CHAPTER 6

Eva Brooks:

"Cruz, is this what you want? To break up with me because of your slut of a sister?" Maddison shrieked, but Cruz stood unfazed.

"Yes, babe. Your brother got kicked out by your parents because of his bad boy lifestyle at college and you accommodate him. Why cannot you accommodate my own sister?" Cruz asked, his tone sharp. Maddison fumbled to find words.

"You cannot compare my brother to your sister. Noah's issue is different. Fine, if Eva stays, I don't want to see her anywhere around the company. She is fired!" Maddison declared and turned to go back upstairs. My brother sighed and turned to face me.

"Come on, Eva, let me show you to the guest room. Tomorrow, I will accompany you to see our parents when they must have calmed down," Cruz spoke softly. I stood there worriedly.

"Cruz, I don't want you and your wife to be having marital issues because of me," I spoke calmly, but Cruz smiled.

"Don't worry. I will talk to Maddison," he replied. I watched Noah sit on the couch, but his brown eyes were on me.

"Come on." Cruz led me to the guest room and I marvelled—the guest room was bigger than my room at home.

"Brother, are you sure you and your wife won't quarrel again because of me?" I asked, my voice filled with concern, but he shook his head.

"Don't worry about Maddison. What will you like to eat, or have you eaten?" Cruz asked. My stomach growled in hunger at his inquiry.

"It's fine. I will send for your meal," Cruz said, turning and walking out of the room.

Sighing, I moved over to the white couch to sit down. My phone rang; it was my older sister, Elora, calling. We weren't so close, especially since she had tried to secretly date Jacob Stone, but he didn't spare her a glance and reported to me what she did. Since then, our relationship has been strained.

"Hello, Sister," I said, my voice calm. Elora's sharp voice resonated in my ear. "Eva, how can you cheat on Jacob? I thought you said you love him very much and you won't cheat on him?"

"It was a mistake. It wasn't intentional," I explained for the umpteenth time. Elora scoffed.

"What will you have said before? That you didn't willingly cheat on Jacob? Eva, your wedding with Jacob was just three months away, and yet you cheated. I am ashamed of you. Do you know Jacob has called off the wedding engagement and ordered us to pay him 15 million dollars? Where do you want us to get that money from?"

"I am not going to pay Jacob. I didn't cheat on him willingly. So I am not the one to be blamed," I replied firmly, but Elora snapped.

"Shut up, Eva. If you hadn't captured Jacob's attention before I did—I was the one who invited you to the Elites Club five years ago, and you snatched Jacob before I could even say hi to him," Elora ranted.

I sighed. I knew my sister wanted Jacob, but he didn't like her. He came to meet me instead.

"Sister, I don't want to talk about this. I will visit Jacob and try to negotiate with him. You don't have to worry about paying him," I replied, my voice calm, but Elora yelled, "How about Dad's company? He lost a lot of clients because he couldn't fund the loan. You need to beg Jacob to take you back. You better go and look for him and beg him." Elora ended the call, and I sighed heavily.

Knock, knock.

The sound of someone knocking startled me, and I moved over to the door to find out who was there. When I pulled the door open, I met a young woman standing there like a maid. Her hands clutching a tray of food.

"Hi, I brought your dinner," she said. I saw Noah walk past her to the next door after mine.

"Alright. Thank you," I replied, collecting the tray and going back into my room. I locked the door and set the meal on the table, before sitting down to eat the delicious jollof rice and fried chicken.

The delicious taste soothed my body and calmed my mind. After finishing the food, I drank from the bottle of water, then my mind wandered off to Ethan Owen.

I pulled my bag and brought out the blue card Ethan gave me. He was offering me a job at his company for 2 million dollars, while Maddison had already sacked me from her tech company.

Even though I'm a software developer, I decided to accept working for Ethan as his secretary. After all, the pay was relatively high and now that I needed to repay Jacob, I knew I could only rely on Ethan's 2-million-dollar secretary job.

I called the number on the card, my hand trembling as I heard the call ringing. *Who is going to pick up? Is it Ethan's assistant or customer care?* I pondered. The card had Owen's Group CEO printed on it. Name—Ethan Owen.

The call rang and there was no response. Trying again, I sat with unease as I called the number a second time. A knock on my door startled me, but I was eager to wait for Ethan's response. Unfortunately, Ethan didn't answer, so I sighed and moved over to the door to see who was there.

Pulling the door open, I caught Noah standing there.

"What do you want?" I asked him coldly. He smiled at me.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to know how you're doing and if we can be friends," he said, his brown eyes glinting with interest as he peered at my face. Noah was taller than me and had a well-built body, but he was my age-mate—I am a 25-year-old woman.

Shaking my head, I replied with a stern voice, "No, we cannot be friends. Because your sister just accused me some minutes ago that I would sleep with you. So I cannot be close to you. Stay away from me, and focus on your life."

I turned to go back, but Noah stopped me, grasping my left hand. "Wait, it's not like you're a kid, or I am. My sister doesn't have the right to control me. I honestly want to be your friend. Please…."

"Well, sorry, I don't need your friendship. My best friend betrayed me, and I cannot blindly trust a new friend whether male or female. I want to be alone at the moment. So shoo away." I walked back into the room and slammed the door in his face.

Exhaling, the sound of my phone ringing caught my attention, and I moved over to the table to grasp it quickly before the call ended.

I was taken aback to see that Ethan was the one calling me back. My hands trembled as I sat on the chair and answered the call.