“Bill!” Beth exclaimed excitedly.
If Bill was here then any problems that they had would be resolved, he was the answer to their problems. “I can pay the mortgage. Tell me, how much is it?” Bill asked Edward Stone lazily and the man straightened up stiffly. “My boss has been lenient for a long time and no longer has any use for the money, he now wants to use the property as his own home.” Bill’s brow furrowed in irritation, he was trying to score points with Garnet and her family and this man who was nothing but a stooge was trying to get in his way and ruin his plans. “Who is this boss of yours? Is he any better than Bill Pearle? Don’t you know who he is?” Beth sneered. Now that Bill was backing them she was sure that they would not be oppressed by this man. Her formerly docile face had faded and now she looked at Edward Stone with superiority. “I am sure that I can reach an agreement with your boss, i could offer him a couple of my properties in place of this one. Who is this boss of yours I am sure he will agree to my offer.” Bill said magnanimously. “The name of my boss is Mr Thor Glen.” Edward answered proudly and Bill’s face went ashen. For a week now there was news swirling around about the emergence of a new mystery CEO, he had seemingly sprouted out of nowhere and held a lot of power in the city. He apparently took over almost half of the most successful companies around and everyone wanted a chance to have some connection to him. Hearing that he was the boss of this man, Bill cleared his throat and smiled amicably. It would not do to have a fight with this man who might tell his boss he had an unpleasant experience with him, it might ruin his chances in the future. Even Garnet frowned at the name that was called because she had also heard about the new CEO and was curious about him, why would he want this house in the first place? “Why did you not say that from the beginning?” Bill asked. “Since Mr Glen wants this house then the Woods would be very glad to part with it.” “What are you saying?” Beth demanded in confusion and Bill went to her and held her hands. “I will situate the family in a penthouse immediately, it is wisest to just let Mr Glen to occupy this house.” He said then looked at Edward and nodded. “I will just get the movers to come and get their personal effects.” He explained. Edward looked around at the people gathered in the room, “Tomorrow contractors are going to commence work on this house and anyone who is found here will be thrown in jail.” He said then mutely walked out of the house. He could tell that Bill had heard about his boss and was trying to save face so that he could get a chance to have him impressed by him. Knowing that it was all a futile attempt he ignored him and left them alone for now. When he was gone Beth turned sharply to Bill, “We can’t just leave our home just because some nobody demands it, surely you are capable of pulling some strings and forcing him away.” She shrieked. “Mother, Bill does not want to offend Mr Glen, it is said that his connections reach to the very top and if he favors you then you will become very successful.” Garnet said tiredly then walked away leaving them. When she was out of earshot Bill turned to Beth and spoke reassuringly to her. “You don’t have to worry, I will put you in a very luxurious apartment and when Garnet and I get married I will secure a contract with Mr Glen and buy you and even better home than this.” Beth’s eyes brightened when she heard his words and she smiled. “I have always trusted you and I know that you will never disappoint me. Don’t worry about Garnet, you have me on your side and I will do whatever it takes to see you both happy.” Now that that useless former son in law of hers was out of the picture she could at last ensure that Garnet secured a position in one of the top five families in the city by getting married to Bill Pearle. * Garnet trudged up to her room and sat on the bed looking around at her room which was cleared entirely of all of her husband’s meager possessions. She should be glad that she was rid of him but she was not, she felt bereft of protection which was crazy because how could Thor as poor as he was protect her? She had initially thought that getting married to him would solve her problems but she only ended up putting an innocent person in the same rocky boat as her, that was why she had had to divorce him before he became collateral damage. Now she would be forced to face her fate and not hide behind a husband who knew nothing of how dangerous her situation truly was. She had laid back on the bed and was looking up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes when her door creaked open then closed. “I want to tell you how proud I am of you Garnet, now that you have gotten rid of that good for nothing bum you can be with a man befitting of your status.” Beth said softly. “And what status is that?” Garnet asked nonchalantly, making Beth