Two days later, Elaine Martin, joined them in Bermuda from the U.S. She was the middle-aged, highly-recommended nanny that Vanessa had chosen for Zoe. Both Derek and Rachel had interviewed Elaine over Skype the day before and they were relieved when she’d said she was ready to travel immediately to resume work.When the woman arrived, Rachel was instantly taken with the nanny’s warm nature and friendliness. It was even more satisfying to see that Zoe liked her too.She and Derek spent the first few hours of Elaine’s arrival bringing her up to speed with Zoe’s routines and their expectations going forward. Once all of that was sorted out, the nanny was shown to her room in the villa to settle in and join the family for dinner later on.Derek had hired a team of caterers led by a renowned chef in town to prepare their meal for the evening. He was in the mood for some fine dining but he didn’t feel like going out, so he decided to bring the experience to the villa instead.“I think I sho
“That’s impossible!” Derek exclaimed for the hundredth time since they’d left the resort mall where he’d come face-to-face with the woman who claimed to be his dead mother.They were back in their suite after Derek bolted away from the mall like an escaping fugitive, with Rachel and the bodyguards chasing after him. It was as if he had seen a ghost and he had been badly shaken ever since.“There has to be a logical explanation for what just happened,” said Rachel. “How is it possible that she has been alive for nearly nine years and nobody found out about it. Has she been in Bermuda the whole time or does she come here from time to time to commemorate her death?”“How would I know?” Derek snapped. “I’m just as confused as you are. This is insane! My mother is supposed to be dead, not alive, and walking around in Bermuda looking like Ariel the little mermaid!”“I agree. She does look hot for a dead woman,” Rachel joked, trying to ease the tension in the air.Derek chuckled. “Sounds lik
His vulnerability touched her and Rachel returned to sit beside him on the bed. “I know, but we have to. I know this is very difficult for you and I can’t even imagine just how distressed you are feeling inside right now,” she said softly. “What can I do to make you feel better?”He leaned forward and rested his forehead on her shoulder. “I feel as if my world has been flipped upside down. What else am I going to discover to be a lie about my life?”“I don’t know, but I do know that Zoe and I are real, and I am here for you.”He lifted his head and looked into her eyes. “Thank you,” he said quietly.“For what?”“For being you. You’re amazing, Rachel.”She smiled. “So are you, Derek. Now, let’s get dressed and solve this mystery once and for all.”“I didn’t bring any change of clothes,” he said. “I didn’t envisage that we would be meeting a mystery hostess for lunch. There goes our romantic getaway!”“Stop whining,” she laughed. “We’ll have many other opportunities to have romantic get
Yasmin was quiet for a few seconds, trying to compose herself before continuing her story. It was clear to Rachel that even after all these years, the woman was still affected by her past.“I was so upset, my mother was livid, and my father was ashamed and remorseful. He just couldn’t see a way out and Jeremy wouldn’t help him unless I married him. I made my father set up a meeting between Jeremy and me with hopes of convincing him to let me off the hook. When I met him at his office and told him that I wasn’t interested in marrying him, he threatened to pull out his money from my father’s company and that when it finally collapsed, he would buy it and I would not have an inheritance or a dime to my name. It was cruel, but that was Jeremy Fraser for you. He was a cruel, manipulative, and heartless man.”“That does not sound like my father,” said Derek.“Of course, not,” said Yasmin with a sad smile. “You never go to see that side of him, did you? Anyway, I married him five days after
“What do you mean by you have been watching me?” Derek asked in surprise. “How?”Yasmin exhaled slowly. “I know you are probably going to hate me more than you already do by the time I am done with this next round of my confession,” she said and sounded tired even though her face still looked flawlessly beautiful and her youthful skin still glowed as before.“I don’t hate you,” said Derek. “I simply don’t know you.”“I understand,” she said indulgently. “Now, back to my confession. I have a friend named Ariana Connolly. We’ve been friends since high school and all through college. She was my maid-of-honor when I married your father. She was with me all through those years when I suffered emotional abuse from your father and when I seemingly spiraled out of control and started getting involved with different men. You see, Ariana has a daughter. This brilliant girl finished top of her class in Princeton and her dream was to work in the Fraser empire with you.”“Me?”“Yes, and when Arian
“What are you going to do now?” Rachel asked Derek when they had returned to their suite.“About what?”“About everything Yasmin said. What do you make of all of that?”“To be honest, I don’t know. I feel as if the ground has just opened and I’m dropping into nothingness. None of that made sense. She should have just left me alone.”Rachel understood his frustration and she felt sorry for him. Finding out that everything he had ever believed about his parents’ relationship all these years might have been a lie was a lot to take in. Even she didn’t know how to react to it all.“I still can’t believe that Diane had been spying on me the whole time,” he said. “But that at least makes sense; that’s why that woman knows so much about our itinerary, it’s because Diane has been telling her about our movements. I am so annoyed I feel like yelling at her. I should fire her disloyal ass right now.”“Don’t do that, Derek,” Rachel appealed. “Diane was just being used. I’m sure she didn’t think th
Alfred Rickman’s estate in the English countryside reminded Rachel of Downtown Abbey. The ginormous manor house was surrounded by lush greenery, woods, and many hills in the distance. The lawn was trimmed to perfection and the two fountains in front of the house were reminiscent of those exquisite marble statues in Rome. The place looked like something out of a Beatrix Potter storybook.Their host had sent a helicopter to pick them up, while their bodyguards would join them later in a rental car that they’d gotten at the airport. It was Rachel’s first helicopter ride and she couldn’t hide her excitement. Zoe kept giggling and pointing at everything in sight, and Derek gladly indulged her playfulness.When they landed, a butler showed up to lead them into the house.“Welcome, Mr. Fraser,” the man greeted Derek politely. “It is good to see you again.”“Thank you, Connor. It’s good to see you too,” replied Derek. “This is my family; Rachel, my girlfriend, Zoe, my daughter, and this is El
True to Alfred’s prediction, the ballroom of the huge manor was filled with guests who had only been invited a few hours earlier. They were all dressed to the hilt in beautiful ball gowns and tuxedos, it was as if they had been transported back to the Victorian age and Rachel could hardly believe her eyes.She was dressed in a cyan-colored ball gown that was made of velvet and tulle. It had a low square neckline that showed off her full bosom, and it had mid-length sleeves that ended in bell shapes with frills on the edges, and then she wore a pair of white elbow-length gloves too. Her hair had been styled by a hairdresser that Giselle brought, and they’d added some extension in it to create a high bouffant with a cascade of tendrils framing her face.“You look ravishing,” said Derek when he spotted her. He was dressed in a tuxedo with tails and his blond hair has been slicked back with hair gel, giving him a younger appearance.“And you look positively dashing,” she replied with a gr