Novels by Ifali’s pen

Edward’s povHe showed pictures of Charlotte and the different men she had been with. He showed the fake pregnancy test that she had forged. He showed the bank transfers for Vincent, the offshore accounts, the false invoices, and the years of embezzlement tied to both of them. He showed Charlotte’s fraudulent documents linking her to her shady overseas deals.My lawyer looked at me.“I’m not going to lie, I’ve never seen so many evidence. Even if the judge was bribed, he would never agree to this. Millions laundered, stolen. This is madness.”I smiled as my lawyer got to his feet.“Your Honour, I’m not going to lie, but these two aren’t fit to raise a child. Charlotte and Vincent… they are not fit for anything. The only one fit is a couple I know, Eloise and Edward. Those other two… they should not be allowed to walk free with all they’ve done.”Cameras clicked as reporters started to scribble down like mad. Vincent’s face was drained and Charlotte’s face was pale.“This is a setup!”

Edward’s povHe raised his hand.“Hey buddy, I had no idea she was here. I just got out from a night shift in my security job, and I’m going to my other job as a lighthouse worker. I have no idea who she is or how she got here.”I wanted to hit him, but Eloise stopped me.“We’ve gotten what we’ve come for. Let’s just go.”I gave a small nod as I lifted her out of the place. She was sobbing as Eloise hugged me and her. I gave Eloise Selena and led her out. Just as we were going, police cars lined the docks as some officers stepped out. We looked at them.“What’s going on? You’re just finding out now that she’s here?”One of them came closer.“Actually, Mr. Edward, as much as we apologize for the kidnapping of your daughter, who seems to be in good hands, well, we’re here on another matter.”I folded my arms.“Which is?”“Well, we have a signed custody agreement here granting that Selena be given to Charlotte, and it was signed by you.”I looked at the woman before me like she was crazy

Charlotte’s povI parked my car and got out of the vehicle with a stretch. Then I looked to the abandoned warehouse. With a sigh, I walked towards it. It was filled with rust and dust, but I didn’t care. I had business to take care of. Inside, I found a man that made me smile. “Vincent Bassett,” I said with a smile. He was Edward’s uncle… the man most of the family members whispered about but no one dared to talk about. He sat in a chair, smoking, while his silver hair was gleaming under the bulb. He looked at me. “You’re late,” he said in a rough voice.I ignored his words as I moved to him. I had to make sure Edward saw me leave so that no one would blame me for the accident. He laughed. “People will blame you. You left as soon as she was kidnapped, so that’s on you.”I gave a little chuckle. “Look, the gala was a circus, and Eloise … well, let’s just say she’s broken right now.”“That woman has been a thorn in your side since the beginning, but I guess tonight we can put her e

Eloise’s povI turned to him. “Selena is gone. She’s gone. Someone took her. She’s missing.”His eyes blazed with fire as he turned around with the guard and led me into the security room. We got in as the monitors glowed in the dim room. The guard turned on the main lights as the room blinded us for a second before we got used to it. He turned to the cameras, typed a few things, and rewound one of the tapes back as he pointed to the screen.There, we saw a masked woman. She was tall and dressed in black as she walked through the side exit. She came over to Selena and dragged her away as the girl screamed. I could see my baby’s legs kicking and yelling for me. My heart wrenched watching that video.The guard paused it as we saw the blurry image. It froze as in a nightmare. I turned around to Edward.“She’s gone. My baby’s gone.”Edward was the first one who moved. He started to bark orders into his phone, his voice sharp and commanding in a different way.“Look, lockdown every exit.

Eloise’s povThat evening, the gala was already buzzing, and this was before the official start. I smiled as I looked at the lights that were glittering against the chandeliers, and the glasses clinked about as the waiters dropped them on each table. I could hear the faint hum of the violins coming from the stage as the band was trying to tune up their instruments.I moved between the tables. I would fix things here, little things here, send people around so that they would make sure everywhere was perfect. I looked at the napkin that was folded wrong as I folded it well myself. Everything had to be exactly how I planned it to be. I was the VP and the head chef. I needed everything to be how I wanted it to be.Selena was in the staff room with her coloring books. She was already dressed up, but I doubted she would want to be in the grown-up parties anyway. I had checked twice to make sure that she had enough snacks and juice, and Sandra was peeking in every now and then to make sure t

Eloise’s povI was still at work, going through a couple of files, when somebody knocked on my door and came in. It was Sandra. She smiled at me.“I have something to give to you.”“Okay. What is it?” I asked as she dropped it on my desk.I stretched to pick it up and saw it was from Charlotte. I looked at Sandra, who shrugged and left the office. I opened it to read that it was an invitation to come to a fancy restaurant uptown.This was suspicious. Now Charlotte wanted to talk to me in a prim and proper place, not fighting with me. For a minute, I felt like maybe I should tear this letter up. But then it came to me that I would want to see what game she was playing.I got out of the office and drove to the venue of the card. When I got out there, I looked at it and noticed I had not been here before. With a shrug, I put the card in my pocket and walked in.The security guard asked for my card as I presented it to him before he let me in. Walking in, I found out she was already seate

