Behold, it was Noah Harper!
"Greetings Master Harper. I feel honoured to have you in my house. I hope my family hasn't offended the great Master Harper in any way?" Williams said carefully when he finally found his tongue.
"Emily, get up and come here," Noah called out to her. The voice was cold, domineering and filled with authority. Emily obeyed without hesitation. She stood up and went to him that instant. Noah was a man of few words. He scrutinized everyone and said,
"Stay away from her and trouble her no more." He turned to Emily and said,
"Let's go."
The family members were too shocked and scared to speak. Emily picked her bag from the table and followed him out.
"What? Wasn't that Noah Harper?" Rose spoke first breaking the silence.
"I hope we have not offended the first master in any way, else, we will be doomed," Williams said in fright.
"I pray so too," Olivia added.
They never believed Noah would defend her and even warn them to stay away from her.
Jayden was in his own world. How? Emily and Harper? How did she get thus far? He knew his family was no match for the Harper's family. He knew he must quit now or he would regret it. Harper was a merciless fellow and could destroy his family at the snap of his fingers and in a twinkle of an eye.
"Emily will never get away. But she has a strong man backing her. Nevertheless, I will deal with her my own way," he swore and walked away more furious than he had been in the beginning. He had never been insulted and belittled as he was today. He was completely relegated to the background the moment Noah Harper appeared.
"Emily will definitely pay," he muttered again.
"Thank you for saving me," Emily said to him the moment they were out of earshot. He didn't reply. He pretended not to hear her. He opened the door and got in. He had driven himself to the house. Emily followed suit and entered the car.
She smiled in satisfaction as the car drove off. It was a goodbye from her hell of a home. She had known no peace and happiness there in her 21 years of existence. Growing up, she was despised by her parents. She was always discriminated and she suffered from autism when she was three years old. When she got the illness, her parents didn't care about her. They sent her to an orphanage where a certain Governesses was said to look after kids with that kind of disease. Emily found a mother in Governesses Shields. She took care of her like her own child. Her biological parents forgot about her and seldom came to visit her. When she was seven years old, she was sent back home as she had recovered. From that day, things returned to normal. She didn't know parental love. She wanted to go back to the orphanage. She didn't even get to visit Governesses Shields often. She only saw her once and sadly, the governesses relocated when she was 15 years and she never heard of her.
The ringing of a phone disrupted the serenity in the car and pulled her out of her thoughts. It couldn't be daydream. She had no pleasant memories of home.
He slid his slender and pretty fingers across the screen and answered the call. Emily found this act mesmerising. She looked at him closely this time. He was indeed a very handsome and sexy youth. The thought of this handsome man driving his whole length into her last night made her wet. She was really taken to cloud 9 the previous night. She could swear she wanted more.
"What has come over me? How can I be thinking of such?" she quickly chastitised herself.
"Good evening dad," Noah spoke calmly to the caller. It was his father, Joshua Harper.
"What is it I hear about you son?" he asked.
"Nothing, father."
"See me tonight," Joshua instructed.
"Okay father," Noah replied and ended the call.
His voice was still cold. Emily couldn't figure out what sort of relationship he had with his father.
The car stopped in front of a magnificent building. They stepped out of the car and Emily took in the glorious sight. The house was really beautiful. The surroundings, the well planned walkways, the garden and so many other things.
"Won't you go in? Or will you stand there gawping?" Noah chided her.
"I am sorry," she quickly apologised and moved on.
He opened the door and she followed him into the house. The house was bigger and better than she had imagined. The exterior was nothing compared to the interior. Emily's jaw almost dropped but she quickly stopped herself on time.
Emily was surprised to see no household servant in sight.
"They only come during the day," Noah explained guessing her thoughts correctly.
He liked a life of solitude and lived one. He didn't want anyone meddling in his private affairs. He had a reticent nature and didn't want anyone to know anything about him. The servants only came during the day to discharge their duties and left at night. He lived alone in that big house.
Noah walked up the stairs with Emily following closely behind. Everything was in place in the house. It was a first class house. Noah stopped and pointed at a door.
"This will be your room from now. Everything you need will be sent over tomorrow but your basic toiletries are in there for now."
"Thank you," replied Emily.
"Dinner is set downstairs. Heat it in the microwave if you want."
"Okay, thank you sir," Emily said again. She was sincerely grateful.
Noah turned and walked away.
"Mr Harper," Emily called halting him.
He turned and glanced at her.
"I am sorry. I hadn't planned any of these. Believe me please. It wasn't intentional. I was drugged and sent to your room last night. It was supposed to be Jayden's room but there was a mistake. It wasn't premeditated," Emily tried to explain again.
"Lies. I won't believe any of those your despicable lies. Listen, stay away from me and don't be found wanting. We have signed a contract," he hissed and walked into one of the rooms at a farther end. He slammed the door shut.
Noah lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His room was well furnished and was everything a standard room should be. A large bookshelf was at one end of the room. It was always filled with the latest novels. He stretched his hand a picked the novel on his bedside table. He usually read novels to pass time. He finished one every night and it was replaced with a new one in the morning by the servant. Unknown to anyone, he had insomnia. He seldom slept , hence, he used the novels to pass time. As he took the book, a photo fell out.
