The loud noise startled the audience. Mutters of light exclamations filled the air.“Oh dear”“What was that?”“What in the world?”“Emilio, please help me check if everything is ok there”“Yes Father”, Asher stood up immediately, grateful for the opportunity to inquire from Garfy. “Hey Garfy. Where are you?”“Sir… I'm a little further from the parking space.”“Is that where the loud sound came from?”“Yes sir”, Garfy said breathing heavily.Meters away, a small crowd had already gathered.“Are you ok Garfy?”, Asher said as soon as he saw his bodyguard.“I'm fine sir.”They both looked at the burning tower. “What happened?” Garfy led his boss away from the crowd until he was sure they were safe from any hearing.“I detected a bomb sir. You were right. It was specifically lying in wait for you. At the parking lot, with your name reserved on a parking space.”“So what about the tower?”“I sighted someone on top of the tower. Locked him in when I detected a bomb in the building too. U
The event soon came to a close. People filed out and the whole place was almost empty with most of the people left, not guests, but waiters clearing up the used dishes and event staff taking off decorations.“What was that about?”, Lana asked Vincenzo as he came walking in from the parking lot.“I was just seeing Paolo Salvador off”“You wanted Emilio to get married to Paolo's daughter?” Adora asked.“Yes, err, Paolo and I have been really good friends over time now. We do good business together”“Paolo?”, Lana asked.Vincenzo looked at Lana, puzzled.“You speak as if he is someone of despicable character. Is there anything you find wrong with the man?”“Haven't you heard? He has a series of bad history.”“Lana!”, Vincenzo said with a little chuckle.“She's serious. Heard them myself too, Vincenzo”“I have known Paolo for quite some time now, Adora. He's a good person so far”“I dare say, I heard he has a history of abuse of women”“Abuse you say, Lana”“Yes Vincenzo”, Adora said, no
Luna stood at the door of Marco's workplace. From where she stood, she could see him through the glass doors of the gallery, putting away boxes one by one, his expression clear with unhappiness streamlined with bitterness. The gallery was completely empty by this time; it was past 10 and the gallery had closed since 8.00 p.m which was the reason she'd chosen to come by this time. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the glass door and walked in.“Marco?”Marco stopped abruptly, his back to the familiar voice, recognizing it immediately. As if shaking off from a trance, he continued piling the boxes and unboxing the new artefacts they'd gotten.“Marco please…”He ignored her.“Marco please. Please hear me out. Please look at me”“Please leave, Luna. It's disrespectful enough for you to jam my call logs incessantly and now you bring your face to my workplace? That's some shitty guts if you ask me”“Marco please. Just hear me out. It's not what you think”“It's not what I think?!” Marco shot
Luna put on her light green jacket gown. The weather was chilly outside and she didn't want to catch a cold. She ran the transparent lip gloss across her lips, giving it a satisfactory even rub before taking her seat to fix her hair.She brushed her hair and made it into a bun atop her head, curling two strands to stay in front. Just then, her mother knocked on the door.Luna paused.“Who's there?”“Open the door, Luna. It's your mother.”“Oh oh”, Luna said in a tone that suggested that her mother's presence meant trouble.Luna got up and opened the door slightly.“Yes mother”“Can I come in?”“Urr…is there something you want to tell me?”, she said smiling and still standing at the door.“Open the door, silly and let me in. What do you think you are doing?”Isabella pushed herself through. She looked at Luna who was fully dressed with low block heels on.“Where are you off to, young lady?”“Nowhere”“Nowhere? But you are dressed up”Luna remained quiet, avoiding eye contact with her
Just as they were getting to the fair again, Luna sighted Benny there.“Isn't that your bodyguard friend?”“Driver and bodyguard. The rest is history.”“Oh”“C'mon”, Luna said, still pulling his hand. Benny saw them both first and headed towards them.“Where did you go, Luna? I looked all over for you”“I'm fine, Benny. I didn't get missing like a little child. You can go back to the car now.”She walked past him. “Marco, where's your spot?”“Right here”“Oh”. She stopped pulling him and left him to arrange his spot in the art fair. Benny nonetheless stood near, determined to keep an eye on her.“Woah, I love this one”, Luna said, feeling the artwork with her hands.“That's oil paint”“Hmm…interesting. How much is it?”“Just €75000”“Not bad”Marco laughed. “Of course. For a princess like you, all you need to do is drop your earrings. They are more than worth it”“Oh please”, Luna took her seat on a nearby stool.“Any special paintings for me?”“Well… not exactly and definitely not he
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you…”.Isabella shifted the curtains so that light could enter into her daughter's room and perhaps wake her up.The maids held the cake and the various gifts in their hand. Luna rubbed her eyes, streams of sunlight landing slowly on her bed and piercing her eyes, cruely disturbing her sleep. She tossed and turned, trying to block the light that seemed to come from all directions.“Wake up, sleepy head”, Isabella said, tracing lines on her daughter's cheeks with her fingers. Luna rolled away, the touch filling quite ticklish.“Wake up, you sleeping beauty”“What is it, ma?”, Luna said, slightly opening her eyes.“Buon compleanno!”, the maids chanted.“Awwn, mum. You remembered”“Of course I remembered. Didn't I give birth to you?” Her mother said, chuckling.“Well, yeah but, you know we don't really celebrate birthdays at home here”Isabella smiled warmly. The only reason she was doing thi
