Sofia sat, legs crossed inwardly in the bed. She waited for the network to return, quite bored already of the rolling symbol. Sooner enough, the connection returned."Hey mamma"Her mother smiled slowly, a gesture that warmed her daughter's heart."Hey, Darling, how are you?""I'm fine. How are you feeling today? ""I'm ok. Getting better". Her mother's voice came out weak and hoarse but Sofia was grateful that she'd regained consciousness and could even say a few words now. Sofie managed to smile, fighting to hide her worried look.“So when are you coming to visit darling? Nobody really comes around since Vari left.”Sofia felt her heart break. Once again, she was neglecting her mother. Too focused on work. Too scared of the future. Like she couldn't risk it to slack for a moment. And now not only was she busy but her life was in potential danger."Aren't you supposed to be at work, dear?"Sofia scratched the back of her head softly."Well...""Is everything alright?""Of course mum
Luna poured the hot water over her custard mixture, carefully. She stirred it, holding her breath, praying that it thickened thickly. “Ahhh…”, Luna breathed out in relief. She added the milk from the jug and mixed it in the bowl evenly. Placing some cornetto by the side, she set up the plates. Her mother sat on the verandah, listening to the early chirping of the birds.Isabella had helped herself onto a normal chair in the morning which meant she was recovering fast. The pain on her side still hurt though, but it was healing fast and she didn't even feel the need to take the pain killers. Isabella closed her eyes, taking the beautiful natural scenery before her, the serenity of it all, the calmness it provided to her spirit. Not once, in her over ten years of marriage, had she experienced such rare tranquillity. She'd needed a therapist to give her only a temporary glimpse of this. It was a feeling she hardly ever dreamed of.The creaking sound of the opening of their front door
“He's not still dead?”“Of course he isn't. It would have been all over the news.”Finn rubbed his temples in frustration. Peter paced up and down the room. Andrea kept his calm, sipping the liquor. He cleared his throat to speak.“He’s only lucky. He has higher power here. He can play smart all he wants here, but one thing is certain. He will not partake of my inheritance”, Andrea said, “So how do we break his power? What do we need to defeat him?”“Relax, Peter. You are not the only one here seeking revenge”“What's wrong with wanting to get rid of him now?”Finn scoffed. “You are just broke”“What did you say?”“I said…”, Finn said, rising to his feet.“Gentlemen. Gentlemen. Leave the business to me. I, like Peter, want to get rid of the bastard too. But we must plan well. Meanwhile, I leave for Italy today. And I assure you gentlemen, a mission accomplished. I have it all under control”But Peter, proud as a peacock, wasn't quite content with Andrea handling it. After all, he'd
The curtains, adorned with a quiet elegance, hung in graceful folds, allowing a gentle cascade of sunlight to filter into Luna's bedroom. The luminous rays painted complimented her bedroom walls, their colour transforming into a dazzling spectacle as they absorbed and reflected the brightness. In contrast to the cheerful ambiance that enveloped the room, Luna's demeanour remained unchanged, an expressionless face on her. Luna sat in front of the mirror, a stark contrast to the vibrancy surrounding her. Her gaze, distant and cold, met the reflection that stared back at her, her face as pale as a ghost. Her eyes, once vibrant orbs, now bore the weight of deep, haunting circles that served as silent witnesses to countless sleepless nights. The circles etched beneath her eyes, circles that told stories of insomnia, a relentless companion that refused to grant her the solace of rest. She'd cried but her tears had lacked the tumultuous surge of emotion; instead, they traced a solitary pat
The frigid droplets of the shower cascaded down Asher's back, a chilling embrace that seemed to mirror the iciness creeping into his situation. With one hand pressed against the cool surface of the shower wall, he surrendered to the relentless downpour, allowing the water to weave through his hair and trace a delicate path down his spine.Things had only just gotten tougher and his life was in ultimate danger. Totally. Completely. He replayed the close encounter, the near miss that could have spelled the end. They'd tried to kill him today. Again. They had been this close to getting him and assuming he'd entered that plane… Boom! Mission accomplished. Today's attempt on his life had been more than a mere warning; it was a stark revelation of the lethal stakes now at play.He shook off the thought. He had to be careful now. He had literally entered the lion's den and he had only Garfy and his personal driver in Italy here. Asher rest assured himself that they were all he needed.In his
Asher smelt the parfait and shifted back immediately. There was definitely cinnamon.“How'd you know?”“I have similar allergies. I recognized there were small amounts of cinnamon in the bruschetta. I get strong nostalgia when I eat anything cinnamon and when I did, I stopped. But you had loads so I noticed the puffiness in your face. Do you have your injection?”“I think it's upstairs”, Asher said, but he was starting to feel dizzy. She shoved hers into his pocket.“Thanks”Asher stumbled to bathroom and brought out the injection. His eyes whirled, the place starting to get blurry. Sharply, he injected himself. He slumped to the bathroom floor, breathing heavily.“Where's Emilio, Luna?”, Maria asked, noticing she was alone.“He went upstairs”She smiled and went up the stairs in search of him. Luckily for her, his room door was open. She brought out the hidden knife from her boubou. She opened the bathroom door slowly but it was totally empty.“In search of something ma'am”, Garfy as
The hospital night guards patrolled the expansive compound, their powerful torches slicing through the thick darkness. With each deliberate step, they scanned the surroundings vigilantly, their eyes sweeping over every shadow, ever watchful for any potential threats lurking in the obscurity of the night. The beams of light cut through the inky blackness, sharply, making it hard for Sofia and the kidnapper guy to move.“You only move when I tell you to, got that?” "Ahumm", Sofia hummed in response, her fear palpable as she nodded in silent agreement, unwilling to risk provoking the mysterious kidnapper who wielded a cold, menacing metal weapon against her body. The glint of the sharp edge hovered threateningly at her side.The mysterious kidnapper maintained their grip, keeping Sofia on the edge. Both figures crouched by the side of the car, shrouded in the darkness. The air hung heavy with tension as they awaited the passage of time, their senses attuned to the night, the only compani
“Arghh!” Luna's agonised cry reverberated through the room as she crashed onto the unforgiving floor. The air hung heavy with tension, and Paolo's face contorted with anger. With a swift, forceful motion, he yanked Luna back to her feet, his grip unrelenting. The room seemed to pulse with an eerie silence, broken only by the sharp sound of Paolo's hand delivering a punishing slap across Luna's face, leaving a stinging imprint. The atmosphere lingered, thick with a mix of pain, fear, and the unsettling aftermath of a violent encounter.“Arghh!”. Blood trickled out of her mouth. She panted heavily, failing to get up as she tried. “Don't you ever disrespect me like that! You hear me?”“Knock, knock”Paolo turned to see who was at the door. Asher stood outside at their front door made of glass. Paolo was shocked to see Asher.“Get upstairs!! Fast” Quickly recovering himself, he went to get the door himself. The door was glass so he was sure Emilio hadn't heard or even seen anything. He h
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,