What was that and where did it come from. He looked at the picture and he froze momentarily. Behind the picture, the name of the person was written. A
name that was forbidden in Noah's world.
A pack of chips was thrown at him and he caught it. On looking up, he saw his friend, Frank. “Man! You always know the right thing to bring,” Noah said and opened the chips and began snacking on them. “Sure. I knew you would need that.”“It's been like forever. It's good to see you,” Noah stood up and shook hands with his friend. “What I like more is that you look so bright now. No longer the dull and sad young man of some months ago. I'm glad you have recovered,” Frank intoned. “I don't want to keep regretting. I only hope to find the answers soon. Once again, thanks for the chips. I so much needed it cos this work is a whole lot.”“Let's hang out later today, will you be free?”“Err…” Noah started but his friend interrupted. “Yes, you will. Clear your schedule. It's been a long time since we saw each other. Almost eight months, I deserve a better treatment. You are coming, right?”Noah laughed and threw up his hands in a mock surrender. As he promised, Noah arranged his schedu
“It's fine. I'm good,” he finally said. “Thank you sir. Liam, leave…” she began but Noah cut in,“I said it's fine. Let him be.”“Yes sir,” the teacher said, unsure if she heard correctly. Seeing her still standing there, Noah gestured her to leave and she did so immediately. “My baby boy. Let's round up the competition and I'll see you after that, okay?”“Okay daddy!”Noah finally stood up and led Liam back to where he was to receive his prize. To everyone seated in that room, Noah was a perfect gentleman who took care of a child that ran to his arms. What they didn't know was that he was the boy's father. Only a few teachers who were from Liam's school knew that After the handing of prizes and the end of the competition, Noah and the other important guests filed out of the hall. Jones didn't make it anymore due to unforeseen circumstances. “Congratulations! Liam. You made our school proud!” Mrs Lane, the organising teacher for the competition in their school said to him.“Thank
Then the boy bowed and walked back to his seat. Noah sat up, suddenly interested. One thing that didn't escape Noah's notice was the additional last name. He guessed Emily was waiting for the boy to get used to Muxin again before tactfully striking out his original surname, which was his too. He didn't know Liam was participating in that competition. It became clearer to him why the boy had been asking him so many questions in mathematics lately. He enrolled him into the competition as he promised and he had been coaching him relentlessly, irrespective of his mood. Liam had a tablet, specifically for study and that was where every lesson went on, online. Noah hadn't had much time to check his messages to attend to messages outside academic issues from his son. Liam asked the questions using his study tablet and his father responded. There was more or less no personal interaction between them in the study tablet. He took out his phone at this point and checked his messages. Truly, he
A few months had passed and Emily had gotten over the divorce and was living happily with her son. She thought life had finally given her a happily ever after but no. Life has other plans and it wasn't time for a break yet. Noah sat in his office in the USA. He returned the previous day and was in his office that morning, drinking coffee. Following the divorce, Noah decided to leave the country and go back to the United Kingdom where he stayed after he got married to Emily ten years ago. Jones supported him too. According to him, he needed a break and he could use that opportunity to look after a branch of his company down there. He stole a glance at the clock and sighed. It was 8:30 am. He took up his phone and dialed a number. “Hey! You better start coming if you don't want me to kill you,” he said as soon as the call was answered. “It hasn't gotten to killing me, you brat! I know you love me too much to do so. Don't worry, I'll be there in no time, okay?” his friend, Jones, ans
They drank in silence and as Jones predicted, Noah started feeling better and light headed with time. Jones allowed him to drink even when he was drunk. He wanted him to get drunk so he would sleep that night. He knew his friend very well and knew his reaction when he was looking for Emily over ten years ago. Now that he had lost her, he feared the worst for Noah. His friend loved his wife dearly and the three years he spent with her had been a memorable one. “Enough. It's okay, that's enough, this will help you,” Jones said and reached out to take his wine glass from him. Noahbdidn't say a word as was typical of him. Rather, he filled his glass one more time and gulped the contents. Then he took his car keys and stood up. This action caused Jones to raise a brow and look at him in surprise. “Noah? Where do you think you are going?”“Home. You asked me to stop drinking right now.”“Home? Like this?”“Do you think I'm drunk, Jones? No, I'm not and that's because I learnt how to drink
Emily stared at her friend, Gu Yanxi with her mouth half open. To her alone, Gu Yanxi told the full details of her disappearance. “I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say,” she whispered, utterly dumbfounded at the recent news. “Let's talk about something else, I don't want to recall that. It's disheartening. I can't even…” Gu Yanxi started but the tears beclouded her words. Emily pulled her into her embrace.“Don't cry, you should not cry over people like her, they are not to be trusted. Let's all happy that you came out alive. Now, you will be very wary of her. Wipe your tears, dearest.” Gu Yanxi wiped her tears and sat up. “Tell me about yourself. How have you been all these while?” “Nothing really, it's been a busy…” Emily started but Gu Yanxi interrupted.“Your ring. Where's it?”“What?”“Emily? Did you lose your wedding ring?”Emily looked at her hands, bare of the expensive diamond ring. She didn't know how to explain to her friend that she has divorced Noah.“Say som