"What are you doing?" It was a young man in a glittering green suit.
He was decked in luxurious brands from head to toe.Chloe realized she was standing too close to him and subconsciously took a step backward.Lewis' face paled when he recognized the man."Mr. Kendrick, I had no idea you would be visiting today. If I knew, I'd have given you a proper welcome." Lewis sounded nervous as he hurried towards Jonas Kendrick.Jonas Kendrick had a proud smile on his face as he waved Lewis aside. "I didn't know I'd be visiting either."Then his eyes settled on Chloe who immediately looked away from him. He took long strides towards her then held out the rose flowers with him towards her."There's no need to be shy. We're going to be married sooner or later. So go on and take it.." He said, pushing it towards her hand.Chloe evaded the flowers and stepped backward."Mr. Kendrick, my sister is aller—" Claire was saying when Lewis loudly interrupted."Mr. Kendrick, I heard you flew in different roses from across the continent. Please do not tell me you did all that for my cousin." Lewis widened his eyes in surprise."Of course, I did! I'm not joking when I say I want her as my wife!" Jonas nodded with a tight smile."That is so kind of you. Mr. Kendrick." Lewis gasped in surprise. Then he shifted his attention to Chloe and the flattering file on his face hardened."Don't be ungrateful and take the flowers, Chloe. Mr. Kendrick didn't just buy them from a flower shop here in Springdale, he had it flown across another continent just to give it to you!"However, Chloe didn't budge.While it was true that the Kendrick family flew in flowers from another continent yesterday, it wasn't done by Lewis and it was flown in for an entirely different reason.But since Lewis made mention of it, Jonas knew it wouldn't cost him anything to agree.Chloe finally looked up at Jonas' and shook her head apologetically. "I'm allergic to roses."Before Jonas could say anything, Lewis furiously pointed a finger at her nose and hollered, "So what if you're allergic to it?! Mr. Kendrick didn't know any of that so he got you what he thought you'd like. Refusing to take the flowers will only make his good intentions go to waste!""That's okay, Lewis. I didn't know she was allergic to roses otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it." Jonas said gently then shifted his attention to Chloe again. "Which flower is your favorite? I'd be sure to get it for you next time.""Mr. Kendrick is so magnanimous. It must've cost you a fortune to fly in the roses only to get it rejected by Chloe. I ask that you don't pick offense with the William family because of this." Lewis begged."You don't have to worry about that. And talking about the William family, the Kendrick family has decided to do business with your family given you let Chloe William marry me." Jonas informed, revealing the reason for his visit.Lewis' eyes bulged in excitement.The Jonas family, which was almost a second tier family in Springdale, was offering to do business with the William family who was still struggling to be a third tier family. It was good news for the William family. One Lewis didn't expect to happen in a long time."My grandpa didn't come to the company today. But he'd be overjoyed to hear this news. Why don't I keep you company in my office while I call him to come?" Lewis immediately offered and Jonas agreed with a slight nod."Being Miss Springdale sure has a lot of benefits. Despite being a disgrace to herself and family, there's still someone willing to marry her. Sigh." A member of the William family sighed, green with envy."Mr. Kendrick has such a big heart. He's even willing to marry her despite the fact she has a bastard child for that man she slept with six years ago." Another chimed in."I'm not getting married to you, Mr. Kendrick." Chloe's one sentence put an end to the chattering and made Jonas and Lewis who were already walking away, pause."Yes, you will. Because that's the only way to repair your broken relationship with grandpa. And you'd do anything to repair it, won't you?" Lewis scoffed and raised a threatening brow."I will do anything to repair my broken relationship with grandpa except marry a man." Chloe retorted in a trembling voice.Lewis felt his face with his left palm and laughed in disbelief. Then he asked mockingly."You relinquished your ability to make your own choice when you slept with that bastard and gave birth to a bastard daughter which almost ruined the William family. Now you have a chance to make everything right. You owe it to this family!""No offense to you, Mr. Kendrick. But if she says she's not doing it, then she's not doing it!" Claire butted in angrily.Blood rushed