frown. She had started to worry that it seemed like Garnet was starting to have some empathy for Thor and it seemed she was right, thank goodness he had been gotten rid of before it got too late. “Bill loves you and only wants to make you happy, why don’t you just give him a chance?” Beth pleaded. Garnet knew that Bill did not love her, he was just unhealthily obsessed with her because she was like the toy that he could not have. Once he got his hands on her he would discard her, she secretly swore that she would never let that happen. “I know that you are worried because you lost your job and we are about to lose this house but Bill will fix everything.” Beth continued. “Mom, I am exhausted. Please just leave me alone.” Garnet said and turned away, forcing Beth to grit her teeth and leave. She was doing this all for Garnet’s good and here she was being scornful. Well, she would not let her ruin this chance with Bill, who knew what loser she would pick up next from the street. Something had to be done to prevent Garnet from making a costly mistake. Ideally, Greg should be able to fix this but he was useless as the patriarch of the family. In the midst of her despair, Beth had an idea and she knew exactly who to call that would force Garnet to get in line and she smiled deviously.The next day the Woods family had packed up all of their possessions and as a packing crew took the boxes and loaded them in the vehicle, a different crew of construction workers with hard hats and a truck complete with a wrecking ball moved into the compound and headed towards the house. As they left, they turned and watched as the building was demolished and Beth could not hold back her bitter tears. “Look at my beautiful home.” She wailed as she saw the house she had so treasured fall into rubble. “Don’t worry, soon you are going to have a bigger and better home than this, I promise.” Bill boasted and Beth sniffled as she nodded, sure that soon she would be the envy of everyone who was probably laughing at her misfortune currently. “Come on mom, we have to leave now.” Garnet said before leading her mother to the car and they drove off. She hated the fact that she would have to live off Bill’s charity, it was a very dangerous thing to do because he could demand payment in form
Garnet’s foray into the unemployment market was shocking and unexpected. She had been a fast rising star at her job and had gotten quite a number of offers from other companies so she had felt that getting a new job with her resume would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately for her, the reverse was the case. It seemed that no one wanted to give her a chance any longer, when she got to their offices she was turned away and told that there were no vacancies. It all seemed very sinister and she could sense that something was at play. Why would companies who had offered her more competitive offers than the one she had at her job just in order to poach her from her company suddenly turn her away and some even refused to let her into the building in the first place. Feeling frustrated and beginning to wonder if she was carrying a stink, Garnet broke down at the last office when she was turned down without an explanation. As she cried, Nola the HR officer who was an older woman that had admi
“What kind of despicable act is that?!” She explained angrily and shot out the chair. “I cannot believe that you are a cad who would force me to accept you in my bed against my will, Well absolutely not!” Her voice filled with outrage still did not hide the fear that crept in.Thor remained calm and reclined in his seat and studied her face lazily while Garnet forced herself to hold his stare.“I am certain that you and your family would be able to give classes on how to be despicable…” Thor eyed her and a pink blush of embarrassment rose up her neck. Moreover, I am a gentleman and i would never force a woman, I have no need to do that.” he said and Garnet scoffed while he grinned at her prickly reaction.She stared at him and had to silently agree with him, even without the appeal of the money and nice clothes and expensive accessories he had always been an attractive man. An image of him shirtless rose unbidden to her mind and she had to clamp down on it as she blushed.“I do not ag
Within the course of the next couple of weeks Garnet had gone about seeking a new job at the companies which had show interest in poaching her from her previous job and she discovered to her shock that they did not want to have anything to do with her anymore. From there she went on to companies that were not her ideal as she was overqualified to work in those places but at least she would be able to earn some money and she found to her shock that she was turned away from every single place she tried at despite her glowing CV. At a point she started to consider working as a waitress but could not get herself to do it, it was too degrading and would not pay enough money.To their humiliation her family had been forced to move out of the house and they were now staying at a roach motel thanks to the meager savings that Garnet had left in her account, money which they knew they had to stretch and which was quickly running out because even though the four rooms they had gotten were dirt