“We'll have the braised chicken, sour cream and salted crabs.”As the waiter scribbled down their order, Emilio's confident choice of braised chicken, sour cream, and salted crabs raised Luna's eyebrows in a mixture of curiosity and mild skepticism."Sour cream? Salted crabs?" Luna questioned, her tone laced with a playful incredulity. Emilio responded with a mischievous wink, accompanied by a reassuring, "Trust me. It'll be nice." Luna shrugged. “Okay”The ambiance of the restaurant, with its soft lighting and gentle murmur of conversations, set the stage for a culinary adventure. Their anticipation grew as the minutes passed, weaving an air of excitement around their table.Soon, the waiter returned, skillfully balancing a tray laden with the promised delights. The aroma of braised chicken wafted through the air, enticing their senses. Luna, unable to contain her curiosity any longer, eagerly dug into the dish, savoring the rich flavors that emanated from the tender chicken.Her fo
Luna got back to the Garden but didn't find Marco. She pulled out her phone from her purse and sent him a text.“Are you at work?”“Yes, why?”“I'll be there in a jiffy”She got back to where the car was parked.“Where to?”“The gallery”They soon reached the gallery in thirty minutes.“Hey babe. What are you doing?”, Luna said, hopping playfully towards him.Marco continued to stack the cartons together.“Hellooo…”“What? What do you want?”“Cold”, Luna said, taken a little aback. “Look, if it's about today, I'm sorry. I really am.”“I don't want your apologies. Where could have possibly been so important that you ditched the dinner I had planned for you?”“I had something really important to tell Emilio. He was…”“Emilio Rodriguez?!”“Yess… whyy?”“The same guy that you almost married?”“Yes. It was a life or death affair really. He texted me he was leaving today and…”“So he's the one who called you, huh? Is he disturbing you because…”“Hey, hey , hey. No, ok? Don't start having se
Chapter 179: The happy ending “What? “How dare you?!” Maria panicked at first when Asher said what he said, but she quickly covered it up. “ Vincenzo, did you just hear what he said?”“Gaius Come in” Asher said and Maria's knees suddenly went weak. She stumbled behind as she thought she was seeing a ghost. What was Gauis doing here? I thought he was dead.“Gaius here revealed everything to me after Maria and Andrea tried killing him off for finding out their secret ''. “Here sir,” Gauis said, handing a brown envelope to Vincenzo. “Father, in there is the DNA result of Andrea and Mr Wyatt Oril”“What? The late Mr Wyatt?” Vincenzo asked, scanning through the contents of the DNA results. “Yes, that Mr Wyatt, Maria and her son killed him off, as he was a threat to their plans of killing me. And since they couldn’t succeed, Maria here began the slow process of killing you off slowly by lacing your tea every day with a substance. That’s why you have been so weak lately. Here is the s
Chapter 178“Hey let go of me!”. Finn yelled loudly at the prison guards as he was dragged into the toture room. “Do you want to die? Do you know who you are laying your hands on? let me go. Let me the fuck go”Finn was dragged and strapped on the same metallic chair that was used to torture Asher. Mr Vincenzo gave those specific instructions.“Hey!Hey! Are you guys deaf?!Call my dad. You people are dead meat once I leave this place” his spat out at the guards, only to get a hard punch to the stomach as a response. Smack! Smack!“You want to speak to your father right?” The prison warden said as he entered the room “Fine, we will call him for you.”A call was placed across to Mr. Wilson, and with one single ring, his voice echoed at the other end of the line. “Hello Mr. Wilson, someone is dying to speak with you.” The warden passed the phone to Finn, who didn’t hesitate to grab it”“Dad!, dad!What the hell is going on? I have been here for weeks now. What am I still here?”“Shut u
Chapter 177Finn staggered back and Sofia scurried away from behind him. She picked up the gun which had fallen near her boss. Asher, on the floor by then, was fast losing a lot of blood.He brought his hand to his face. It was blood. He stood unsteady, his vision blurry and double and his mind was hazy. He staggered forward a little and Sofia quickly picked up the gun and aimed it at him.“Stay away!”Finn tilted from side to side, trying to widen his eyes. That made it worse as he couldn't even see Sofia or decipher the position of the gun anymore“You…”, he said, swinging his hand aimlessly. In fear, Sofia pulled the trigger and shot his leg.“Arghh”, Finn groaned, holding his leg. His back hit the wall and he fell to the floor, his mind's vision slowly going into a blackout.Sofia turned her focus to her boss, squatting down to his level.“Boss”, she said, shaking his leg. He was still conscious.“Sofie”, he whispered, the most quiet whisper Sofie had ever heard.“Boss! Stay with