up to Lewis' nose out of anger. "You will stay out of this, Claire!"Jonas also realized the situation was spiraling out of control and frowned slightly.Despite being a disgraced figure in Springdale, there were still a lot of men lining up to marry her. Not because she was in-love with them, but because she had somehow found a way to remain the most beautiful woman in Springdale.Marrying the most beautiful woman in Springdale would not only elevate their status, it'd also elevate that of their family's.He was a man as well and naturally had the same train of thought. Given his status, marrying a woman saddled with a child would make a lot of people view him in a different light.While some would likely shake their heads at his choice in a spouse, most people would nod their heads at his choice of spouse. After all, he could always divorce her once she was no longer of any use to him.Taking in her daughter would also paint him as a man who understands what it's like for a girl child not to have a father in her life.He was so close to achieving all these, but Chloe was being persistent. He prepared too much for his future to have it ruined by her persistence.So he directly took out a document and called out to Lewis."I brought the engagement agreement papers with me. I already have my name written down. Once I have hers, we'd he ready to go and the William family will become in-laws with the Kendrick family."That was the last push Lewis needed."Go, sign your name on the document and give back what you took from this family!" Lewis said as he extended a pen towards her."I'll give back to this family in the future. But I'm not doing that by marrying into the Kendr—" Chloe was still saying when Lewis shot out his hand and grabbed her.He tightened his grip on her wrist and was about to drag her towards Lewis when a figure darted into the room and another was sent flying towards a wall.It happened so quickly that the people around only realized what happened after Lewis crashed against the wall and screamed in pain.A tall and oppressive figure had entered the room and was standing in front of Chloe. An eerie silence also hung in the air before Lewis groaned in pain as he was helped up by some members of the William family. He was bleeding from his head and couldn't even open his left eye properly.He also seemed to have broken a leg as he dragged it across the floor to meet the man who left him in such a state. "Do you have any idea where you are and what I can do to you for laying your hands on me?!" He yelled angrily, but winced in pain when the strain from his facial expression caused his head to throb harder. Jonas frowned seeing the man. The man was so tall and intimidating that he found it hard to meet his eyes. "E-Ethan Black?!" Lewis suddenly frowned, recognizing the man. "I knew he looked familiar! How dare that bastard return to Springdale?" A member of the William family hissed in anger. He sounded like he'd walk up to Ethan and slap him across the face, but he didn't even have
The atmosphere became tense once again. "I know that you're strong and can take care of yourself. But you should be mindful of what you say if you do not want to get Chloe and I into trouble." Claire who had been silent the whole time, suddenly butted in. "Stay out of this, Claire." Chloe warned, glancing at her briefly. Claire had a lot of reasons to hate Ethan. And for the past six years, she had spent every night cursing him for ruining the blissful life she and Chloe had. Just like everyone, she believed he was dead, but she also harbored the thought that he might be alive somewhere and would probably return someday to take his family out of their misery. However, the Ethan she was looking at looked no different from the Ethan of six years ago. Except that he was more confident now. She should've prayed for him to wind up dead instead. Chloe's warning made her grit her teeth in anger, but she agreed and went silent again. "Why should she when she's saying the truth? You may
Ethan stepped backward after saying that much to the excitement of Kane. "Am I permitted to beat him up?""Half-dead. Then deliver him to the Kendrick family house." Ethan nodded and turned around to look at everyone in the room. For the first time in six years, Ethan's heart raced. His heart never raced when he cut off the head of the enemy's commander while on the battlefield neither did it race when he was ambushed by 700 highly trained assassins sent to kill him. His heart was actually racing because of the thought of seeing the precious human he made with Chloe. Kane waited until he and Chloe were out of the building before he got to work. As Jonas' high pitched scream tore through the quiet afternoon, Claire who was walking right behind them couldn't help but hiss. "I don't know what you're thinking, but the Kendrick family will never let you off for touching Jonas. What am I saying? Chloe, your husband broke Lewis' legs and is having his goon beat up Jonas Kendrick. Do you
