Matthew's eyes snapped open. Everywhere was still dark as it was in the middle of the night. He sat up on the bed and switched on the bedside lamp. His eyes darted to the wall clock to see that it was just a few minutes past 1AM and this was the fourth time he was waking up that night. He sighed and rolled over. He shut his eyes for a few seconds."Who am I kidding?" He muttered as he removed the duvet and stood up from the bed. He had been having sleep cuts as his mind had been racing with different thoughts. From Lola to Selena to why she was now a shareholder in the company. He just couldn't keep his attention on one and he believed his brain wanted answers which was why he couldn't sleep.He decided to walk out of the room to the balcony for some fresh air. He had a balcony In his bedroom but it faced the garage. Matthew had no intention of looking at cars. The back balcony had a view of nature and the swimming pool which felt more relaxing so he decided to go there.He went to t
Matthew remained in the living room for the rest of the night as he could no longer sleep. Xander was in the living room as well. Even though Matthew's mind was racing with questions, he couldn't say anything to Xander. He had noticed the look on Xander's face earlier and it was one that proved something like that has always been happening. Charles walked to Matthew with a cup of tea in his hand. Matthew took the cup with a smile."Thank you." He muttered."Yeah, this should calm your nerves." Charles responded.Matthew only nodded as he took a sip of the tea. He watched as Charles handed Xander another cup of tea. His mind went to Raymond again, and he began to think about what he had said earlier to Martha about not telling anyone about something. He wondered what that thing was.He looked up at Martha's room door which was now closed and he promised to investigate it himself. He quietly hoped Martha had been able to drift off to sleep.Due to what had happened during the night, at
After closing for the day, Selena swiftly returned home, still thinking about what Amelia had said to her about Houston Corps being a Lion’s Den. As soon as she got home, she went to Vanessa’s room to find her but she wasn’t there. She was leaving the room when she saw one of the maids walking down the hallway.“Hey. Have you seen my grandma?” She inquired.“Yes, ma’am. She is in the dining room.” The maid responded and Selena’s lips formed an O shape. She had been in such a hurry that her mind didn’t even go to check the dining room. Without saying another word to her, she walked down the stairs again towards the dining room where Vanessa was sitting and ate her dinner.“Hey, grandma.” Selena greeted me. She walked towards Vanessa and gave her a peck on the both sides of her cheek then she walked towards Edward to do the same gesture. “Welcome home. How is it going at the Houston corps?” Vanessa questioned, with curious eyes.“Um….” Selena started, then the smile on her face immedi
Matthew sat at his table, shaking his legs as he was lost in thought. His mind was racing with a lot of questions as he still wasn’t at peace with what Raymond had said and even though Martha was trying to stop him from knowing, he still wanted to save her because she needed to be saved. After some time, he sighed and stood up. Without taking any other extra properties, he picked up his car keys and walked out of the office, headed for Elena’s.Elena was on a phone call when Matthew walked in.“I’ll call you in a few minutes, I need to attend to something briefly. Bye.” She said as she hung up the phone.“Mr Houston,can I help you with something?” She asked.“Not exactly. I just want to let you know that I will be leaving temporarily. I might not come back today or even tomorrow. I will be leaving you in charge of things. My secretary would also submit some documents to you for a final review.” He explained and Elena nodded.“Alright Mr Houston, I’ve got everything under control. Are
Matthew was aware of the effects of the drug, but hearing it again almost drove him into fits of rage. “So you are saying that if that drug is administered to a healthy person, it induces depression right?” He asked again.“Affirmative. And, I see no reason why any doctor would give that to a healthy person. I mean, if they get caught, they would lose their license and automatically cease to be doctors. If she was actually being given that drug, then it means the doctor is a quack or he was given a huge sum of money as the case may be. But as a certified doctor, I can’t see the reason why you would administer such drugs to a patient. Trust me, I see things like this almost every day but fluoxetine? This is my first.” The doctor explained and Matthew exhaled deeply.“Okay doctor. So what would you have me do now?” He asked.“Well, you should report this to the police. And if you need any help, I’m always here. Find the doctor who administered the drug to her.”Matthew nodded, then he
Darrell was in a fancy restaurant on a date with Ashley, his girlfriend. It had been a while since they had a proper date and when Darrel had asked to see Ashley, she didn’t hesitate.“You look dazzling as always.” Darrell complimented and Ashley blushed, throwing a light punch at his shoulders.“You do as well. And stop trying to flatter me. You said you wanted to talk about something right? What is it?” She asked.“I miss you. Isn’t that enough reason to want to see you?” Darrell asked and she smiled again.“You silly man. You just missed me huh?”“Of course, I do.” He replied.“Well, I did too.” Ashley said as she stuck out her tongue to him.“I mean, I can't even blame you, I am such a missable person.” Darrell said and Ashley burst into laughter.“Oh, really now? This is how it is now, huh? And is that even a word?” “It doesn’t matter. Haha. Hey, you haven’t ordered anything yet.” He remembered and she leaned in towards him.“Um…I thought we could just go home and I’d make you a
