Chapter 4
“Congratulations Hannah Rodriguez, your new name is now Cinderella Mackenzie. Welcome to the world of wealth and riches” the lawyer said and Hannah smiled at her.
“Excuse me,” the lawyer said and with that, they walked out.
Arianna smiled at Hannah.
“So, you are officially my daughter. We need to celebrate “ Arianna said and Hannah forced herself to smile
“Can you please get me out of this hospital first?” Hannah said and Arianna smiled.
“Of course, I will. Your passport, I mean our passport is ready. We leave for New York City tonight” Arianna said and Hannah stared at her weirdly.
“Why leave? I thought you would stay here in Atlanta?” Hannah asked
“Yes, I do but I have my house in New York and I’m taking you there to rest. You are too weak to strive at the Mikelsons. I’m sure they know your weakness and they will use it against you, making you lose the battle against them.
If you want to strike your enemies and win, you must go unexpectedly and ready, like a thief in the night, and strike them all.
You need to go to New York now. You need to regain yourself and build yourself to be a strong woman before you can fight back” Arianna said and Hannah nodded in response.
Right now, she didn’t care about anything, she was willing to do just anything for Arianna, all she wanted was to get revenge.
“Arianna, I need one more thing from you,” Hannah said and Arianna raised her eyebrows asking her to go on.
“I need to find the man who raped me. I need to make him pay for what he’s done” Hannah said and Arianna swallowed hard.
“Sure, anything that makes my daughter happy,” Arianna said and Hannah smiled.
It felt good to have a mother again. This woman, Arianna, reminded her so much of her mother. She talks like her mother and acts like her. If she didn’t know her mother’s siblings she would have mistaken Arianna for her mother’s twin.
Hannah’s mother had died of cancer when she was just ten years old. It was a difficult time for her. She didn't have anybody to take care of her, her father had left when he found out her mother had cancer. She was just so little when he left her.
She's been through a lot from childhood and Jeff knew all about it. He knew he was the only one he had in the world and yet he betrayed her. She was going to make all of them pay.
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A male figure is seen sitting inside his office staring at his laptop in front of him. He rubs his hands on his forehead trying to focus but he just couldn't.
The pleas of the lady he's forced himself on came running into his head like a flash. It kept distracting him from working. He just couldn't get her to plead and cry off his mind. He closed his laptop and sighed softly.
Just then his Best friend, Liam walked inside his office, with his hands tucked inside the pocket of his trousers. Liam works in his company as his managing director and assistant.
“Brandon, are you Alright?” Liam, who noticed the look on Brandon’s face asked as he walked in.
“Did you find anything about the girl?” Brandon asked softly and Liam sighed softly.
“No, I didn't” Liam broke the news to him and he slammed his hands on his table, making Liam flinch.
“What do you mean you didn't find her or anything about her? You fucking brought the girl and drugged me to sleep with her. You fucking took her away before I was awake and dumped her in god knows where and you tell me you didn't find her” Brandon yelled. Liam stared at his friend, he was looking as furious as ever.
He wondered why. Liam believes he's done Brandon so much good by giving her a girl on his birthday. Brandon has always been a workaholic, he didn't even have the chance to be with any girl rather than to satisfy himself.
In summary, he hates women in general. and he gave him a girl to sleep with as a birthday gift and he yelled at him, Liam thought and scoffed.
“I didn't bring the girl, I paid some guys to help me bring some random girl and they brought her. According to them, they saw her walking by the street and they abducted her. They could barely recognize her.
I didn't even have the opportunity to see her before she was taken away. I asked the men to drop her off where they found her which they did. No one recognizes her, it would be difficult to know her true identity “ Liam said
“Whoever you paid to abduct her, pay them to find her and get out,” Brandon said coldly and Liam raised his hands in surrender. He wasn't surprised if Brandon told him to get out even though he was his best friend.
Brandon has always been like that. Short tempered and bossy. He wondered how they became friends in the first place because this Brandon of a man is cold-hearted.
“I'll make some calls if I find anything I’ll let you know,” Liam said and with that, he walked out of the office.
Brandon groaned and pushed his laptop from the table making it hit the ground.
“I need to find her,” Brandon groaned. He felt so guilty for forcing himself on the last.
It was his birthday and his best friend Liam had drugged him and brought a strange lady for him to sleep with.
He wasn't in the right sense when he had forced himself on her. He remembered he had walked inside the dark room and located the bed. When he had laid on it he noticed a female figure lying on it.
He was on drugs, he couldn't resist her scent, and he felt like she was calling on him. He could still remember how she had cried helplessly, begging him to let her go but all the pleas fell on deaf ears.
If there was one thing Brandon hated in his life was women. He didn't want to have anything to do with them but now his friend had forced him into one.
He needed to find the lady and make up for what he's done. He would compensate her with money, that would be the best and he would cut her off his life completely.
