"Adera?" Zade gasped, but she remained unconscious on the bed. "Adera!!" He yelled, running to the bed. There was no movement when he grabbed her from the bed. He slapped her cheek gently, hoping that she would open her eyes but all his efforts yielded no results.With one look at her discarded clothing and the rumpled sheets, he got an idea of what might have happened to her."Boss?""Quickly search the rooms for the device. I need to get her to the hospital," Zade instructed."Yes, boss."He lifted Adera from the bed and hurried downstairs. Just as he placed her gently in the car, he remembered that Blake was still in the boot. Annoyance spiked within him, but he didn't have the time to dwell on it. Releasing Blake while his guard was still in the house would be a big risk. The man was too dangerous. It was better to leave him where he couldn't escape even if he likely died of suffocation. With the level of crime he had committed, death, for him, would be an easy way out.Zade g
When Adera woke up, all she could think about was how messed up her life was. She was able to keep him away for five years, yet one oversight, created an opening for him to have his way with her once again. The trauma she'd been fighting to forget was slapped back in her face like a cruel joke. No matter what she did, he was always a step ahead of her. Fresh tears ran down her cheeks as fragments of her miserable life replayed in her head. She tried her best to hide her pain from the world, to keep a brave front and smile through the cameras, but now, all of that was in vain. It felt like she was bare before everyone. Like they would see every scar she'd hidden beneath the expensive dresses. She could almost see their faces scrunching in disgust.They knew!That was all she could think about. Her father wouldn't dare bring her to the hospital. Just like her, he wanted to hide how much of a monster he was from the world.No matter how often he told her no one would believe her, he s
The next couple of days were tough on Zade. At the hospital, he thought everything would be fine since she was responding so well to him and even smiling. He thought that was it and everything would be normal, but as soon as she got discharged, it all changed.Nightmares plagued her dreams, which ended with her thrashing and hurting herself. It didn't end there. She stopped communicating altogether and flinched at the slightest touch. The action hurt him many times, but he had to force himself to understand that she had just been through something traumatizing and the effects were just kicking in. He really began to worry when she stopped speaking altogether. He tried everything possible but she wouldn't speak to him or anyone. All events and major meetings were canceled because she couldn't stand people at the moment, especially men. Zade was the only man she could tolerate.It unsettled him that he had to leave her, but he had to find witnesses to testify against Blake Anderson.
"Do you know her?" The nanny asked. Zade wanted to deny it but that would pile up more secrets for him to discover. "Yes, I used to be their son-in-law, until their daughter divorced me," he answered."Divorced you?" He didn't blame her for the disbelief in her tone. Everyone reacted the same way whenever he mentioned the divorce. It was not something he enjoyed talking about, but some situations could not be avoided. "Yes. It's a long story. I just want to know how the Harpers are related to the Andersons yet…""Harper was Blake's estranged brother. I think their parents divorced and each took a child. Harper was unfortunate to go with the poor parent so he was bitter towards his brother. On their first meeting, he taunted his brother about having only one child which turned out to be female after twelve years of marriage. You could say it hit Blake on the wrong spot," the woman explained."You're saying all this is because of a jab his brother threw at him? Unbelievable!" Zade sc
Zade arrived at the station in less than thirty minutes. He met the ambulance taking Blake's body away. Adera clung tightly to his arms as they approached the corpse. They took off the sheet and Adera let out a loud gasp. She cupped her mouth quickly, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall. "What happened to him?" Zade asked when the chief officer approached them. "I really don't know. He was fine this morning, bragging about how he was going to get out of here soon, how the judges couldn't lock him up even if they wanted to and the next minute, he went cold. At first, we assumed he fainted out of fatigue, but then his heart wasn't beating. We tried everything but there was no way to save him. We have already ordered that an autopsy be carried out on the corpse to determine the cause of his death…". Adera slowly let go of Zade's hand and approached the body carefully. She poked his arm and when he didn't move, she glanced at Zade fearfully. "Is he… Is he gone?" Zade
"You need to calm down, Dera. Do not make any decision you will regret later. Please think about this," Zade pleaded."Think about what? I can't believe I was stupid enough to think that everything would be over the minute my father was out of the way. Now I get why he was so eager to die. Why wouldn't he when he has planted his disgusting replica in me?" She screamed at him."I understand your pain but…""Don't you dare! You understand nothing! I don't want this child and nothing you say will make me keep it. What if one day it asks about its father? What am I supposed to tell it? Oh, my father was a shithead who raped me for fun and you just happened?" Adera interrupted with a high-pitched voice."What do you mean by it? We're talking about your baby here. Our baby. I can father the child, alright? I can do whatever you want me to do but…""Of course you would! You're the super nice, caring dad and I'm the awful mother," she spat. Zade took a deep breath. Losing his temper would o
Surprisingly, Tyrone didn't pull any stunts until it was time for the meeting. Zade arrived a few minutes before ten and was greeted by his cousin's charming girlfriend, Helen.Zade expected that in the last three years, he could have at least done something to secure the woman by his side, but Tyrone was just the asshole everyone thought he was.He had been seeing Helen for almost five years and not once did he fail to make her feel like trash. He disrespected her before his friends, slept with anything with a skirt, and threatened to make her life miserable if she ever thought of leaving him.Zade knew Helen wasn't afraid of his threats. Beneath all that gentleness, there was a fierceness that was waiting to be unleashed.Why she put up with Tyrone, Zade had no idea, but he knew she'd never looked at another man with the same adoration in her eyes. No matter how badly he treated her, she didn't once complain or fight back. She had this angelic gaze that could melt anyone's heart, e
Once the car tumbled, everybody dispersed immediately. After five minutes, sirens began blowing at a distance. Zade wiped the blood off his face and took out the safety belt. He opened the car door and crawled out of the car. There was already a small crowd gathering, but his main goal was to get out of there. He rolled himself to a safe distance, before getting up. His face was a wreck, with broken pieces of glass in it. His hands were no better, bleeding from several cuts. He touched his pockets to ensure that his wallet was still intact, before hailing a cab just as the ambulance arrived. He took out some of the glass pieces with a wince. The driver glanced skeptically at him through the rearview. "Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital, sir? You have a bullet in your arm," The driver said.Zade blinked rapidly, before dropping his eyes to his arm almost instantly. He didn't even notice that he had been shot. Maybe that was why the pain was so intense. It wasn't a d