Ten minutes after the man was gone with Honey, Ethan and Claire arrived at the scene. "This is the place?" Ethan asked, his brows furrowing into a frown. "It appears you refuse to acknowledge how fucked up you made us." Claire scoffed and knocked at the door. While she knocked, Ethan took a quick stroll towards the corner just behind the house. He didn't know what his daughter looked like, but he just had a feeling he'd recognize her once he saw her. "What do you mean she isn't inside?!" Claire's angry tone prompted him to return to the scene where he saw a heavily tattooed chubby short man leaning against the doorframe. "Look, your mother brought her here hours ago, but she only paid for two hours. Once it was two hours, I asked the little girl if she could go home and she nodded her head. So I let her leave. Move away from my door, I have customers to atten—" he choked on the remaining words as Ethan suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Despite being lanky, Ethan
The time was a few minutes to 8 in the evening. Naturally, the day was getting darker.Due to the estate's houses reduced price, it was home to a lot of criminals and dangerous ex-convicts. Even the police didn't dare to frequent the area once it was dark.Furthermore, the flickering streetlights and the chill in the air made the estate, which was usually vibrant during the day, to lack a single soul on the streets.In a dimly lit corner, the chubby man Ethan had roughed up just an hour ago was in a heated discussion with a sinister figure."What do you mean the cops visited you? How's that even possible?" The man who had kidnapped Honey sneered."I'm telling you what I saw, Gauche! Return that kid to her family, and maybe the cops can let this slide!" The chubby man hissed."What are you so scared of? The cops? They won't be here again until morning, and she'd be long gone by then. Don't mess this up for me, Paul. I already have someone willing to pay so much for that kid." Gauche sc
Gauche Stokes opened his eyes again and sat up. ''Why are you here by this time of the night?''He didn't hear from Paul for three seconds, and just when he was about to grow suspicious, Paul's voice came up again.''I can't stop thinking about the guy who visited earlier. What if he returns again while I'm asleep and smothers me to death?''Gauche, who had instinctively reached for his gun, paused and laughed mockingly. He got up from the chair and relaxed his grip on the weapon before proceeding towards the door.''It's good you're back, though. I could use a little help. This kid is giving me a hell of a time. She kept screaming some minutes ago and only shut her stupid mouth when I hit her. You–''He pulled the door open, but got flung backward when a leather boot came in contact with his face. Ethan didn't waste time stepping into the room. Kane kicked Paul inside the apartment and locked the door behind him.Gauche found it difficult to get up, so he crawled backward in fear, h
Matilda Brown, oblivious to what happened the night before, was in a very good mood when she woke up the next morning. The reason being that she had won a lot of money while playing cards the day before.However, her good mood immediately turned sour when she saw Ethan walking out of the balcony with his phone in hand."What is this nonsense? How dare you return to this family after everything you've cost us?!" She hollered, pointing a finger at his nose, her face turning beet red from anger.Ethan, who didn't think the first voice he'd be hearing first thing in the morning was that of his loud and unreasonable mother-in-law, paused and looked up at her.He didn't know much about her since he only stayed with her a few days after his marriage with Chloe, but he did know that the one thing she cared most about was money.Matilda Brown would do anything for money."Good morning," he greeted, recalling this was Chloe's mother, and it'd be rude to simply ignore her."Keep your stupid gree