Darrell blinked a few times in disbelief, “I’m sorry, are you saying that Matthew is a Houston?” He asked, looking at Xander. “Unfortunately, yes. I know, he’s not fit to be called a Houston, grandma just picked him off the streets one day and now the rest of us have to deal with it. I even heard he was the one that cut off your family from working with us, it must be rather sad for you,” he said and then spun around on his heel without a single care, ushering Lola towards their own table. Ashley stood there with a million thoughts racing through her mind, when did this happen? Did he know he was a Houston all along and didn’t tell her? As she and Darrell left the restaurant, he too was lost in thought. “It means that the day we went to the Houston office building, he was the reason we were thrown out like trash!” he asserted. Never in their lives would they have ever thought that Matthew would amount to someone so important. Darrell was fuming and had his hands clenched by his
“What are you talking about?” he asked in a dangerously low tone.“I came to her house one day with flowers, she invited me in, told me she was having problems with you, and then we kissed, it would have gotten more intense but she said she was tired that day. Who knows, maybe the next time I visit, she’ll be moaning my name and grabbing the sheets,” he said and then laughed lightly. Matthew tightened his jaw and drove his fist into Xanders chin, sending him crashing to the floor. Xander got on his feet and retaliated, ramming his shoulders into Matthew and knocking him back. The two men began grappling each other in the executive suit, while everyone else got up in shock.Selena quickly rushed out of the office and ordered someone to get the security. Lola raised her head, tossing aside the files she was holding when she noticed the commotion. “Please stop fighting!” she screamed. The security guards from downstairs quickly arrived and they separated the two men. Xander had taken a
By now it was all over the news and images of the burning and collapsed Houston office building were all over the internet and media outlets. Lola was facing back and forth in front of the TV. “Okay you need to stop moving around you're making me dizzy,” Karen complained.“This kind of thing doesn't just randomly happen, an explosion that brought down the whole building? They said they are still yet to confirm how many people have died. Karen I used to work there,” she whispered softly. “The police have started an investigation and I'm sure we will soon know what exactly happened.”Lola shook her head. “You don't need an investigator to tell you the truth in this situation. I mean we saw in those videos how each floor seems to be going off. I think whoever planted the bombs put it on several floors.”She whipped out her phone from her purse and failed Xander's number. “Hello, Xander, any news so far?” “Nothing yet. Matthew is still unconscious but the doctor says he's getting bette
Lola's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her palms in shock. “He was caught in the explosion? How is he? Is he okay?” “I don't know but I think I have to go to the hospital.”Xander quickly grabbed his car keys and was about to back away when Lola spoke. “I should come with you.”He grew worried, remembering the last time that they had gone to the hospital together. “I think you should just stay here for now, grandma probably still thinks that you are Matthew's girlfriend and I don't want things to become awkward.”She nodded, understanding where he was coming from. “Just keep me updated when you get to the hospital okay?” “Of course.” He planted a soft kiss on her forehead before leaving. He rushed into his car and got in driving straight to the hospital. As he moved down the road he turned on the radio. The presenter was already talking about the bombing of the Houston company building. Several speculations were flying about, there were some arguments that there was an
Amelia covered her mouth with her palms as her eyes grew wide. An enormous amount of dust rose, enveloping the area.For a moment it was impossible to see anything, and people began to back away slowly. As the dust was beginning to settle, it became clear that the building had crumbled. Yet there was no sign of Matthew. She grew nauseous, her legs buckling and threatening to give away under her weight. Charles was quickly behind her and he supported her as she fell backwards, resting against his body. Tears quickly filled her eyes. “Matthew!” She screamed at the top of her voice. She had never let out a hoarse scream like this before and even Charles did not know how to react. If this woman were to suffer another loss of a loved one, he was not sure to what extent it would damage her. One of the reasons she had dedicated her whole life to finding Matthew was because there was no evidence that he was dead. She made sure that until her last breath, she would not stop looking for h
