Karen McCullough’s mind was racing with thoughts as she lay on her bed. She had a lot on her mind. Every time she thought of a solution, a countermeasure was brought up. She was in some sort of dilemma, and it seemed the solution was never going to be found. She had single-handedly given the company to Rylan from her father. That wasn’t exactly true, but that was how she felt presently. With nothing but silence as a company, as she stared at her ceiling, she wondered where it all went wrong. Maybe it was from the very beginning Eve met Rylan. Or perhaps it was when she had instructed her father to fire him. Her hate for him had taken control, and she couldn’t resist the temptation of trying to get rid of Rylan. That had worked out at first, but now he was back and he had successfully gotten everything he wanted. His retribution had been completed, and he owed it all to her. Karen sighed and looked at the clock in her drawer. It was a few minutes past midnight. She wondered if her fa
Rylan wasn’t a fan of hospitals. He hated the smell of antiseptics and blood. It had been a phobia when he was little, and he thought he had overcome that fear until he stepped into the building. The air was filled with antiseptics which made Rylan wrinkle his nose. In his hands was a “get better soon card” and a bouquet. He was here for one reason. To confront Ernesto Valdez. After striking a deal with Daniel, it was only eight when he came to see Ernesto. He had been the one who had put him in here. Ernesto was lucky to suffer. Rylan hadn’t expected him to. If Devon had been able to finish the job he had been paid for, Rylan wouldn’t have been here. But he had still won regardless of the outcome. The cartel was no more after him, and he could focus on other things. The building of the factory was about to kickstart, and he didn’t want to miss it for anything. He had to be present for that. Daniel had proposed to see him at his club, and Rylan had feared it would be another shoo
Michael Meyers loved jobs like this one. It was so easy, and yet he was paid a whole lot of money to do it. It made him excited. As he ran through the records, he leaned on the desk close by looking for something in particular. A particular file that his client had requested to see. In the shadows of the room and with no lighting but the torchlight he held, he looked through the records. He wondered why the hospital hadn’t updated their records with these. He had hacked into the database a few minutes ago, but couldn’t find it. Now he had to look for it the hard way. He didn’t complain. It was still going to be found. The client’s choice was interesting. They were looking for a particular person. Rylan Daystar. Why would they do that? Michael had heard of Rylan. He was well known on the streets of Los Angeles. If there was secret information about him, he was sure that it would be very valuable. People will pay so much money for such information. But it was confidential so he cou
Michael Meyers tapped the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for his client to arrive. They were supposed to meet at the cafe this morning, but his client seemed to be running later. He looked at the watch on his wrist and realized that it was fifteen minutes past 11 am. Their scheduled meeting was at 10:30 am. Michael clenched his jaws and his eyes went down to the object on the passenger’s seat. It was a big brown envelope. And in that big brown envelope was the file he had stolen from the hospital. The Rylan Daystar file. Michael had been stunned by what he found. He never expected that. He thought that Rylan Daystar was a normal rich kid who had been spoiled from birth, but that wasn’t the case. There was more to the story than Michael expected. He looked up and saw a black Cadillac coming his way. The plate number was concealed, and Michael immediately knew that it was his client. His stomach churned in excitement. It was payday. He had thought at first that this job had
Daystar Industries was bigger than Karen had expected it to be. Maybe it was because she had never been here before. The side of the building was bigger than that of her dad’s company. It made her wonder where Rylan would have gotten his wealth from. She needed to know. It was incredible that this building was here long before then. It seemed to have been standing before Rylan had become its new owner. And she knew how and why. All her questions were finally going to be answered. She needed all the information she had on Rylan right here. As she stepped out of the Cadillac, she walked briskly into the building heading towards the entrance. As she stepped into the elevator, she could feel her stomach flutter in excitement. Her mind was on Rylan. She couldn’t wait to see him. After so many months of trying to avoid him for her to carry out her plans, it was time she confronted him. The elevator played a strange soothing melody as she went up. It was relaxing, and that was a feeling Ka
Rylan gazed down on the streets of Los Angeles from the glass wall of his office. He had hands behind him as he was lost in his thoughts. His kind was racing. The truth haunted him. It couldn’t be possible. Could it? It was Karen who had brought this to him, so he had every reason to be doubtful about it. The first time she had done this to him, he had been forced into a divorce. Now she was back again looking for another way to make him uncomfortable. Rylan turned around and stared at the file which was still on the desk. There was something about it that made him feel queasy. Rylan could remember asking Arlene about their father when he was little. She had always told him that his father had run away from them. His grandfather on the other hand never spoke about it. He was always silent when it came to the ‘father talk’. His grandfather had always acted like a father to him. But that hadn’t been enough for Rylan. Eventually, he had gotten over it, but now he was back thinking about
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. THIRTY-ONE YEARS AGO. The night skies were lit up by the flash of lightning sporadically. The heavy rain didn’t help matters either. Outside the Daystar estate, a cab pulled over at the gate. A woman dressed in a black raincoat stepped out of the vehicle and paid the cab fare. She waited until the cab drove off before walking to the gate. There was a lock at the gate and the woman inserted the pin which prompted the gate to open. She stepped into the estate and was met by nothing but the big mansion which was lit up in the darkness. In her hands was a crying baby wrapped up in cotton clothing. As she looked into the baby’s eyes, she could feel guilt pouring down on her like the rain. It was hard for her to do this, but she didn’t have a choice. It was a sacrifice she had to make. He deserves a better life, she said to herself. And with that, she walked towards the mansion. ***Arlene sat with her father by the fireplace as one of their maids served the tea.
The most painful choice a woman could make is to give up her child to make them have a better life. Arlene didn’t understand this, but she doubted that Rylan would comprehend what it meant. The pain in Lauren’s eyes that night when she dropped off Rylan at her house still stuck with her throughout those thirty-two years she had raised Rylan. She had given Rylan everything he needed; Food, clothes, the best education, shelter, and even her father’s wealth. There was nothing more she could give him. When she returned to the living room with little Rylan crying, Donald was shocked. The first question he asked her was where the baby had come from. After explaining everything, Donald understood Lauren’s decision but still blamed her for being too naive. He wasn’t happy that Arlene was going to raise a child that wasn’t his, but he couldn’t help but feel empathy towards Rylan. They had both raised Rylan like their own. Arlene had sacrificed the job offer she got in Los Angeles to be with R