"Bye, daddy! Bye, mommy!" Honey happily waved Ethan and Chloe goodbye before scurrying into her school's building.This was the happiest Chloe had seen her daughter since she was born.Her grip on her bag tightened when she sighted a middle-aged man hurrying towards her. It was a bald figure with a protruding stomach. His spectacles rested firmly on his nose. Gordon Foster, the Director of Bright Hearts Montessori, had a frown on his face as he got closer to Chloe.He forced on a tight smile once he was in speaking range with her. "Ms. William, I'm glad to see you after a very long time."Chloe swallowed and forced on a smile as well. Usually, Honey came to school everyday with the school's bus, so the school rarely saw her. But even when she made it to the school to drop her daughter off, she would turn and literally run out of the environment once she caught sight of Gordon Foster.Once, the man had shouted her name from his office, and she still left, acting like she didn't hear
Wexford That evening, Declan Wellington felt cooped up at home, so he left the house to spend the day golfing with a close friend of the Wellingtons who owned a golf course. They golfed together for three hours before they got tired and drove to his house to rest. Marvin Phelps poured him a drink before asking politely, “This may be out of place for me to ask, Mr. Wellington, but you seemed out of it throughout today. Is anything the matter?” “What?” An absent-minded Declan didn’t know when he blurted out, glancing at him. Marvin Phelps sat up, now fully convinced there was something on Declan’s mind. With a serious look on his face, he cautiously continued, “What is the problem? Is anyone troubling you? Say the word and I’ll have that person’s legs crushed to bits and forcefully drag them here!” Declan raised his eyes to look at him. Even if he said nothing, his eyes lit up a little when he recalled who Marvin was. The Phelps family was headed by this man despit
Scott William was instantly taken aback. Then he gritted his teeth in rage and resisted the urge to grab her by the collar as he yelled at her angrily. “What do you think you’re doing? He’s your son-in-law, how could you think of doing something so despicable to him!”“I know you’ve been looking for ways to get rid of him, but he’s having a psychotic breakdown? Matilda Brown, are you out of your mind?!” However, the woman ignored him and reached into her bag for a file. She placed it on the counter and continued speaking to the officer with a straight face. “Here. This is the result of the psych evaluation. You can check with the hospital he took it at just to be sure.” Scott closed the distance between them and grabbed her arm firmly, “If you have nothing better to do, then turn around and go back home.” “I know you’re scared of this affecting our family, but you don’t have anything to worry about because I’ll take care of this!” “Ethan didn’t do what they’re accusing him of
The sergeant and the other officers were slightly taken aback by his sudden compliance. Given that Charles and Kane were questioning their every word, they assumed they would have to use force to get him out of here. However, not only was he complying, but he was even flashing them a faint, non-aggressive smile. It was as though he had the situation under control which caused them to wonder why. They were yet to be reached by anyone from the higherups, so what was this guy doing. Since Ethan was coming with them willingly, there was no need to cuff him at all. So the sergeant nodded and led him to the station. The reception was decvoid of people, but those who were in their rooms before a few minutes ago, were all standing beside their windows watching who was getting arrested. Ethan walked to the passenger side of the car and glanced around him with an unbothered smile before proceeding to get in. In Wexford County, in the Wellington family residence, Declan Wellington was w
Ethan’s eyes darkened instantly. Almost immediately, he felt a call come into his phone and checked the caller to see it was Declan calling. He was silent for a few seconds before assured her calmly, “I’ll bring them back. Chloe and Honey, I’ll make sure they come back without a scratch.” “For now, focus on getting better. Neither of them would like it if return to see you in such a terrible state.” Then he ended the call without waiting for her response and answered Declan’s. As soon as the call connected, Declan’s bubbly voice sounded in his ears, “Your little bastard is a little too pretty. Truly her mother’s daughter.” “Your genes almost lost the fight, but her eyes saved you. Hopefully, if your other bastard lives, it would put up a fight to look exactly like you.” Ethan tightened his grip around his phone, but said nothing. He remained expressionless, but his eyes beamed furious. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything in really. Declan had truly blinded him from
