"Which should I start with?" Brant asked. "The hectic part or the interesting part?" He added.
"The interesting part"His parents answered in unison.He raised his head and stared at his parents."Mila Rivers is alive."Mr White was about to pick up the glass in front of him, but his hand froze in mid air. The angel of silence made a solid stand in the room.All the heads at the table turned to face their father. Surprised or fright, or both was discernible on his face.Mrs White and Brant interpreted his look to a it-is-hard-to-believe-that-my-best-friend's-family-member-is-alive look.The girls were nonchalant about what was happening and they went back to digging into their meals.The twins were just babies when the accident occurred while Brenda was not even an idea at that time."How is that possible?" Mrs White was the first to recover from the shocking revelation. She looked from her husband to her son."I saw her." Brant said."Where? It can not be, I saw the bodies." Mr White said in an almost raspy voice."I met her face to face." Brant said, staring at both parents."You probably just met someone like her and you thought she was the one." Mr White waved him off with a scoff."Where did you meet her honey?" It was Mrs White who asked this time."Who's Mila... whatever?" Brenda asked."He probably was just hallucinating." Mr White laughed off."She works…." "I made sure they were dead." Mr White said unconsciously, cutting in on Brantley's speech, causing Brant to pause.The whole room went silent again.He stared at his family and saw the horror on their faces, then it dawned on him what he just said."I mean…" he started, "I had to investigate thoroughly to be certain that there were no survivors." He said again, this time, sounding worse than the previous."Hmm, Dad, are you listening to yourself right now?" Shella, one of the twins, asked with a mouthful of food."I was trying to help, I know how it sounds, but trust me, it is not it,ok?" Mr White chuckled nervously, with a pretext sad look."He was a good man and I wanted to find someone to repay all that he had done for me." Mr White explained."We understand honey." Mrs White said softly.Brant stared at his parents, especially his father.Maybe his father meant the opposite of what he just said, but there was absolutely no remorse written on his face, like that of someone who was actually mourning. There was more of fright...as if he met his nemesis.He remembered what Mila said, about coming to take back what belonged to her father. He shook his head trying to get rid of her voice, why should he believe anything she says. She definitely is not the same Mila he onced was friends with. She basically introduced herself by screwing him."Brant…?""Are you Ok son?" Mrs White called again."Uh huh." His mother's voice brought him back to reality."Your father was asking you a question." She said,"For the umpteenth time." Shailene, also known as 'the troublesome twin', concluded.Brant shot her a piercing stare, causing the teenager to giggle, before he looked at his parents again. "You were gonna say where you saw her." Said Mr White."Oh! hmm... I met her at a hotel the other day." He lied smoothly. "I had a dinner meeting there." He quickly added."Does she work there or was she there to see someone?" Mr White asked."To see someone, I presume." Answered Brant."And, how were you certain it was her? Did you talk to her or you just assumed her to be Mila Rivers because some stranger looked like her? Mr White did not stop bombarding his son with questions."Hold up, how would you even recognize her, she was just a kid...both of you were kids and should all have metamorphosed drastically by now… it was more than twenty years ago huh?" Mr White continued, giving no room for Brant to respond to any of the questions."Also did you…""Honey?" Mre White cut her husband off.Mr White took a deep breath and stared at his wife, then at his children. Everyone at the table had stopped doing what it was that they were engaged in.They all had their eyes glued on their father, each with different facial expressions in response to their father being extremely nervous and talkative for the first time.Except Brant…. He furrowed his temple and stared at his father. Something was not right with his father, but what? He could not quite put his finger on it."Look at me," Mrs White used her free hand to support her husband's chin, turning his face so that they could face each other. "You tried your best honey, you did everything you could." She whispered softly, while rubbing her palms on her husband's chin soothingly."Whom are you guys talking about?" Shella asked again. She was ignored the first time, but this time, her questions caught everyone's attention, and to an extent, caused