Chapter 176The heavy screwdriver fell off her hands and landed on Sofia's right leg.“Ow!”, She cried in pain. She held herself from cursing out, hopping away a little, from the control board.She had tried to pull off the metal cover of the control board for the door. But there were no screws on it. Then, she tried to break the cover. And that landed her in the situation she was presently in. Sofia banged on the door.“Help!!”But she knew her efforts were effortless. There was none other in the building than her and Asher - and the intruder she recognised so much but couldn't place a finger on where she'd seen him.Sofia wanted to feel exhausted but the anxiety that controlled her was great. She'd spent at least fifteen minutes trying to get out of the room and that was more than enough time for her boss to have been reached and attacked by the intruder - probably even dead.“No”, she gasped. She had to think fast. She had to get out now.“Think Sofia. Think”, she said to herself,
Chapter 175Sofia relaxed a little when she heard footsteps on the staircase. She knew she was usually tense when they were in the same space but her anxiety seemed to heighten by the minute. It was unusual and she couldn't put a finger to it. She had tried to concentrate on work but she had only progressed in eating all the biscuits and cookies on the plate. She had poured the remaining contents of the bottled water into her mouth. Tossing the empty bottle into the bin underneath her desk, she had placed her fingers on her forehead and did a quick massage. Still, she felt stressed and just looking at the screen made her feel even more stressed.She took off her glasses and lay back on the chair. The footsteps felt closer now. She opened her eyes. No footstep heard. Maybe she really needed that sleep.She closed her system. Then she heard the footsteps again. Curious, she got up from where she was sitting and moved towards the door.For some reason, she was stealth about it. She look
Chapter 174The security cameras picked Finn's car as it sped past Asher's residential building. Finn's car was captured by the vigilant security cameras as it zipped past Asher's residential building, leaving a trail of speed in its wake. The driver and bodyguard in the car that had brought Elena noticed the car and watched it zoom off, bearing witness to the fleeting scene.The bodyguard put a phone call through to Mr. Salvatore.“Boss”“Speak to me Spider”“Intruder alert”“Intruder alert?”“Yes Boss. Some car just sped past us. There is no other residential building in this place and I can still see the car parked, though it's far away from the gate.”“Well, who's in it?”“We don't know yet Boss.”“Find out Spider and don't let them ruin this plan. È tutto chiaro? (Is that clear)”“Sì Capo (Yes Boss)”The call ended. Paolo moved towards where Raphael was. “They say there's an intruder, Raphael”“Oh really”, Raphael replied, his eyes fixed on the screen.“Put the security camera'
Chapter 173Sofia let out some air, obviously exhausted. Her boss, Asher, paced the room as he gave instructions over the phone. “I want ceramic used in those spaces, Travis, not wood. Did you…”Asher paused, listening to what the voice over the phone had to say.“Travis, Travis….”Another pause.“Listen.. listen to me. I don't want to know if it is or if it is not possible to get the ceramic tiles today. Whatever it is you need to do to get them today - this night - do it. Do it now. When I come by tomorrow, and just note I'll be coming in very early, I want the exact type and quality that I asked for. Can you get that done, Travis?”Asher paused for longer this time. “Okay. Let me rephrase that. Get it done Travis. Thank you”He ended the call. “What's up? Are you done?”“Yes sir”, Sofia said, letting out a sigh of relief at the end of her sentence. Asher did too.“Finally”, Asher said to Sofie, a slight smile on his face.Meanwhile, after minutes of wasted efforts going in the w
Chapter 172It was dark out. Asher glanced at his watch as he went up the stairs. It was past seven already. He walked into the office room where Sofie was still working.“Are you done?”“Almost sir. Let me just tidy up this document”“Alright”He left the room and came back with two small glass bowls of fruit salad.“Here”, he said, handing it over to Sofia.“Oh.. thank you Boss”“You deserve it”, he said, taking his over to the mediun sized sofa. Pink flushed on her cheeks and she had to bend her face so he wouldn't noticed. Asher smiled, noticing before she could even hide it. In all his life, he didn't know a person more shy than Sofia.He settled on the sofa, balancing the fruit salad bowl in his hand.“I've been willing to ask something, Sofia”Sofia raised her head immediately, unnecessarily in alarm.“How has your mum been?”“My mum? She's fine. She's.. perfectly okay”“Is she still at the hospital?”“Oh no sir. She got discharged about ..two months ago? Yes. It should be two
Chapter 171“It’s done Boss”, the delivery guy said, adjusting the air pod in his ear as he rode. The bike bent as he maintained being on the bend, the wind flapping in his ear. When he got onto the straight road, he had to reduce his speed for the traffic ahead.“Good”, the voice responded. “Well done Ryder”“Yes sir”The call terminated and Paolo set his phone down on the table. In front of him were three monitors and a slim guy sat in front of them, moving from one screen to another.“What’s the update, Raphael?”, Andrew asked“I'm in. I have successfully gained access into the facility now”, he replied, zooming in on one of the screens. On it was a live recording of Asher's gate, which was still open even when Asher had closed it. So he thought.Raphael switched to another monitor. On the monitor display, the different controls that were sectioned to the different parts of the house were shown. Raphael zoomed into each room, and the door controls, studying the signals. From there,