LOGIN"If you say one more word about my wife, we're leaving. Now." Grey snapped st Vanessa.Elena ignored her son. She set her knife down and locked her cold eyes directly on Abigail. She wanted to pin her down. She wanted to break her. She saw Abigail as the daughter of a useless man."Tell me, Abigail," Elena demanded. "What really prompted this sudden desire for a child? Were you hoping it would make Grey keep you?"The words landed like physical slaps. The accusation was raw and ugly. They thought she was a gold digger. They thought she was using an unborn baby as a leverage to keep staying with Grey."Come on Mother, I warned you both to--" Grey roared. He jerked up from his chair, his hands curling into fists. He looked ready to flip the table over."No," Abigail whispered.Grey froze, looking down at her.Abigail took a deep breath. Then, she said it louder. "It's okay Grey. Sit down."Grey was mad at her now, "Why the hell do you tolerate this."But he sat down anyways.Elena's ey
"Are we leaving or not?" Grey yelled out from the hallway downstairs.He was waiting for Abigail by the hallway, they were about to go to his mom's place.Elena, his mom, had invited him and Abigail for a mandatory visit since he refused to ever visit her and his sister Vanessa he probably forgot they exist.He didn't want to go at first, especially with Abigail, both is mom and Vanessa hated Abigail and they would always say hurtful things to her no matter how many times he warned them. So he wasn't ready for any of their drama, but Abigail insisted on going. She had always ignored their hateful words to her and now she insisted on going for the visit even when she knew exactly what would happen.But now she was taking so much time preparing, Grey began to wonder if she had grown cold feet, after all he tried to persuade her not to go in the first place.He stood by the front door, checking his watch with an annoyed expression.Abigail stopped at the top of the stairs. She felt her
"You should eat now, Alura." Lucuis said and slid a disposable box of food.Alura blinked, dragging her tired eyes away from her glowing laptop.Lucius sat directly across from her. He dropped a wooden spoon next to the box.The Takahashi project had fully started now, and because of the time zone difference with japan, their real work began long after the sun went down.Earlier he said he wanted to get something, but she didn't realize it was food.Did he notice how she was yawning?Her face flushed with embarrassment."Thank you, Sir." She muttered.Alura moved the laptop aside and opened the food box. The smell of fried rice and soy sauce steak immediately filled the air. They ate together right there at his desk, in his office. Lucuis had insisted she work closer with him in his office, to make things easier for her, because before now, she had to walk to and fro his office anytime she needed his direct response on something urgent.And these past few days the hierarchy between
"The Japanese team were very clear, sir. They specifically requested Miss Wayne to be around for all future meetings."The leader of the strategy team, Jack, explained, reading directly from the email on his tablet.Lucius leaned back in his chair, "Is that a request, or a condition?"Jack smiled awkwardly."Well....It sounds more like a strong preference, sir," He said."Chairman Takahashi appreciated the personal interaction. He noted that translation software lacks emotions. And he specifically mentioned that your uncle Roland's AI program during the project pitch felt too cold and robotic, which made him uncomfortable. Chairman Takahashi wants a human connection. He wants Alura."A small smirk stuck on Lucius's lips, he felt an edge of satisfaction. Uncle Roland was already at a huge disadvantage. He had tried to use the Takahashi challenge to steal the CEO position, but he had no Japanese speaker on his team. He was relying on his newly built translator software. But Lucius h
"Who exactly is Hilda Miller?"Alura whispered the question to herself, as her fingers hovered over the keyboard.It was a day after the gala hosted for the Takahashi Group. But Alura was still curious about the lady that approached Lucuis.She sighed, she didn't want to look like a stalker but her curiosity was getting the best of her especially after the quiet threat she felt from the Hilda.She finally clicked enter, and instantly the screen flooded with results.Hilda Miller was the CEO of Miller Industries, one of the successful companies in Cedarville. Alura scrolled past the boring financial articles and clicked on the social pages. The gossip columns from two years ago painted a very clear picture.*IS THE MILLER HEIRESS RELENTLESSLY TRYING TO GET CEO HUNT's ATTENTION?,* one headline blared.Alura read through the articles. They described Hilda showing up at almost all of Lucius's hosted events, trying to get tables next to his, and cornering him in hotel lobbies but pretendin
Jax followed the waiter assassin quietly as he went down the stairs heading for the ballroom.Just as the man pushed the ballroom door open. Jax quickly grabbed the back of the man's white collar, and yanked him backward into the hallway, slamming him against the concrete wall. The waiter gasped in shock, reaching quickly for his jacket. But Jax pinned the man's wrist to the wall with a bone crushing force, driving his knee hard into the man's stomach.The silenced pistol clattered to the floor.Meanwhile back at the first floor, Marcus moved quietly like a ghost. He grabbed the second assassin by the back of his neck and shoved him face first into the wall. The man grunted, dropping the sniper he had been assembling. Marcus hooked his arm around the assassin's throat, pulling him backward into the storage closet.Jax dragged the first assassin back to the first floor and shoved him into the exact same closet. The door clicked shut behind him.The small space was dim, smelling of b
Over the rest of the week, the executive floor became a living nightmare for Alura.Ethan made it his personal mission to interact with her as much as possible. His harassment was deliberate and perfectly masked behind a fake, smile. He found a dozen different excuses to come up to the fortieth fl
Lucius had walked into the office with a very grumpy mood, like a man who had not slept in days, and had made a personal decision to take it out on everyone within a five meter radius. Nobody breathed comfortably around him all day. Alura honestly would have cared more if her own life wasn't alrea
Meanwhile that same evening, across town at west Cedarville Alura was actually at her old apartment, not the one she lived in with her dad though, it's the one she once shared with her roommate who later became her friend, Nessa. She stood in the middle of the one room apartment and looked aroun
"Dad." Alura Wayne called out shakily as if she was dreading her father's response. She stood in the cramped living room of their apartment, the walls peeling like dead skin, the single bulb dim as usual. Across from her, was her father who slumped over the kitchen table like a finished man,







