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2024-10-29 19:42:56Declan did not see Hannah throughout the following week. They only talked over the phone and he always looked forward to doing so after a long day at work.
He always had time for her. He would send her flowers and food at work. He was falling in love with her and he liked that she loved him back.
Daniel finally showed up at the office on a Thursday morning. He was not in the best of moods and scolded every staff that worked with him that day.
"I'm still the boss around here you know", he would say repeatedly, like he was not sure any longer of his place in the office.
He knew the gossip had started. People were slowly losing respect for him and he saw it. He was vexed for Declan and had not yet concluded how to deal with him just yet.
Declan on his side had sworn that he would not let Daniel go unpunished. He would begin with the house, the family's villa.
Every year, the whole family gathered there to celebrate the success of the family business and plan for a better future.
Business associates, investors, friends, and family usually attended the meeting, and Declan decided that he would show up.
After the supposed death of his father, he was seldom invited. He had panicked at first about attending the party, but his desire for revenge was more and he had to tend to it. He had decided to go with Hannah, his soon-to-be wife.
He had not asked her yet. He was looking for the perfect time and way to do so. She was special. He wanted it to be special for her.
On the morning of Friday, he was fully packed for the trip. He was dressed in cargo pants and a sweatshirt. Hannah had requested a few days' leaves in the hospital and would meet him at the airport where they would board his private plane.
She arrived just in the nick of time and he hugged her and kissed her gently on the lips. Their bags were taken and they boarded the plane.
They were the only ones inside, asides from the pilot, a hostess, and two guards. Hannah gleed with excitement. Her father was wealthy but not wealthy enough to own a plane.
She hugged Declan over and over again, grateful for the experience. He was glad he could make her happy.
The trip was short but they had enough time to talk more. She got to know another couple of businesses he owned, and he got to know that she was an entrepreneur too, asides from her job as a bedside nurse.
A car was waiting for them when they alighted the flight and took them to a luxurious hotel. Hannah squealed in excitement when she saw the view.
Declan only nodded in amusement. They went to grab food afterward and they were soon on their way to the family's villa, fully dressed for the event.
"Did I tell you how beautiful you look?" He asked for the umpteenth time as they made their way to the entrance of the family villa.
"Like for the 100th time, but you can keep the compliments coming", she said holding up her dinner dress. He placed his hands on the small of her back as he led her in.
The magnificent family villa was still breathtaking. Declan took in the sight before him. The house stood tall on an estate of its own.
The fountain that stood in the middle of the compound blessed their gaze. It was extremely beautiful and magnificent.
He remembered coming here as a young child with his father, and he remembered running around the entire place with children of his age, kids whom others would refer to as trust-fund kids because they had very wealthy parents.
As they made their way in, everyone turned to stare at them. Paul and Patricia were there and when Patricia saw Hannah, she flashed her a dark look and headed toward her.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, slightly removing Hannah from Declan's grip.
"Declan asked me to come with him. We're together now. I thought you knew about that", Hannah replied calmly. Patricia had heard the rumors but she thought they were not true.
Being a nurse and in charge of the care of Lord Rowland may have made their bond. "You cannot be here", Patricia fired at her. "You can tell that to Declan yourself", Hannah said, not moved at all by her sister. Patricia stomped away angrily.
Hannah looked towards Declan.
He had a glass of champagne in his hand and was involved in a conversation with some investors. He had a small smile on his face and looked so good in a tux like he was born in it.
His eyes soon met hers and he gave her a reassuring smile. Hannah understand. He had to work.
Daniel finally appeared from the inner room. He was all smiles and was about to address the entire party when he saw Declan. He rushed towards him and grabbed him by the arm.
Declan pulled away making sure not to attract so much attention to himself. "What are you doing here?" Daniel asked him sternly. "It's a gathering of the business I now own", Declan said with an air of confidence.
"Yes, you may own the business and may even buy out our entire staff, but you're not invited to this party, and you're not welcome to this family because you don't have a place here", Daniel replied, his voice slightly raised.
He was beginning to attract a lot of attention and the guests had suddenly stopped to grasp what was going on. Little side talks had started and Daniel was fully aware of this.
"One more disrespectful word from you to me and I will ask them to throw you out", Declan said, with a tone heavily laced with anger.