TBC
“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” Hannah’s voice rang through the boardroom, cool, steady, and razor-sharp. “I believe I’m just in time.”The room froze.All heads turned. A sharp silence fell like a guillotine.Linda’s mouth opened slightly, but no words came out. Her breath caught in her throat, her mind short-circuiting in real time. She hadn’t seen Hannah Colby in weeks, rumors said she was still in Las Vegas. Others whispered she’d gone off the grid after Brandon’s disappearance. In fact she wasn't expecting her to come back.But here she was, standing at the door like she’d never left, like she owned the very air they were breathing.“What the hell is she doing here?” Linda thought, heart racing, eyes narrowing. “She should be halfway across the country. How did she know about this meeting? Has Brandon been found? Does she know something I don’t?”Isabella shifted uncomfortably in her seat, swallowing hard. Her eyes avoided Hannah’s, but the tension in her body gave her away
The flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta lasted just four hours, though for Hannah it felt like an eternity.Once they landed, the two doctors who had accompanied Jessica wasted no time. They transported her directly to the Colby Co. Family Hospital, ensuring she would receive the best care possible.Hannah followed them, her heart pounding with guilt and fear. She stood outside the glass partition of Jessica’s ward, watching as the doctors fitted her with a fresh oxygen mask, attaching wires and monitors that beeped softly in the background.Tears slipped down Hannah’s cheeks before she quickly wiped them away, not wanting anyone to see her weakness. This is my fault… she thought bitterly. If she hadn’t pushed for that escape, Jessica wouldn’t be lying here in a coma. She pressed her palm against the glass, whispering in her heart, Please wake up, Jessica. Please…The doctor finally emerged, his expression weary but professional. He walked over to Hannah and lowered his voice.“You can g
Hannah sat at the small table in their temporary safe house, staring at the message on her phone. The ominous words burned into her mind:“He’s alive. For now.”Her heart pounded, her grip tightening around the device. She re-read the message over and over, searching for hidden meaning, a clue or anything that could give her hope. Brandon was alive. That much was certain. But the “for now” sent chills down her spine.Across from her, Lucas and Teresa were deep in conversation. Lucas leaned against the counter, arms crossed, his jaw clenched. He was tense, ready to explode. Teresa, in contrast, looked calm as ever, but Hannah could tell she was calculating, plotting their next move.“This isn’t random,” Teresa finally said, exhaling smoke from her cigarette. “Someone wants us to know he’s alive, but only just. They’re playing with us.”Lucas pushed off the counter. “Then let’s stop playing games. We track the number, find out who sent the message, and go after them.”Teresa shook her h
Hannah sat at the edge of the bed, her hands clenched into fists on her lap. Her mind was in turmoil. The weight of everything, Brandon’s disappearance, Jessica’s coma, Linda’s relentless scheming, was pressing down on her like a suffocating force.She had barely slept in days. The dark circles beneath her eyes were deep, a clear sign of exhaustion, but she couldn’t afford rest. Not when there was so much at stake.A soft knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts. Lucas stepped in, his expression serious.“You need to make a decision, Hannah,” he said, his voice firm but understanding. “The company is falling apart. Investors are pulling out. The board is leaning toward voting you out. Linda is taking full advantage of this.”Hannah rubbed her temples. “And what would you have me do, Lucas? Walk away from my missing husband to fight corporate battles with your mother?”Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “That’s not what I’m saying. But Colby Co. is Brandon’s legac
Lucas had left the room to make some calls, leaving Hannah and Teresa alone in the dimly lit space. The air between them was thick with unspoken thoughts, with grief and frustration too heavy to voice.Teresa watched Hannah closely. She looked hollow—her eyes distant, her shoulders sagging under a weight no one could carry for her.“You okay?” Teresa finally asked.Hannah blinked and turned her head, forcing a weak smile. “Yeah.”Teresa hummed in response, clearly unconvinced. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a practiced ease. Smoke curled in the air between them.“Do you smoke?” she asked, offering one toward Hannah.Hannah shook her head. “No. I never have.”Teresa chuckled, taking a long drag before exhaling. “Figures.”Silence stretched between them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. It was the silence of two women who understood each other—different, yet bound by shared pain.“My mother-in-law used to hate me too,” Teresa murmured suddenly, he
Teresa sat in the back of a dimly lit bar, the scent of cigarette smoke and aged whiskey thick in the air. The place was quiet, the kind of underground haunt where no one asked questions, where secrets were currency, and where a person could disappear if they weren’t careful.She checked the time on her phone. Her contact was late.Across the table, Hannah fidgeted with the glass of water in front of her, her expression distant, lost in thoughts she wasn’t ready to speak out loud. Lucas sat beside her, his gaze locked on the entrance, his tension palpable.When the door finally creaked open, Teresa’s eyes narrowed as a tall, wiry man entered, his leather jacket scuffed and his face shadowed with stubble. He scanned the room before spotting her and sauntering over.“You’re late, Marco,” Teresa said, her voice edged with impatience.The man—Marco Ruiz—grinned as he slid into the seat across from her. “Good to see you too, Provenzano. You know how it is—hard to stay alive in this busines