“Your family cannot move in, at least not right now.” He said and leaned back in his chair watching the anger on Garnet’s face switch to confusion.“What do you mean? Do you have more outrageous demands you want me to comply with?” She asked, swallowing her fear.“Your family’s home which has fallen into shambles from the constant state of disrepair is currently not fitting for a man of my status to inhabit, I am going to need to have renovations done first.” Thor said with a smirk.He was right about the house, it had looked the same for years and it honestly needed some work done. Garnet had thought that with her promotion she would be able to have some renovations done to the house and restore it to its former glory.“Fine.” She said with gritted teeth. “I guess you will just have to give me a budget to work with and I can get to work immediately.” Thor laughed uproariously and shook his head while Garnet frowned. “You are mistaken to think that I would trust you on such an import
“You should hurry up don’t you think, it is your first day at work and we don’t want Thor mad at you do we? You did say resumption was at eight am didn’t you?” Beth came in and cooed as she tried to make Garnet hurry.It was a few minutes past eight in the morning and Garnet was sitting leisurely in her dressing robe on the couch and watching the television as if she did not have a care in the world while her mother hovered nervously.“It is despicable that we are selling Garnet off to that man.” Stan glowered at his mother and she straightened up and frowned before chastising him.“Nobody is selling Garnet, she chose to marry him of her own will and he is being extremely generous now after the way that we have treated him all this time. You should be very grateful.”Garnet ignored their squabbling and continued savoring her coffee, she intended on taking her sweet time and no one was going to hurry her up until she was good and ready. “You know Garnet, you should have agreed to work
“What are you doing in here, Where is Thor?” Garnet straightened up when she realized that it was an amused looking Laverne who had been sitting in the chair. “The question should be why are you so late? Is this how bad your unprofessionalism is? Not only are you a two penny gold digger but you also don’t know how to behave in a cooperate setting or do you think that you get a pass just because you happen to be married to the boss?” Laverne mocked. Garnet gritted her teeth and ignored Laverne’s pointed insult because she knew she was goading her. If she had known that this was what she was going to meet at the office then she would have come in on time in order to avoid this stuck up woman who would look for any chance to have a fight with her. “Where is Thor?” Garnet asked again through thin lips.Laverne stared at her for a minute and started to play with the pens on table.“Did you think that he would wait for you like a love lost puppy? Well he had better things to do and he lef
Garnet reluctantly opened her eyes and peeked from under her eyelashes at the wide chest in a mauve shirt with a perfectly knotted tie and a black suit right before her and swallowed nervously before looking up to see Thor’s face and he looked displeased with her. She flushed in embarrassment at being caught snooping in his private space.The domineering look on his face floored her and made her feel like she was in danger, she took a step back and he took a step forward. She took two steps back and he took two steps forward that brought them toe to toe. Feeling uncomfortable Garnet kept walking backwards until her back hit a plush wall and Thor loomed over her.Garnet awkwardly cleared her throat then said apologetically. “I am really sorry, I should not have come in here...” “Shhhhh” Thor put his index finger to his lips and Garnet watched mesmerized, unable to say another word. Before she could realize what he intended to do, Thor grabbed both of her hands and held them up again
In a cafe downtown far far away from all the pretty and pricey cafes that she normally frequented, Andrea sat waiting patiently at a table with its chipped edges in a corner of the room where she could see whoever came into the cafe but she was not seen even though her dark sunglasses did not make her look inconspicuous because it was a little weird to see someone wearing glasses indoors. Soon her phone rang and she looked at the phone and looked outside and saw Bill looking around in confusion then she picked up the phone.“You are in front of the right cafe, just come inside, I am sitting on the last table at the other end of the window.” She directed.Bill came in and looked in the direction she had described and he sat opposite her then looked around at the questionable environment while Andrea beckoned to the waitress.“What would you like?” She asked when she came before them and pulled out a notebook from her yellowed apron.“I am fine.” Bill said in disgust when he looked at
