Angela's fingers grazing on the computer ahead of her paused at the sound of her phone ringing. She drew her stare to the phone surprised as she read the caller ID.Natalie? The last time they spoke was since she informed her about her engagement with Alec. Why was she suddenly reaching out?She blinks her senses back to reality, sliding the answer button, and Angela places the phone on her left ear."Hey!"Angela hears Natasha sighing with ease: "Thank goodness, I've been trying to reach out to you for days but never really got the chance to.""Why?" Angela's questions were piqued.Angela would be lying if she said she didn't despise every one of them for what they did to her brother. They may not have noticed it—heck, who was she kidding?—Rhys was more like a piece of trash to them than an in-law.Angela is aware of how her brother is holding up, and if not for the mission their dad is sending him on, they'd have been in deep shit as they speak; she would have wanted that as well.A
Rhys stood in front of the tall building of FreemanCorp, scrutinizing it for a second before heaving out a breath and proceeding to walk in.He adjusted his glasses with his head hung low, avoiding the weird glances he got here and there, probably from his mood of dressing; it didn't suit the professional demeanor that was meant to be portrayed.He further made his way to the VIP elevator, clicking on the buttons and impatiently waiting for the doors to slide open.Rhys walked in as they did, his stare sighting a guard pacing towards him."Excuse me." Before the guard could conclude his statement, the doors to the elevator had already clicked close, a smirk lifting on Rhys's lips."Rhys, are you there?"He puffed out a hiss, adjusting the nano-ear plug he wore that wasn't visible enough to be seen."What now, Lex?" He question. "I've run through the company's security system, and I now have access to every one of them," he informs Rhys as he hears the clicking of the keys on the boar
Rhys watched as Ethan walked out of Ashley's office, sending him a glare. The once-filled confidence Ethan exuded was nowhere to be found. It got Rhys wondering what must have happened in there.Did she say something to him? Was she intimidating?Ashley has a hard time standing out from her siblings. Alec and Hannah are known for their confidence and strong personalities; you could say she's overshadowed by them."Mr Mickelson" His name being called out by the secretary cuts him out of his train of thought.She sent him a glare, her nose scrunching with disgust. "Ms. Freeman would see you now."Rhys nods and fights back the urge to hiss. Working with a secretary would only add more to his problems; he can't have another person irritating him."Lex," he murmured as she led him to Ashely's office."Yes? What's up?""Get her fired.""Who? The secretary?" He chuckled. Rhys ignores knowing Lex is well aware of who he means yet wants, getting on his nerves."Right. On it" After a short wh
Rhys lifted from the bed with a growl, heaving out. He rubbed his eyes, cleaning off the drowsiness in them. He barely had enough sleep last night.But of course, it's Rhys after all—nonchalant as ever with his health.His eyes moved to the wall clock, a mumbled curse slipping out of his lips."Shit!"Soon enough, he paced to the bathroom, ran a quick shower, and came out, getting dressed hurriedly, taking glances at the time here and there."Morning Master," Curella greets as he walks out of the room, fixing his glasses."Would you--"He cut her off. "No. Engage all the alarms in case anyone comes lurking," he orders with the thought of Angela on his mind."Yes, master," she responds.He walked out of the house, deciding to stop by a cafe shop to get a cup of cappuccino that would help with his condition.The walk from his penthouse to the FreemanCorp is thirty minutes, nothing too distant for Rhys to cover up, and that's why he decided to walk himself to work throughout.Stepping in
Ashely sat in her spacious office, lost in thought, after the phone call she had with her uncle. Her eyes sting from the words he had used on her, but who was she kidding? It's something she got used to over the years.Everything she ever does is not enough. Ashley, you're imperfect, naive, incompetent, and useless. Every word of his was carved in her skull, probably for the rest of her life.A sharp knock coming through has snapped her back to reality.Squaring her shoulders and masking away her emotions, "Come in," she mumbled, expecting anyone but her best friend."Hey, girl!" Layla greets her, her smile soon dropping as she sets sight of Ashely's dull demeanor.She huffed out, "It's him again, isn't it?" Layla asked, flying her hands out of the air with a low hiss.That's all it took for Ashley to burst out: "I don't know how I'd ever be able to please him. Nothing I ever do is enough for him. I'm sick and tired of him dictating my life." She spat, annoyance evident in her tone.La
He walked out of the elevator holding the cup of coffee Ashley ordered him to get. Rhys knows that she's been trying all possible ways to provoke him into quitting, but if only she knew, it takes a great deal to have him step down.For the past few weeks, she has had his manager overloading him with work just so he could get fed up, but nothing he couldn't handle. The work he's being loaded with is not as much as the one he does.Rhys has always been a workaholic; he could spend sleepless nights working himself up.He chuckled as he made his way to her office."Mr. Mickelson," he hears his name being called out, fighting back the urge to hiss.He knew exactly who it was—the new employer that had been on his neck and trying to force himself into Rhys's affairs.Damien.Rhys paused, huffing out a breath before turning to face him. "What's up?" He asked, trying to hide the hint of annoyance evident in his tone."I bought a ticket to the..."Before he could end his statement, Rhys had alr
Natalie paced back and forth in her room, unsure of her parents' decision. Her relationship with Alec was going pretty fast; it was becoming overwhelming.It's three days until the announcement of their official engagement party, which has been organized by Alec's family. Alec is a good man; he's given her all she could ever think of having: attention, care, love, and most importantly, wealth, but somewhere deep down, something is missing that she couldn't quite understand just yet.Her mind has been wandering off Rhys lately; she still thinks they got off on the wrong foot, and the guilt is starting to become unbearable.She may have used Rhys all along if only she had realized that she was only infatuated with him and nothing more, yet she only understood that long after they had been married.Rhys wasn't the man for her; they didn't belong in the same status; she was way above his league. All that her parents had tried to point out to her, but she never listened, not until it was t
"I don't know, aunt," Ashely whines for the eleventh time, trying to wiggle her way out of the situation.She could hear her aunt hissing through that call: "I'm not taking no for an answer; you are coming down to Seattle for your cousin's engagement party, and that's final." With that, she cuts off the call, leaving no room for further argument.Ashley growls, keeping her phone aside on the sofa.Ashely and her aunt share a mutual relationship that consists of love and understanding. Her aunt, Rebecca, is the only one she can regard as family, as she's always been there for her since the death of her parents.Unlike her husband and kids, she's as soft and understanding as Ashley's late mother; she has never made Ashley feel otherwise as the others do.Ashely sighs, knowing that there is no way she's ever going to escape attending Alec's engagement party.She fears that her uncle and other relatives will be hard on her about the fact that she's yet to bring forth a man. Ashley has nev