He wished his speech was fluent enough. Hannah had enrolled him in a class that would help him, and he was getting better. He knew this.
"Throw me out?" Daniel asked with a scoff.
"That's what I said", Declan spoke with the least stuttering, surprising himself too.
"I would love to see you try", Daniel said, rushing towards Declan, in a bid to start a fistfight.
Two pairs of strong arms grabbed him just in time and held him back. The whole crowd was staring at them at this point, and Daniel looked embarrassed.
"You seem to have forgotten that I'm in charge now. I bought this company and everything associated with it including this house", Declan began to address him, while he struggled for release from the men that held him.
"And on no occasion should you step feet into this house with your family again", Declan finished with a tone of finality and signaled the men to take him away.
"You'll regret doing this to me. I promise you. I'll make you pay", Daniel shouted back as he was taken out of the house. Patricia held down her head in shame as she headed out too.
Declan turned around and his eyes scanned for Hannah. She was sitting by the bar with a drink in her hand. He knew she witnessed everything that happened.
He headed towards her and sat beside her. "I'm proud of you", she began. "You spoke up to Daniel yet again, you put him in his place". Declan smiled.
"You have that effect on me", he replied, holding out his hand in a request for a dance. The party had continued as if nothing occurred. The music was blaring and people were in groups involved in one business talk or the other.
The dance floor was not left out. Declan and Hannah were dancing already, looking into each other's eyes like they were the only ones there.
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Declan was quiet throughout the entire ride back to his apartment. A surge of annoyance pierced through him. He could not bear any more rejection that suddenly seemed to be the order of his life. He was not happy that Hannah just stood there and watched her father talk to him in the manner he did. On the other hand, he had to come to the painful realization that he was her father, and she owed him respect. As he stood in the elevator that led to his penthouse, he thought about his decision to get married to Hannah. He was not so sure that he made the right decision, but he loved her. She had such a gentle aura about her, and that beautiful smile of hers and those soft lips of hers. He had grown so fond of her and he was not sure he would come to love another woman the same way. Just as he stepped out of the shower, his phone beeped. He glanced at the screen, and there was a text from Hannah. How did she know that he had been thinking about her? "We need to talk?" her text said.
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"I can't believe he asked Hannah to marry him", Patricia blurted out to Daniel, with obvious disgust, as she strolled into their lavishly furnished mansion.She had gone to get him from the airport.According to him, he was away at a business meeting, but she knew that he had just rounded up a vacation with one of his mistresses.She had employed someone to keep tabs on him, and she had photo shreds of evidence that depicted his philandering ways.That has been his lifestyle even before she married him. Women flocked around him because he was the face of his prestigious family business for a long time.Every lady wanted to be associated with him and he opened his hands to welcome all their advances.It disgusted her that despite being married to her, he continued with what he was doing. Sometimes, she wished that she ended up marrying Declan.She was always scared for her life that Daniel would infect her with some disease, but she would never confront him for his lifestyle.She let i
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Declan glanced at the screen of his phone. He was surprised to see that it was Hannah calling him. He had tried to reach out to her for the past few weeks, and she had been ignoring him. He avoided visiting the hospital to see her. He did not want to cause a scene and embarrass her. "Hey babe, I've been trying to get a hold of you. I'm surprised you called. How are you doing?" Declan spoke up first, and immediately wished he had not. He was suddenly blabbing. He wondered why he felt so uneasy even when she was not standing before him. She had that effect
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Declan drove to the hospital hastily. Hannah's distance from him was still driving him insane, but he was not going to see her.Lord Rowland had sent for him, but there was this gnawing need in him to just catch a glimpse of her at the very least.He had also decided to relate his new business idea to Lord Rowland for a sort of approval, which he did not need, but thought necessary.He swerved into the driveway and parked his convertible car in a safe spot. A knot tightened in his stomach as he entered the hospital.His nose scrunched up with the antiseptic smell that he had become accustomed to, the perks of having a nurse for a girlfriend.As
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Samantha was the first to notice his dazed expression once he was done with the phone call. He entered the private chamber of his office and stayed there.When she saw that he was not going to come out anytime soon, she went in there to search for him. "A celebrant can't leave his party, you know," she began in an attempt to lighten up his sour mood. He looked up at her and would not say a word. "What is going on?" She finally asked him. He dreaded saying anything to her. The news that he had just heard was capable of breaking her, and he did not want that for her. "You don't need to worry about it. I will fix it," he replied. "I did not ask you if you could fix it," she said. "I asked what was the matter," she was insistent. "Abigail just called me and she informed me that Lucy was rushed to the hospital," he finally spilled. "What are you talking about?" She asked, very bewildered. "Lucy was rushed to the hospital," he repeated. "And what are you doing about it?" She asked
