspicious. If anything happens to my client, they automatically win the case. What more evidence is greater than that?” The lawyer asked.“We only ask that justice be served. My client deserves better. She had
NIKAELEON***The only thing left to deal with was Lana Viden, the CEO of Cudjer Inc that stole the project from Aina. The woman was definitely part of the Black Knights, though she must have just recently joined them because if she had been part of them when Aina’s father was alive, he would have mentioned her name since she was an acquaintance that Aina knew well.It took Armando a whole day to be able to crack the encryption on her office systems and her personal devices were inaccessible unless we got close to her and planted a physical encrypter, which would be too risky. So we settled on just getting enough evidence of her financial and corporate crimes, enough to ruin her and bring down her company.The information was leaked through an anonymous source, one of my paid informants in a media station that wasn’t owned or co owned by me. We didn’t want the leak to be traced back to us so it couldn’t be leaked by any media house affiliated with me. While Lana’s company’s stock nose
NIKAELEON***I made sure to invite every major news channel in the country for this particular press conference. Uriel and Sophia had gotten dressed and were driven separately from my mansion to the conference venue while Aina and I went together after dealing with Lana Viden. I knew it was a risk to make this announcement when we had so many enemies lurking, but I’ve already lost too much time with my daughter. I don’t intend to hide her from the world like she’s a dirty secret. Besides, if we waited to be completely safe before doing this, we would have to wait for eternity. There would always be danger, the difference is that she has me now and I will protect her with my life. My enemies would try to make a move on her because to them, my love for her was a weakness, but they were wrong, it was a strength. They should all beware.Another reason for doing this was because it was part of my revenge plan. Due to the different scandals that had happened this past week, the media had s
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