Ethan didn’t react immediately. He was silent for several seconds before he responded. “You’re the highly esteemed head of the Welllington family. Why resort to threatening your enemy with somsone close to them when you can face them head on yourself?”Declan yawned boredly from the other end. “What nonsense are you talking about? My enemy? You? You really think I think of you as my enemy?” “In what world did you think a bastard like you is worthy of becoming an enemy of Declan Wellington?” “We may share the same father, but to me, you’re nothing more than a confused rat. Sure, you’ve spent a few years in the army and earned yourself a few lackeys, but vagrant like you should know their place.”“Simply talking to me is a privilege you should never have. Whatever I’ll make you go through is a privilege you don’t deserve. Even if I kill you, you should be grateful I let you die by my hands!”Ethan chuckled calmly and went on to reply. “I was told you sent one of the best men your
Meanwhile, Charles Wilkins was looking into the people who crashed into Claire’s car and took Chloe. He tracked them down to their base in a nightclub. The club had lax security. Hence, he wasn’t stopped by the hefty men standing the door as he walked into the club. It was a few minutes past 7 in the evening and the club was getting filled by people. He stood in the middle of the room and glanced around before he spotted the VIP section and strutted straight to it. It didn’t take him long to find the room of the club’s own given that there were six hefty bodyguards in front of the door. Inside the room, a short and fat man was sitting on the couch with two of his colleagues while watching three unclad ladies dancing on a strip poles. Because the music in the room was so loud, he didn’t hear the tussle outside and only realized something was wrong when an unfamiliar man walked into the room wiping his hands seemingly clean hands clean. Charles didn’t look at anyone as he
As soon as Lewis William ended the call, he stood over an unconscious Chloe with a lewd look in his eyes. Ever since he knew right from wrong, he was always told of her lucky he was to have such beautiful cousins. Had Chloe not fallen out of grace with the William family and most people in Springdale, he had no doubt his life would still be filled with words of how lucky he was to have Chloe and Claire as his cousins. He never saw the beauty everyone saw, but now that he was alone with her and could see her up close, he finally saw it. Was she not his cousin, he would’ve slept with her first before handing her over to this gallery director. As he walked out of the house, he received a call from somsone. “What do you think you’re doing? I clearly told you the person I am after is Claire William!” Vivian Martell yelled from the other end as soon as the call connected. Lewis sucked in a deep breath to keep himself from screaming back at her and retorted calmly, “There’s no need to
A minute later, Charles turned to Ethan and reported solemnly, “Mrs. Black wasn’t taken by Declan Wellington. She was taken by the William family.” In the William family residence. Adam William paced to and fro in the living room, his hands clasped behind his back and brows knitted together in worry. “Grandfather, after today, I will make sure our William family will no longer be looked down on by other families!” Those were the words Lewis said to him this morning before he left the house. Ever since Astoria Corporation pulled away their investment, other companies followed suit. They were not only knee-deep in debt, but every valuable thing in their house had been taken by the bank and everyone they were owing. They took everything ranging from jewelries, electronics and furnitures. Even the expensive looking lights were not left out. Adam had run to those whom he had helped when the William family were at its peak a few months ago, but they all hung up on him the moment th
He called her three times and each time, the phone wasn’t answered. There was no denying it now. Soenthing had really happened. His brows knitted into a tight frown as he switched to calling Claire. But just like Chloe, Claire didn’t answer her phone either. As soon as the third call ended, the screen of his phone lit up with a call from Claire and he eagerly answered it. “Where are you? I’ve been calling Chloe. Did something…” He was suddenly cut off by a voice that didn’t belong to Claire. “Hello, this phone belongs to a woman involved in a car accident. Seeing that your contact is saved with ‘Brother-in-law’ I thought it was wise to return your call.” His pupils instantly dilated and he strutted quickly to the window, away from Honey’s earshot.. He pressed the phone against his ear rig heed and repeated in disbelief, “Accident? She was involved in an accident? What about the other woman in the car with her? Is she badly injured? In fact, tell me which hospital you are!” In