The room was shrouded in partial darkness, the only light coming from the dim disco lights.The figure standing by the window was almost invisible, but as the moonlight caught her face, her features became clear. It was the same woman who had met with Bruno earlier, the one who had wanted him to be her ally.She was smoking a cigarette, as though deriving joy from it, her eyes gazing out into the distance.Her expression was distant as well, as her eyes seemed to hold a thousand secrets.She was finally back, to take all of them down, and claim what was hers and nobody in the whole Chicago will stop her, not when her treasure became even more powerful, like gold, her treasure got more refined…she had laboured so much in the past and no one was coming to rea0 the fruit of her labour.Her gaze was still outside staring into the city, and her mind far away from where she stood, but there was a knock on the door, and the knock broke her out of her reverie.She turned, her eyes narrowing
Alison stood by her aunt's bedside, her eyes fixed on the frail figure lying helpless in the hospital bed. Her aunt's face was pale and gaunt, her eyes sunken and closed. The machines surrounding her beeped and whirred, a constant reminder of the fragile state of her aunt's health.Alison felt a wave of panic wash over her, her breath catching in her throat. She was on the verge of tears again, just like she had been since she stepped into the room.her eyes welling up with a mixture of sadness and fear. She couldn't bear the thought of ever losing Megan, the woman who had been her rock, her confidante, and her best friend..who knows, if not for Megan's intervention, she might have still been stuck in jail, waiting for the end of her jail term.Officer Carlos was away on a job, and Alison had insisted that he not be told about her aunt's accident. She didn't want him to worry, she didn't want him to feel guilty for not being there, or rush down here.But now, as she stood by her a
The machines surrounding Megan's bed started to beep rapidly again, this time, breaking Alison out of her thoughts, then she realized that the doctor wasn't there yet.She was about to go out to get him, when he rushed into the room, with three nurses behind him."I'm sorry, but I'll really need to ask you all to excuse us for a moment," he said, his voice firm but polite.Alison nodded, feeling a lump form in her throat. Travis led the way, and she followed him behind, looking back at intervals.A part of her couldn't stop being a pessimist, that part felt as though her aunt was going to be wheeled out with all white robes covering her, up to her head.She shook the negative thought off, and watched as the door closed behind the doctor, and she felt a wave of panic wash over her. The sound of the machine beeping, the smell of the hospital, it all reminded her of the prison cell she had been in for so long.The way the door was easily locked and opened whenever there was a visitor f
Alison's eyes widened in shock as she stared at her Megan, who was looking around lost, like someone who had just set eyes on a ghost.Alison's mind reeled with confusion and fear. "Aunt Megan, it's me, Alison!" she exclaimed, her voice shaking with emotion. "Don't you recognize me? You took me in when I had no one and had to start from the scratch, you were there to make me feel human again"But Megan just looked at her, a puzzled expression on her face. Alison felt a wave of panic wash over her, and she started to scream. "Aunt Megan, please! You have to remember me!"Travis who had been watching both women for a while, shook his head before moving closer to them, trying to comfort Alison. Alison was acting totally babyish, and he found that extremely cute since that was a part of her that she never shows. She was bossy most of the time, and rarely got the chance to let her innwrchild out."Alison, calm down," he whispered, placing his hand around his shoulder, his voice soft and
The two elite men, Marco and Enzo, sat in Bruno’s office, discussing their plans for the deal they had made plans to invest in for the future, but Bruno seemed distant, as though his mind preoccupied with something else.Marco, who had been observing Bruno’s expression, was slightly bothered, suddenly spoke up. "Bruno, what's going on?" he asked, his voice firm but concerned. "You seem troubled. Is everything okay?"Bruno hesitated for a while, staring at the older man who had a worried expression which he found rather strange in his eyes, unsure of how to respond. But then, something inside of him snapped, and he decided to open up about everything. A problem shared was half solved, right?“I got a strange call earlier…” he started, his gaze growing distant. “And the caller seemed to know a lot about me, so I had to see her,” he explained and Enzo scoffed loudly.“I didn't quite get you…so you got a call from a strange lady, and that's why you've been sitting here bothered all day?