Octava’s povHe stared at me like he had seen a ghost as he sat up like he had not really heard me.“Pardon?” He muttered, the sound leaving his throat like a choke.“Dad, you know what I’m talking about. You can’t just sweep what happened under the carpet. Plus you haven’t even shown up to talk about it, it’s almost like you’ve been avoiding that topic because it makes you uncomfortable. What are you not telling me?”He scoffed and looked away from me. “You don’t need to bring this up,”“Why?” I chuckled, pacing around as I looked at the window. “What are you hiding Dad?”He slowly got to his feet, his eyes blazing with disbelief that I would accuse him like that. “You know, everything I’ve done has been to protect you from not only yourself, but from the world out there. We finally get you, and you think that some glow is what would make me push you away to be with another man? I have seen many people glow in their lifetimes.”I scoffed at that. “Don’t lie to me. I know something i

Octava’s povI slowly walked into the library, where the maids had said my father would be, and noticed he was talking to some elders.I could have easily gone to where they were seated, but I decided to sit by the window and look into the dark void of the room, which faced the woods.Looking in there, I saw how dark it was over there. No one was shining a light in the woods. It was just plain darkness. I sighed. He was somewhere in there. My poor Luka. He was not even five yet and he was going through what anyone small or big could consider a scary experience,I felt like such a huge failure. How could I save him from such a horrible situation when I couldn’t even get myself to find him without breaking down within me?I wasn’t showing it. That I was feeling a lot. But that was because I didn’t want anyone to know. Yet, they could see through my facade and they knew that I was keeping a brave face.I sighed and looked at the books kept on a shelf beside me. “The art of war,” I mutter

Jakeson’s povI walked with the guard to the dungeon. The moment I got to the entrance, I saw the queen there. She was standing on her own with the dungeon guards behind her. She had a serious look on her face. She wasn’t here to play. Good, neither was I.The moment she turned to me, I saw her eyes glow a bit. She was appearing intimidating.“Welcome. I was thinking you’d bail on me when I needed you the most.”I smiled. “You’re here. Where’s the king?”“He doesn’t concern himself with things like this. But I on the other hand like to bring pain to those who want to destroy my family,”I nodded.She then gestured for the entrance of the dungeon. “Shall we go in?”I nodded as we entered the dungeon. The moment we got in, the smell of blood and herbs hit my nose. We got to the cell to see that the man had been healed up and he was tied to the middle of the wall. Chains on both hands and feet, even around his neck to keep him steady.I walked in to see that the once hospitable cell that

Octava’s povI did my best to stay in control. This man was not going to get to me. He was the man who hurt me badly in the past. Now he was here to hurt me again. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I shook my head. Told myself to forget about him. This man was not worth my feelings. I was not going to let this man get to me.“That was…” I started to say, as he completed for me. “Amazing.”I looked up at him. Then I did something without thinking. I smacked him across the cheek without thinking as his face snapped to the side.I didn’t know why that came out reflexively but it did.Slowly, he turned to look at me as I gulped. This was not how I had expected this to go.“I believe I deserve that.”I chuckled.“I’m sorry.”But he nodded. “It’s fine. No need to apologize.”We stayed in silence for a while, staring into each other's eyes as the tension between us rose high. We weren’t supposed to kiss. We were not supposed to feel anything for each other. This was a huge mistak

Octava’s pov“I’ll be going now,” I said to Elma and Jakeson as I walked to the sliding door.But then someone held my arm, keeping me in place. I frowned. I didn’t like where this was going. I hated it. The way he was holding me like I was part of his possession, it hurt me. I turned to him.“What’s the meaning of this? Let me go.”Hesitation showed in his eyes as he shook his head.“Why are you acting this way? We aren’t done talking.”“And how am I acting? You seem to be the, what do we call you? The expert on how I’m supposed to be acting? Listen, man, I have a lot of things to do in there, alright? You and your… partner here have so many things to do.”“She isn’t… my partner.”But as usual, I didn’t believe a word of what he said.“Okay, fine. Let’s say she’s not your partner, what is she?”Elma was still standing at the door.“I’m here you know.”But we both ignore her.“If you people are looking for a fight, I am not going to give you one because I don’t have any left in me to

Octava’s povI sat at the table, staring at my food as I had barely touched it when my mom piped up.“Octava, eat something.”I was about to reply before Elma, who was sitting a seat after Jakeson, added in.“Yes, Octava, eat something. Need your strength if you’re going to be able to find Luka.”I slowly shot her a dangerous look. I was about to argue when my father dropped in.“You two seem to be at each other's throats,” he chuckled.“Dad, you’re not being serious.”He chuckled. It was a hearty one.“If you two are enemies of some sort, I have to know. For goodness’ sake, we’re eating with her. We’re also eating with Jakeson. I have to actually know what is going on in my kingdom, much less my home, my palace.”“Then you should not have brought her in,” I said, as my mother gasped a bit.“Octava, watch how you talk to your father in front of a guest.”I used my super hearing to find out where Kaelan and Jakeson had gone, as I heard arguments, then looked back at them and smiled.“Y