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Declan's eyes did not leave Georgina as she walked up to the witness box. He wondered what it was that she wanted to be a witness to. He saw the way she quivered as she stood there and he suspected that she had been coerced into doing what she did. He listened closely to her as she spoke, saying her vow on the holy book, even though everything that would come out of her mouth was all going to be lies. She did what he least expected. She said to the hearing of everyone in the court that she was raped by Declan the first time she came to be a surrogate for them.Declan was too stunned to say a word at all and just kept his eyes on her. She was crying bitterly. Looking intently at her, he was forced to wonder if these were just fake tears to back up her lie, or if it was a sign that she regretted betraying him. Daniel could have been the one coercing her to do this, but he did not say anything. His eyes still followed her as she walked down the witness box. She glanced at where Dan
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Declan paced about in the bedroom endlessly and Samantha was beginning to get dizzy from following him with her eyes. "You are going to bore holes in this floor if you don't stop pacing so much," she said to him. "That boy is making me go crazy," Declan said as he rubbed his forehead in exhaustion. Samantha wondered if it was Daniel he was calling a boy, but she resolved that there was no better way to refer to someone so petty than a boy. "What did he do this time?" She asked him gently, not wanting to piss him off further."He fired the entire members of the accounting department before I could come to the office," Declan complained. Samantha was left to wonder if Daniel was going insane or not. She had never seen someone that acted so much on impulse in an instant. He was so quick to act that one would think that he was not thinking at all. "I thought he was no longer CEO.""I nullified what he did immediately after I got the notice.""Then what are you worried about?""Don't
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Samantha had never been pleased to hear the news before. Declan's agreement to still go ahead with having a child despite the Georgina drama was like music to her ears. She had not bothered to pester him about it anymore, as she did not want him to say he was right after all about Georgina. Instead, she had been more intentional about living her best life. She thought of the children back at the country home. They were enough to suffice for what she could not have. "Do you want to do an adoption or should we still search for a surrogate?" She asked him, deciding to lay all the cards on the table so they could deliberate together. She was not going to be selfish this time. Having a child was going to be a big step for them. It was not the financial aspect that bothered them. Declan's companies and businesses were worth an amount that could feed an entire city comfortably."We are both hoping to carry our child in our hands someday, so I guess surrogacy would not be a bad idea," he
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"I will have to leave very early today," Micheal informed Declan ahead of time. He did not want to be faced with the challenge of having so much work that he could barely manage any spare time. "You have a date with your girlfriend, I guess," Declan said as he looked up at Micheal."Let's not say it's a date," Micheal began, blushing lightly. "It's just a little thing that I do with her every month," he explained. "What is that?" Declan asked, not feeling bad about prying. It was the same thing Micheal did as well. He could swear that Michael knew so many things about him that Samantha had yet to find out. He was very observant and he loved that about her. "We go to the prison for a visit before we head to the orphanage," Micheal said. "Shonda said she wants to own an NGO in Africa in the future, so this is a good start for us."Declan was highly impressed by this agenda. His father ran several orphanages and charitable homes before he died. It was conferred on him in the will. He
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Daniel had been very cranky the entire week. First, all the money that he stole from the company's account had magically returned to it, and it still surprised him that they found out about the offshore account. He also received news that Declan hosted a birthday party over the weekend. He had not been invited nor did he have any knowledge about it. He knew what he could do with the knowledge of such a gathering. He was angry because, after months of being CEO, he had still not successfully convinced the board why he should take over the house. The will stated that it was primarily Declan's inheritance, and there was nothing that he could do about it. Declan, on the other hand, had suddenly banned him from entering the house. The security around it was toughened up so that no matter how much he tried to meander his way in, he would not succeed. This morning, Declan called for a board meeting that he said was going to be used to pass some information. He wished he could stop De