Two weeks had passed since Megan's accident, and she was finally discharged from the hospital and was back in her mansion, getting better.Alison was relieved to have her aunt back home, but she knew that she couldn't stay with her forever. She had to return to work, and Megan needed someone to take care of her, probably a live-in nurse or maid.Uncle Carlos was still away, despite being aware of Megan's condition, and although Alison couldn't understand why he hadn't come back yet, she didn't have time to dwell on it.The last time she tried to find out why, she was told by Megan that he was away on a quite important assignment , and couldn't return until he was done, for security reasons.She didn't press too much on the topic, she was more interested in getting Megan settled back into her routine.Earlier in the week, Alison had hired a maid to take care of Megan, and she was relieved to see that her aunt was in good hands. The maid, Maria, was kind and efficient, she was the be
“So you're meeting up with this mystery woman, who supposedly knows everything about you?” Mrs. Francisco asked Bruno, trying so much to conceal her shock. “The same mystery woman also knows about my involvement with the divorce and everything that transpired between you and Alison?”Bruno sighed adjusting his necktie and staring at his reflection in the mirror, with his gaze drowning in it. “Exactly, and what freaks me the most is the fact that I'm not aware of how much she knows..” he trailed off.“I mean, what if she knows about the other hidden things and tries to blackmail me into stuff because of them?”Mrs. Francisco shook her head, then suddenly, her lips curled up into a mischievous smirk. “But you did mention that she has plans to get rid of Alison right?” She asked and Bruno nodded. “Then she should be good news, I mean…it's not everyday you get to see someone who's willing to take down your enemies.”“Mum, Alison isn't an enemy!” Bruno snapped before realization dawned
Seated on her bed, in her almost dark room which was only illuminated by the small lamp by the bed stand, Alison typed aggressively, as she thought about a lot.First, why wasn't Uncle Carlos back yet, despite knowing the nature of his lover's accident and then work…She yawned tiredly, slightly drowsy but she wasn't going to give in to sleep.., not until she was done with ironing out the documents she was working on.A notification caused her phone's screen to flash and she quickly gasped, staring at the time, it was already past midnight, precisely 2am.Not like she was really much of a deep sleeper, but usually, once it was midnight, by default her body system would shut down until 4am but now, she was still agile at 2am, just slightly drowsy.“I should round up and go to bed then,” she mumbled, and was doing so when her phone rang, vibrating beside her.“Weird…who calls at this time?” She yawned and checked the phone.Before she could stop herself, a smile broke out of her lips at
The energy in the room was a radiation of coldness in its most toxic form. And although they were quite a number of people in the room, the silence was such that if a pin dropped to the floor, the sound would be loud and clear enough for everyone to hear.“Lord Castro… what do we do next?” A man finally asked, breaking the silence. “Raquel was supposed to take over this great clan once you're gone.”A much older man, dressed in all black, and holding a cigarette in his right hand shook his head, and the room tensed up in anticipation as they waited for him to speak. “And who says I'm leaving anytime soon?”“My lord, Marco is right, now that your only heiress is gone, what becomes of the Clan, and the ones responsible for her death?” Another man, dressed in all black as well, asked. “The lawyer, and her husband… you spent years avenging the deaths of your cartel members, and Raquel in question was your daughter and…”“That's enough!” Lord Castro yelled, hitting his palm against the ta
**FIVE YEARS LATER***Time flies, huh??Quite a popular yet true phrase…It has been five years since everything, yes… everything!Raquel was later confirmed dead, and buried almost immediately. Alison took a couple of months to heal completely, life moved on, and went back to normal.Travis Rodrigo got cleared off all the charges of his involvement with illegal drug trafficking, leveled against him.Alan Rodrigo successfully got a divorce from Delaney, giving her the opportunity to go back to the streets where she truly belonged…Or maybe not..And Karen, well… let's just say she opened her heart to Oscar, despite all the teasing and mock bullying, and that was probably the best decision she's ever made.Bruno Francisco already completed his jail term and was finally free to live his life, but where was he even going to start from? He lost Alison, his conglomerate, his son and his mum was still in jail, all because of one dumb decision.Despite the fact that everything seemed to have
Travis' hopeful gaze lingered on Alison as he waited for her to say something.What did she mean by she was ahead of him on this one? And the look she had in her eyes was one he took a lot of time to understand.Whenever she knew a secret or had a surprise planned out, that was the exact same expression.“It depends on you… what do you want to hear?” she shrugged and sat upright, so did he.“I want to hear everything Alison, the whole plan.” He insisted and she nodded.“We are going to be needing Uncle Carlos' help on this one.” She started. “I have been keeping tabs on Raquel, and I'm glad she is still here in Chicago. Apparently not yet aware that we know about all of her stupid deeds.”As She spoke, his gaze drifted off, picturing her words clearly. “And since she doesn't know that we are aware of her atrocities, I'm pretty sure she's out there living her normal life.”“Exactly, she doesn't even have any reason to suspect that anyone knows about her sins, since she was smart enough
