On seeing the caller ID, Chase let out a loud hiss and then pushed his phone back into his pocket and with a large scowl on his face, he returned to his office.
On arrival, he went straight to his desk only to see a lot of files scattered all over. A few minutes went by, still he didn't make a move, he was just staring at his files with his hands resting on his hips. After what seemed like forever, he turned towards his colleagues who were getting prepared to sign off for the day and with his usual smile, he asked, “Uh… are these assigned to me?” “Yeah. I think you should meet with the head so he would explain things to you.” Sara replied. Patting his shoulder, she gave him a warm smile and then sashayed out of the room. “For real?” He groaned, tossing his head to the side, he dug his hands into his pocket and then let out a low sigh, frustration gnawing on him. Not wanting to meet up with Daniel, he flopped on his seat and began to go through the files one after the other. Fortunately, what he needed to do was self explanatory and so he immersed himself fully in work. While he was doing this, Wembley, the caller from earlier kept trying to reach out to him but he always declined the call and when he couldn't put up with it anymore, he turned off his phone and then shoved it into his pants pocket. By the time he was done sorting the files, it was already past six pm and so he decided to call it a day. Apart from the security personnels who were lurking around as they performed their duties, he was the only staff still in the building — his colleague all left an hour ago. “I just hope a taxi will be around the corner.” He muttered, swinging his briefcase as he made his way to the exit of the building. Luckily for him, he didn't have to look long before a taxi pulled up in front of him and he immediately got in. “Riverside avenue.” He said, stamping his money on the chauffeur's overstretched palm. “Sure.” The chauffeur replied and the car lock clicked. Chase was already reclining against the leather seat when he pulled himself up slowly and with his eyes partially closed, he called, “Wembley?” “Yeah, you think I'll give up on you like that?” The chauffeur who turned out to be Wembley whom he had been avoiding replied. Turning towards him, he flashed him a wink before returning his gaze to the road. Shrieking with anger, Chase fist pumped the air before he started punching the chair with all his might, he was livid. All through his drama, Wembley had his focus on the road while he hummed a nursery rhyme of triumph. When he had called earlier, he was fully aware Chase was yet to leave from work and so he decided to lurk around. He knew the only way he could use it in trapping Chase was feigning to be a taxi driver and that was exactly what he did. Fortunately, it worked for him. “Are you out of your mind?” Chase asked, glaring angrily at him. “Come on, stop acting up, you pushed me into this. If only you had picked your call, I wouldn't have done this.” He scoffed and after a brief silence added. “I have been waiting for you to return my call but since you refused to, I had to pick you up.” “And… where are we heading?” “The bar of course, I have something to tell you.” He replied and then turned on the radio, putting an end to the conversation. With his hand across his chest, Chase leaned back as he nodded his head to the rhythm of the music seeping out of the stereo. Several minutes later, Wembley pulled up in front of a five star restaurant and immediately he climbed down, he took off the taxi plate and then tossed it into the car. “Cheap trick. You think I will fall for it next time.” Chase scoffed as he banged the door shut. “I always have a thousand and one ideas lodged in my head so you don't need to worry about falling twice for the same trick.” He retorted and together they walked into the restaurant. After making their order, Chase leaned towards Wembley and with his hand clasped, he asked, “So, what brings you here.” “You need to return to the mansion this instant else things will go more sour.” “As if I care.” He scoffed, leaning against his seat. “Stop saying this. The empire is crumbling with each passing day, your father is frail and Jasper keeps causing trouble.” “And how is that my business? I already told you to stop bothering me with the issues that pertain to the mansion. If not for your help, I would have been under the ground by now…” “And I can still help you to regain your position. This is not your life, both of us are fully aware of it.” “Come on Wembley, I can't return to where I would be killed. It's better to be treated like a nobody here rather than returning to where I will meet my death.” Frustrated, Wembley clasped his hands together and with his eyes watering, he said, “Please, for the sake of the others return home and take what is rightfully yours. The more time you waste here, the more work you need to do whenever you decide to return.” “I said I'm not interested and this should be the very last time you come see me. I don't want my in-laws to start thinking things.” Wrapping his hands across his chest, Wembley scoffed as he glared angrily at him. This was probably the hundredth time he had been trying to convince Chase to return but the result was still the same. “Tell me, what are you trying to get from the Bernard's?”Rubbing his chin, Chase shook his head before saying, “Nothing.”“Nothing? And you expect me to believe you?” Wembley asked, his gestures showing disbelief. “It's up to you to believe me or not.” He replied as he grabbed his briefcase. Just as he was about to leave, he pressed his weight back to his seat and with his gaze fixed on Wembley, he asked, “Do you have any idea on how I can fix a data breach?” “Yes, why?” “I have a week to rectify the issue in the tech firm. I don't want you to do it yourself, teach me instead because I'm definitely going to prove my worth before my in-laws.” “I see… first it was a HR office, then accounting, sales and now tech? You must have learnt a lot of things within three years, thanks to grandpa Bernard.” Wembley said with a mocking tone. “Are you going to help me or not? I don't want to lose my job.” “Fine. Just get ready to come with me by the time you are done proving your worth.” “I will find another person.” He scoffed and with that, he gr