the tension among the grown ups to subside."Mr Melo Rivers was dad's boss/partner, but he lost his life alongside his entire family in a tragic fire accident about 20 years ago…" Brant explained."Mila Rivers was the youngest daughter of the family." Brenda concluded.All eyes were on her. All of the other people in the room could not hide how stunned they were. Everyone had the same question in mind but nobody voiced it out."I googled it." She said nonchalantly, turning her phone to show her screen to everyone."Oh!" They all acknowledged in unison."But, if she is alive, why hasn't she shown up all this while to at least claim her shares?" Asked Brenda.The whole family was aware that she was the smart one, so it was nothing new getting all this from her."That's the reason why your brother could have mistaken someone else for her." Said Mrs White."Probably." Brant confirmed and immediately went back to his meal.He knew that he needed more insight on the whole Rivers family story. Somehow, his gut told him that her existence and whereabouts needed to be a secret."You said that you met her at a hotel, did you talk to her?" His father asked again.Brant nodded.It was like a bright light lit up on his dad's face."What did she say? Did she say that she was Mila?" He asked in concern."She walked off, I... I followed her but lost her as she stepped out of the hotel restau." He lied again."Oh!" Disappointment was evident on his father's face."Maybe she lost her memory, I mean, we should eat instead of turning this dinner into a puzzle solving showroom." Talkative Brenda said.Maybe she lost her memory, I mean, we should eat instead of turning this dinner into a puzzle solving showroom." Talkative Brenda said.It was Brenda's turn to draw everyone's attention."What?" She asked innocently. "I just want to enjoy my meal and stop talking about dead people." The kid said in a somewhat rude tone."Have some respect, Brenda!" Mrs White scolded."Dahh, aight." She agreed stubbornly and continued her meal."I'll head upstairs." Announced Brant as he stood up from his chair."Why honey, you have barely touched your food. Don't you like it? I can ask the cook to make something different for you." Mrs White asked with genuine concern."Nah momma, I'm just tired." He said. "I said earlier that I had a hectic day right?" "Ok, if you insist. Good night then." "Sweet dreams momma." He kissed her on her forehead and headed upstairs."Did you find her?" Brant asked Randy, over the phone as soon as he got into his room.Despite the fact that Mila made it clear that he sho
But her aim was not to kill him, not yet. She wanted to play with him for as long as she desired. The first thing she had to do to make that happen was to scare him.When Dom sent her a text about Randy following this boss' car, she was not alarmed, but decided to use it as a stepping stone against Brant.She wanted him to fear her, she wanted to break his morals and spirit as slowly but effective as possible. And she was gonna get there.Dom was waiting for her at the other side of the road, but there was a huge hedge of elephant stock grass separating both roads.She quickly disappeared into the thick bush, her black outfit made it easier for her to blend in with the darkness.She and Dom did not drive off immediately, they stuck around a little longer, she wanted to prove to Dom how dumb Brant was.Any smart person would have driven around the hedge easily, but he did not, and to make matters worse, he began screaming out her name.She face palmed herself over and over again before
"You are late again, I hope this is not an attitude that would continue to run through?" Brant said sternly as soon as Fabiola rushed into the office. He was leaning on her desk and immediately stood upright as she got in.She opened her mouth to say something, but decided to swallow her words, reading his countenance, she could presume that something was pressing."Grab the file on my desk and follow me." He said without looking at her.She nodded obediently and went ahead to get the file. She was kind of pissed that he went all 'serious mode' with her this morning. Meanwhile she was just about 15 minutes late, unlike yesterday where she was an hour late… plus, she was hurrying her balls just to meet up with the time, only for her to meet her boss acting as if he were on his period.She hurried her footsteps to catch up with his long strides."You are not allowed to say anything, your job is only to jot down notes." He said to her as they descended in the elevator."Yes Sir," she re