The scene outside of the Houston office building was simply just chaos. People were running about in the street screaming for help.From a distance the sound of sirens could be heard which meant that the firefighters were on their way. Most of the staff that had managed to escape from the building gathered outside, waiting for more to troop out. As soon as Elena was spotted coming out of the building, a group of men rushed forward to receive her. She leaned on them, her lungs already filled with smoke.She kept looking back expecting Matthew to come out of the building anytime soon. By now the flames had grown much stronger and could even be seen from outside as the smoke rose to the heavens.Amelia's SUV pulled up just by the corner and she didn't waste time before getting down from the car. Her eyes surfed the crowd until they landed on Elena.“My goodness! My company!” Amelia screamed loudly, drawing attention to her.Elena dragged her feet towards Amelia. “Matthew–” she pointed
There was chaos all over the executive floor as people began to hurriedly get up from their seats. Elena rushed out of her office, leaning by the door frame for support as the floor was still vibrating. “What the hell just happened?!” Before Matthew could even have the time to think, another explosion set off, knocking everybody to the ground. “There is a bomb in the building!” A masculine voice screamed. At this point it was everyone for themselves. People try to scamper to their feet and rush down the stairs. The room seemed like it had tilted and they were already cracked on the wall. Some of the ceiling lights had popped out from their fittings and were dangling loosely. Matthew rushed over to assist Elena, just as they were trying to make their way towards the stairs another explosion rocked the building, throwing them to the floor. The explosions didn't stop, in fact it seemed like they kept coming in waves. A final huge blow sounded, making segments of the wall break. M
Earlier in the day When Matthew woke up in the morning he began his usual routine freshening up in the bathroom and brushing before coming out. Sandra was already in the sitting room, arms wrapped around her doll. He didn't know what to say to the girl as it was obvious that she was too angry with her father. “Where is Henry?” He asked, buttoning up his shirt. She slowly looked up at him. “He's in the room.” “I'm going to work but I'm going to put somebody in charge of watching you guys, I'll be back pretty soon and then we can discuss removing you people to a safe house.”She simply nodded and didn't say anything in response. Matthew made his way to the kitchen area and brought out a box of cereals so he could have something to eat before getting to work. “If you're hungry you're allowed to take something from the fridge, take whatever you want. You can also order food from reception and I will handle the bills when I come back.”“Thank you.” He made sure to eat in a hurry as
Present day Now with all made sense to Matthew, everything that he had experienced growing up was beginning to add up. Sabrina was by the corner listening to her father as he retold the events. She looked angry but mostly disappointed. Her father was deeply involved with trafficking children. “So what about those other kids that you didn't rescue?” Sabrina asked in a soft voice. Henry cast his gaze on the floor because he couldn't bear to look her in the eyes. “I don't know what happened to them, I have no idea what fate befell them.”She shook her head slowly, this was not the father that she knew and loved nor was he the man that she grew up with. The thing was that after Henry gave up his life of crime, he used the remaining 3 million to establish himself and start a family. Unfortunately, Sabrina's mother passed away during childbirth and since then he had been single raising Sabrina on his own. “I can't believe you did that,” she whispered and then ran off to the guest room
Twenty years agoThe black SUV pulled up in front of the warehouse. Henry was seated among some of the other henchmen drinking some liquor.He noticed that the men that came down from the car were holding a baby. “A new one just came in, put him in the back with the rest of the kids,” one of the men who was heavily tattooed instructed Henry. Henry was the one in charge of the traffic kids. He collected the baby, looking down at him. “Where was this one from?” He asked. The guy looked around before responding. “It's the Houston baby. Gerald Houston's son.”Henry was so shocked that his eyes widened. “I don't understand, did you just manage to kidnap the son of the most powerful family in the country?”“Yes and for a good reward, we were contracted for a lot of money, 50 million.”Henry was never used to hearing or handling figures like this despite being a drug dealer. “Who wanted to kidnap this baby? Do they want to demand ransom?”“From all indications I think they want him dead, b
It was already late in the night when they arrived at his condo unit. The receptionist greeted Matthew with a smile as he walked past her into the elevator. Sabrina clutched the small bag which she had packed, she looked nervous which was understandable giving the situation of things.She wasn't even provided a proper explanation, she was just asked to pack some valuable things and leave the house immediately. When they got to the entrance of his apartment and he opened the door, the sound of his puppy barking immediately met their ears. Sabrina and her father entered his condo unit and they couldn't help but be amazed by how luxurious the place looked. Sabrina immediately took a liking to the puppy and she picked it up. “Your room is just by the corner after the main bedroom, it's safe here and you can stay for a while before you think of a permanent solution.”Charles drew him aside to the corner, whispering into his ears. “ Do you think it is a good idea to allow these people t