Bernard's 4th Family Reunion…Chase was moving around the hall, trying to serve all the guests at the same time. Before he could finish handling one, Raven would call out to him, making him bump into people in his haste to meet up with her unending requests. “Instead of moving around the whole place, why don't you serve only us?” Kirsten asked, peering at Chase as he re-filled her glass. “I'm sorry, I have other duties to handle.” He replied with a smile and a little bow. Meanwhile, Raven who was sitting directly opposite him was seething with anger. Her friends have kept bugging her to make Chase serve them because they wanted to make fun of him. Pursing his lips, “I will take my leave now.” He said. “No, sit with us.” Raven said, making him halt as he slowly turned in her direction with a raised brow. “I…” he tried to talk but the glare she sent his way sent the rest of his words back into his mouth. Lowering himself on the closet chair, he tried to calm his raging breath but
At first, Chase wanted to go back on his words, he continued reviewing his actions in his head while Raven and his friends kept pressuring him to fulfill his words. “What's the website?” He asked and at once the banter ceased. No one said a word as they were all staring blankly at him..When he didn't get the needed response, he browsed the website on his phone and while they were still watching him in awe, he made the purchase. “I already made the purchase. The courier will bring in the ring before the party folds up.” He said, showing them the screen of his phone. Laughing nervously, Raven said, “I think you are trying to pull our legs here. You can barely afford a car but you are buying a ring worth a million dollars.” Her tone was dripping with mockery. Kirsten, Prisca and Diane couldn't say a word to him, all they could do was to stare with their mouths wide agape. They were still in a state of shock as they were trying to comprehend what had just happened. Seeing their reac
After leaving the bathroom, Chase returned to the table and after apologizing profusely to them, he took his seat. “We have just thirty minutes left for the party to round off, are you certain that the courier will be here before then.” Prisca asked, setting the stage for a new backlash. “Yes, it will be here in twenty minutes even.” He replied with a smile as he stared at his watch. After a brief silence, Kirsten clasped her hand and then leaned towards him, staring intently at him, “While we are waiting, why don't you tell us about your family” she said. “There's nothing interesting about his family.” Raven scoffed. “Then let him entertain us.” Kirsten retorted and the rest of them readily agreed with it. Pursing his lips, Chase dug his hand into his hair and after a brief silence, he cleared his throat, to get their attention and in preparation to speak. “My father was laid off from his work a few months after my birth and my mom was just a worker at a local day care whose e
Rubbing his palms together in glee, Chase reached out of his cutlery and immediately began to dice the meat in his plate. After eating for a while, he took a sip from his glass of water before shifting his gaze to Wembley who had his glass to his lips, glaring angrily at him. “I did nothing wrong so I'm not going to apologize.” He said, starting up a conversation. “Are you comfortable with your current lifestyle?” Wembley asked, leaning towards him. He was tired and frustrated from repeating the same thing several times. “Yes, why? Aren't you comfortable with yours? Don't ever think of committing suicide because if you do, I will personally dice your body into tiny pieces.” He said, pun intended but Wembley wasn't buying it. Grabbing his cutlery, he started to fill his mouth with food, trying to forget all that was happening but it was impossible. Chase on the other part had resumed eating. He was glad that Wembley hadn't pushed in with his request for him to return home. “Sinc
Standing in front of room 184 was Chase. He had his head bent to the ground as he contemplated on whether he should go in or not. Having spent four months with Raven with no dates or even a friendly conversation, he was skeptical about the whole thing. His instincts kept bugging him but at this point, he didn't know whether he should leave or not. After several minutes of standing in front of the room, he grabbed the handle and then pushed the door in only to be greeted with an empty room. “Raven.” He called, looking around but there was no sign of a human in the room. “I knew it was room 284.” He muttered as he walked towards the door. Grabbing the handle, he tried to pull it open but he couldn't. Wondering what the issue was, he did it the second time but it was the same result. Suddenly, he heard footsteps and he swirled around only to see a lady who was half naked walking up to him. “What are you doing here?” He asked, his eyes bulging with fear as she closed the distance be
Now standing outside the hotel, Chase exhaled and with a hand tucked into his pockets, he made his way towards the road to flag down a taxi. “Where are you heading?” Zara asked, appearing in front of him. He didn't see her coming so he was a bit startled seeing her standing in front of him. “What are you doing here?” He asked, taking in her features. This was the second time he was seeing her after he got married to Raven. “I came to speak to my husband to be… is that a crime?” She didn't allow him to give a response before tossing her car key towards him. “Can you drive?” She asked. “Yeah.” “Gray Honda Civic.” For more than five minutes Chase remained where he was not making any effort to move his feet. He had his gaze fixed on her as he tried to wrap his head around what was happening. “Fine, if you are not driving, I will.” Zara said, trying to snatch the key from him but he didn't let her. Holding her arm, he pulled her to himself, “Why are you doing this?” His voice was
Getting home after spending the whole day outside with Wembley, Chase was greeted with a strong odor of burning food that he flew into the house to find out what was happening. Getting to the kitchen, he pushed the door open, only for smoke to welcome him in and he began to cough. Relieved that it wasn't the house that was burning as he had thought earlier, he proceeded into the kitchen and then pushed the windows open before proceeding to open the door so that the smoke would get out. About half an hour later, he snapped his head upwards, he had just remembered Zara who was now living with him. Facepalming himself, he began to look around the house, searching for her since she wasn't in the kitchen.When he got to the rooms, he started checking them one after the other until he started hearing sobbing sounds emanating from one of the rooms.With a speed he never knew he possessed, he reached out for the door handle and then pushed it in, revealing the coiled-up figure of Zara at