Alison smiled widely settling onto a long couch, with Travis by her side, and her gaze darting around the room, to the happy faces of her guests - unexpected guests actually.Forgiveness felt exciting, it made her feel lighter, like a heavy weight just got lifted off her shoulder.“This has to be the most underrated pill.” She whispered, snuggling closer to Travis.“What's that?” He asked, staring in her eyes, with his arms wrapped around her.“Forgiveness.” She responded, and broke off their eye contact, allowing her gaze wander off. “You know, when I got Bruno arrested alongside his mother, and gained custody over my son… it did not feel this satisfying.”Oscar and Karen stopped their conversation and had their entire attention fixed on the couple, who were just starting to reinkindle their love.“I felt thirsty, like there was so much more I was missing out on.” She continued. “You know that feeling when you have already gotten everything you always wanted, and yet it was not as sa
The moment he sighted Alison walk out of the room looking like a ghost, better still, a frame of her former self, Travis' eyes widened in shock, so did his mouth. There was not any way he would have believe that his Alison would lose so much weight and life in just a matter of twenty one days. Her collar bones were glaring, deep enough to hold water in them. Her eyes were red, and so was her face… a testament to the tears she had to shed and the pain she'd gone through.Alison on the other hand, kept staring at him, although at first she didn't want to admit it, he was looking so haggard and unkept, his hair was messy and his moustache was starting to grow wild.Only twenty-one days apart did this to the couple, who would have thought so.Still standing apart, the couple kept staring at each other, with so many words running through their minds, yet no one was uttering any words.Who would?Travis who was articulating his thoughts and thinking of the perfect way to get Alison's for
After so much hesitation, Travis finally planted a soft knock, on the door of Megan's apartment.“Who is it? How can I help you?” He heard Megan's soft voice ring from inside, and moved back slightly.As sounds of footsteps approached and grew louder, so did Travis’ heartbeats. What if she sends him away rudely?Alison must have told her about everything that happened, so how was he going to face her now?“Who is it, yo …” Megan's voice stopped halfway as she sighted Travis standing by the door, looking pale.“Y..you're here,” she said, obviously shocked. “I never thought you'd stop by.”“I'm sorry, I swear, I'm really sorry.” He said and Megan folded her arms under her chest.“What do you want? Why are you here?” “Aunt Megan, please… I need your help, don't say no, I beg of you.” He pleaded. “A lot happened, and I really need to speak with Alison.”“Well… sorry to disappoint you, but Alison is not here.” Megan shrugged and turned to go in, but Travis held onto her hand, with guilt
Travis tried to trail Raquel, but she was nowhere to be found, apparently she had already gone too far.“Fuck!!” He groaned in annoyance, punching his steering and screaming his lungs out. “I've lost everything!”Before he could stop himself, tears began slipping down his eyes. He got to the side of the road and parked.“Why did I let it get to this point?” He asked himself, ruffling his hair in frustration and crying out. “Now she has gotten what she wanted and is nowhere to be found.”He tried to calm himself down but it just was not working out.‘why not just head home, hopefully you would meet her and explain everything.’ His subconscious mind suggested and Travis shook his head.“I fucked up already, what explanation is going to make sense to her?” He muttered, his eyes already red from crying and his fists bruised.Eventually, he decided to drive home, not knowing exactly what to expect, but hoping for the best nevertheless.The drive was rough, with Travis growing more emotiona
“What the hell is going on here?” Alison yelled in shock, and Raquel got off Travis thighs, deciding to play the victim.“Sweetheart, what is she still doing here? I thought you said you were no longer with her?” Raquel asked Travis, pointing at Alison and crying. “I should never have trusted you again in the first place.”“Alison, I swear I can explain.” Travis whispered getting off the couch and swiftly going over to hold Alison.“Don't touch me!” She snapped, slapping his hands off her. “I should have known that this is what you were up to when you suddenly woke up and created the idea that you were going to work from home.”“Cupcake, it's not what you think.” He said going on his knees. “I promise you, I was actually working from home.”“It can even be what I think, but what I saw Travis… this bitch was straddling you and you didn't even push her off, what is she even doing here? And what does she mean by you said we'd broken up?” Alison asked, feeling her feet grow cold then she
The notion that ‘time flies’ had never made more sense to Alison. Just like yesterday, she was fighting to get her son back, then she lost him, and now three months had passed already. She had finally embraced the fact that her Theo was gone and she was never going to see him again. Deep down, she was grateful to Travis, who had always been her knight in shining armor, walking her through every single stage of grief. She finally opened her heart to Karen, Megan and Carlos, letting them comfort her. Although Alison never believed the saying that ‘time heals’ she'd a testament to that. “You're awake?” Travis muttered with a small smile as Alison tried to sit upright. “How was your night?” “It was good, I mean… I slept well,” she replied and smiled back at him. Her gaze caught the time on her clock and she gasped. “It's 8am, already? I have to get to the office.” She said and swiftly got out of bed. “Wait, you're resuming, already? You sure you are ready?” Travis asked, with