Linda McGraw was the only daughter of the McGraw family, one of the big five families. Just like Brant and Randy, Mila use to play with Linda back when they were kids, when everything was milk and honey, when innocence ruled.Now standing in front of her childhood best friend, she knew that she needed to act as if they never knew each other…. technically, they don't right now.Each woman had grown up to fit her own definition of womanhood.This is Fabiola, my girlfriend." Brant said. "Babe, this is Linda McGraw, she is the one I told you about last night." He wound his hand around Fabiola and lied smoothly, smiling down at Fabiola.Fabiola remained stiff as she stared at the familiar face before her."Is she Ok?" Linda leaned close to Brant and whispered with a disgusting look on her face.Fabiola heard her sound and clear. "I am ok. How do you do?" Fabiola tried to keep a straight face, ignoring the fact that Brant just said that they spent the night together.Well, since Linda ha
"Your laugh is very familiar, just like someone I knew a long time ago." Linda said in an unexpectedly soft voice, stunning the others."Well, do I look like that person?" Mila asked nonchalantly, aa she folded her arms and leaned forward on the table."Never mind." Linda said. The softness that flashed across her face disappeared almost immediately. She sipped her coffee once more, cleared her throat and straightened herself one more time. It was like there were two different people now, and a few seconds ago."You were gonna say something." Brant reminded Linda, seizing the opportunity to deviate from the topic."My company needs this deal just as much as yours does, so we need to find a way to please both our parents for the sake of the companies." Linda stated.Brant nodded, neither in agreement nor denial."I propose we go in for an open marriage, with no conjugality between us except for the title of husband and wife." Linda proposed boldly, ignoring Fabiola's presence."Wow, so
"I never bet on you to be the jealous type." She was totally immersed in her work so much so that she did not notice Brant walk in until he spoke.It was the moment she had been patiently waiting for for the past 2 hours.She raised her head and stared at him straight in the eye."Why won't you want me to marry another woman, would you marry me instead?" He asked sarcastically with a mischievous smirk on his face."Why did you take me along?" She asked, ignoring everything he said. She was not in the mood to harass him for the useless comment he just made."Because you are my secretary of course, what else.? He replied confidently, accompanied by a shallow Scuff.She pushed her chair backwards noisily, creating enough room for her to stand up. "I'll ask you one more time, Brant, why...the… fuck...did you take me along?" She closed up the distance between them.Goosebumps emerged all over his body, but he held his ground. "Whom else should I have taken?" He asked, concealing his nervo
She wound her arms around him, raised herself on her toes and leaned in as he deepened the kiss.A soft muffled moan escaped her lips.Brant did not hold back as he explored her mouth with his tongue, drowning in her sweetness and leaving no part unattended to.She relaxed in his arms, drowning in the moment as the knot in her lower abdomen tightened.They stood there, locked together for about a couple of minutes, with their tongues dangling against each other.His breathing hastened, so did Fabiola's. This wasn't their first kiss, they'd taken things further to the end before, but this was actually first time they were kissing without each other trying to take advantage of the other....or so Brant thought."Brantley?" Fabiola called out in an out-of-breath voice. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him back, creating some distance between them."Yes." He replied in a shallow lust filled tone, without letting go of her."You are to have a meeting now." She managed to say wi
Unlike his other meetings where he'll usually ask her to accompany him... even though she was not obliged to, this time he did not mention anything related to that. Instead he left her with tons of work to complete.She left the office pretty late that day, on getting home, to her greatest dismay, she discovered that her fridge was as deserted as that of a bachelor's.With the hope of getting a quick bite perhaps from an all-night diner, she made her way down the lonely streets of Limesville. The distant chirping of the crickets and cracking of the mid-road trees as the night wind whipped their branches.Fabiola had herself wrapped up in a gray shore, shielding her from the crude night cold.The dinner wasn't a long way from home, just 7 blocks, so she decided to beat it on foot. After all, she had not done any exercise or worked out in almost a week. She needed to at least get some cardio."A chicken sandwich please!" She said when she finally got to the dinner. "And chips with ketchu