Thor, still grappling with the aftermath of their fight and the lingering sting of Garnet’s words, approached the topic of visit with trepidation. Garnet, a porcelain teacup poised halfway to her lips eyed him knowing that he wanted to say something to her. Thor's hesitant but still as proud as ever cleared his throat , "Hey, so…there's something I need to tell you," had shattered the morning's fragile peace."Okay. What is it?" she asked, her voice guarded and obviously still annoyed with him. His news, she sensed, wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows.Thor fidgeted, running a hand through his already tousled hair. "My grandfather…he invited us to visit him."Garnet frowned. The mention of Thor's family always seemed to bring a cloud over his usually contained personality. She on the other hand did not care, besides it was going to happen anyway.“Good.” she said simply, “when do we leave?”.He snorted, a humorless sound. "Good?” He said. He was surprised as she asked no questions at al
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an energy that made him feel uneasy but he masked it perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an anxiousness that he masked perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack, but revitalized the c
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an anxiousness that he masked perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack, but revitalized the c
The air in the living room felt thick with unspoken words, the silence a suffocating blanket after the bombshell on the television she had just switched off. The news crashed into her like a heavy wave and slammed Garnet into the cold, hard reality of her new life. Thor, her husband of a whole three years, had not only accepted her proposal for separation with the emotional depth of a handshake goodbye, but he was already parading Andrea Whitlock, her supposed "friend," as his new girlfriend all over media merely two weeks after. They were the sweethearts of the media and she could not even open any social media apps without being confronted by the smug glow of happiness on their faces in every picture, the sickeningly adoring captions, they had even been given a relationship name, “AnTh” how ridiculously juvenile. All of it felt like Thor was spitting on the ashes of their marriage while laughing and it hurt.“It couple," the headlines crowed. "Thor Smith rebounds with stunning Bill
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an energy that made him feel uneasy but he masked it perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack,
The early morning sun, a pale ghost against the dew-kissed windows, found Garnet still in bed, a half-finished mug of chamomile tea sat untouched on the bed stand beside her. Sleep, that elusive butterfly, had finally fluttered in after several hours of tossing around restlessly in bed. Atlas’s exit last night had left behind a gnawing anxiety that had her twisting the sheets into tight knots and being unable to sleep. Today, the silence in their home felt more pronounced, the air thick with an unspoken question: what was coming after, would he grant her wishes?A sharp rap at her door startled her into wakefulness, shattering the fragile peace she had been enjoying. She sat up, heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Who would be knocking on her door so early in the morning? Crystal usually let her sleep in for as long as she wanted and would not come up unless summoned. Was Thor back with some scary pronouncement? She climbed out of the bed and padded to the door and
“Well well well, if it isn’t Garnet.” Andrea said jovially and leaned forward to kiss the sides of Garnet’s cheeks while Garnet stood stiffly and stared at Thor who looked back at her nonchalantly.“What are you both doing here?” Andrea asked.“The same thing as you I expect.” Garnet answered churlishly. “Celebrating freedom.” “What a surprise , I did not expect to see you here."Bill," Mr. Smith's voice, a practiced charm, cut through the music. "Garnet. What a surprise." His smile was polished, devoid of the cracks their divorce had etched.Garnet's smile was like ice cracking. "And I did not expect to find you celebrating, Richard," she replied, her voice laced with venom. "Though I suppose drowning your sorrows in champagne is one way to deal with a failed marriage."A humorless chuckle escaped Thor. "Hardly a failure, my dear. Merely a...reconfiguration." He gestured towards Andrea. "I’m sure you know Andrea. She has graciously offered to help me with the transition."Andrea’s fe