Chapter 17ANDREW'S POVThe car pulled up at my familiar compound and even in my drunken state, I could tell I was home. Connor was the designated driver I called on whenever Alfredo was indisposed or had been sent on an errand. He knew where I lived without following my GPS and he was always excited when I called him to drive me home, because it meant he would be making more money than he had the entire day. Connor and I met three years ago when I had gotten into his taxi after a heated argument with my father and made him drive me around the whole day without a destination. He was a lively kid, about eighteen when we met and twenty-one now. He made my mood lighter with his non-stop chattering during the drive, not bothering to ask me if I had enough money to pay him for making him drive around for hours. He took me around the city and showed me parts of it I hadn't seen or was just too busy to notice. He drove me home later that day, fully compensated for his time and gas. He'd foll
Chapter 18SARAH'S POV"Small world."It was just a term, a cliche. I thought the world was pretty large and meeting someone you never thought you would was fate, destiny even, and not a function of how small the world was. So when I ran into someone I'd never thought I would, in a place I never thought was likely, I didn't say "small world," I just thought it was meant to happen. That was how I felt when I met Ariana for the first time. Fate brought her to me because it was meant to be and as I stared at the photograph in my shaky hands, I realized I was right. The world wasn't small but destiny connected people together in places and ways you never thought possible.If it wasn't so, why would Laura know Ariana Shepherd? The same one that came to me pregnant and helpless. Why would I be holding a picture of her in my hands right now?"You mean to tell me that you worked in the same company?" I asked, unsure if I had heard her correctly. I didn't need to ask because I was looking at a
Chapter 19LORENA'S POVI couldn't sleep a wink last night. I looked at the mirror now and noticed the dark circles under my eyes. I grunted and kicked my feet. He would know. He would know that I'd thought about him the whole night, that my intimate areas still throbbed from his touch. My nipples hardened as I remembered his teeth on them and I felt the moist between my legs as I remembered what his fingers did down there. Why did I let him do that? He was drunk, but I wasn't. I had no excuse as to why I let him touch me. All I knew was that he made me feel things I had never felt before.But he was bad news. He was a loan shark and a thug. He had a gun pointed at my father's head for goodness sake!I looked at the mirror again and noticed the blush on my cheeks."Get it together Lorena!" I chided myself. I couldn't let Andrew see me like this. If I continued to blush for no reason, he would know that I hadn't forgotten about last night like he had asked me to.I went into the bath
CHAPTER 20ANDREW'S POV.Alfredo called. He'd been calling for quite a while but I couldn't answer it because I still hadn't gotten over my hangover and hearing about work would give me a headache, so I ignored it. He sent me a text afterwards and when I read it, I didn't know how to feel."That man Tanner has been visiting the casino and making a scene for days now. He's begging to see his daughter." The message read.I almost forgot about Mr Marcus Tanner. There was no way he would sit still and do nothing when his only child was with a brutal creditor of his. I guess being with Lorena blinded me to the real world. I'd been wrapped up in my bubble for too long and it was time to get out.I was angry with my father but I knew he lived for the company and I still had to prove to him that I could handle it when he eventually retired. I needed him to see that the son he had looked down on could end up being what the company needed to expand its reach. That was the best revenge I could h
CHAPTER 21LORENA'S POVMy father never could hide his emotions. He didn't have a solid poker face, I guess that's why he loses at the tables. He has never won a game, at least not any one worthwhile. So when he hugged me and kissed me, happy that I was alright, I knew something else weighed on him.I tried to brush it off, maybe he was just worried. Why wouldn't he be distraught when his only daughter was forced to pay for his own carelessness? It was probably just guilt. I was happy to see him too, but a part of me was upset, angry even. He was supposed to protect me and not expose me to the danger that was Andrew.I looked around, realizing that he was alone. Why was mother not with him? This might be quite the scary place, especially for someone like my mom who'd never really done anything apart from bake and take care of us. But that notwithstanding, she would forget everything else if it involved protecting me. She should have come along. Where was she?He must have read my mind
CHAPTER 22SARAH'S POVMy heart beat thumped in my chest and I've had to take multiple deep breaths to calm my raging nerves in the last ten minutes. I was sitting in the visitor's area at JK Conglommerates, my hands clutching tight to my bag, waiting for Laura to finish her investigations. Since I didn't work there, I couldn't go in to ask about a former staff so Laura did it for me. She was in a better position to get all the information she needed.I stood up immediately I spotted Laura coming out of the office and met her halfway, my desperation going through the roof."What happened? What did he say? Does he remember her?" I asked all at once."Relax Sarah. I understand that this is very important but you need to calm down so we'd make rational decisions and you won't end up with a heart attack." Laura chided me."Fine, I'm calm. Now tell me what he said.""There's no official record of Ariana Shepherd in the employees database anymore. It's been so long and it seems all traces o
CHAPTER 23ANDREW'S POV.She was sulking.I knew she was going to be upset, but I didn't expect her to just sit there, sulking and thinking. She was supposed to be lashing out at me, she was supposed to yell and kick me like she did when I dragged her away days ago. But she followed me immediately I told her we had to leave, like she didn't want to be there either.What had they talked about? The atmosphere had been too tense when I'd walked in and both of them were crying. Lorena's eyes were puffy and the tip of her nose was red from wiping it. She just sat there and looked out the window, not saying a word to me. It was very uncomfortable. The thoughts on my head was way worse. Did something else happen? What if her mother had hurt herself? She didn't accompany her husband to come see her only daughter that was taken from her.I tried to focus on the road but I found myself stealing glances at her every now and then."Are you okay?" I asked, deciding that I had had enough of the sus
CHAPTER 24LORENA'S POVI held the phone in my hands longer than I'd intended. Why did I hesitate? I desperately wanted to speak with my mother so she would tell me the truth and just clear the air. It was probably all A misunderstanding, nothing more. Everything father had told me was a lie, it had to be.Maybe it was just his way of cutting me off because they couldn't afford to pay back the money. Maybe all this was a ruse to avoid the responsibility and make me stay with Andrew forever. He might have decided to sell me after all and he needed a back story for that and "we're not your real parents" was a good one. Very creative.Then again, I had evidence in my hands. The picture he had given me at the casino. I stared at it now, holding it up with shaky hands and again, my eyes immediately focused on the woman in the middle she held a baby in her hands and my mother stood next to her with another baby. Dad stood right next to the woman, a goofy smile on his face. But my mother and