At Norman's Villa, Sly alighted from his Cadillac Beast, with Monica in his arms.
He was met at the entrance by Christiana and Elsie. They were not sleeping because their master and mistress had not yet returned.Sly ignored pleasantries, strode to Monica’s room, gently placing her on the bed like an egg. Elsie was in tow and just as Sly caught sight of her, he dismissed her. “You can retire to bed. I will personally take care of her.” Elsie retreated but Monica was confused. How can he take care of her? They were in the room alone in the middle of the night. Uncertainty crawled her mind as she clung tightly to Sly’s blazer she wore.“You don’t have to send her away. Let her take care of me instead,” she suggested.
Sly scoffed. “How are you going to explain the bruises on your face? Please don’t make anyone think I abused you or anything.”Monica was flushed. She hadn&rsA frown crept onto Sly's perfect features, as he gawked at the newspaper in his hand, making Monica nervous. The written panic on his face was disturbing. On the front page of the most popular newspaper, was Sly, kneeling in front of Monica, massaging her feet in front of onlookers. If not for the caption, it would have been a perfect introduction of his wife. There would have been absolutely nothing wrong with it.However, the image had the caption, 'Mr. Norman ends Business event to search for his missing wife.' It went on with a short detail of how Sly walked in with Monica and how she couldn't be found during the introduction, bringing the event to an abrupt end. Not only did it sound irresponsible, but they also estimated how much business opportunity Norman Holdings has probably lost due to this decision.It wasn't what Sly wanted the public to see. His problem wasn't with the losses, but the fact that Monica would be complicated and blamed for the whole thing. The
Sly recovered from his shock and mumbled the only words that came to play. "Let's talk about this in person, not on the phone," his tone was heavy as he cast a glance in Monica's direction and hung up the phone immediately."Let's begin the tour," he announced and immediately stood up and stretched his hand towards Monica. She took it hesitantly and stood up as Sly led her out of the dining to the living room. "You already know where this is. The space is quite huge, which is why we have a dual setup," he explained."During indoor parties, we can entertain different guests simultaneously," he added. Monica admired the designer's choice of leather for the furniture. Everything had a white theme. Sly led her down the stairs to the garage."This is the underground garage. It has twenty cars so far but can take at least forty," Sly explained casually. There was no arrogance in his tone. It was more like explaining the different tastes of vegetables.Monica gaw
Monica was flustered. Even so, Sly was momentous and she feared any kind of argument between them. Slowly, she unbuttoned the shirt, loosely allowing it to fall, exposing a lip-licking gorgeous bikini. Her face was so heated she couldn't look up. She didn't know what he was thinking or what he would do, significantly feeling his heated gaze on her and stood frozen for five seconds. "Put on the shirt and let's go," he muttered, turning to leaveWithin the swift of the wind, Monica had put the shirt back on, sighing relieved. She lifted her head in time to catch a smirk in the corner of Sly's mouth but it seemed to be gone the instant she caught it. She trod after him through the living room to the stairs, leading to a door."This is the gym. I do work out a lot at dawn. You are usually asleep then," he pointed out, making Monica uncomfortable. Yes, she loved to sleep but most probably because there wasn't much to do. Yet, hearing Sly blurt it out, was a ringing alarm on h
His face was inches from hers, his breath fanning her face. His eyes were dark with lust. He was serious and she knew he meant his words. She couldn't risk losing her first kiss in a contract marriage."Next question," she said, sinking into the water and swimming away. The corners of Sly's lips curled upward. He swam after her, catching on and caging between the stair rails. He smirked, "Good girl. Tell me, what is your passion? What do you want to be in the future." He was so close, Monica felt uneasy and shifted her gaze."One year of my future is already decided so my plan after that is to venture into the Finance and accounting field. I enjoyed finance and accounting in school and I know I would enjoy working with it but my passion is to learn more about electronics and build a business around it."Sly never expected to have such a detailed outline of her passion from her and instantly, he felt something he never felt for any woman - Admiration. With the se
Monica had never thought about a situation like that. She never thought of a plan to safeguard herself in that direction. Her silence was a clear indication that her father was right. She was too naive for someone as experienced as Sly. He has shown her so much kindness and care, which naturally makes her like him but what if there was more to it? Since she didn't have an answer to the question, she wisely kept mute.********At the Del family car park, Sly was sitting at the driver's seat of his car, in a heated argument with his father. He did not have the slightest idea about how his father heard about the news, since the media had been cleared. However, upon careful analysis, someone at the event had relayed every information to him. Mr. Del was both worried and enraged. He just hoped that Sly wouldn't be hurt for the second time."Who is she Sly?" His father's baritone voice rang from the end of the line.Sly was unfazed. He was pushed to the hole an
The drive home was in complete silence, both sides engrossed in thought and not noticing the other's disenchantment. Sly, who has been a critical thinker and always thought through everything, missed a vital part of his plan. How could he have envisioned pregnancy when everything was a contract?Nonetheless, it wasn't easy to fool the real world. They would be expecting an heir real soon. For the first time, he didn't know how to get around this part of the contract. Despite everything, he decided not to think too much into it. After all, he still had over five months before his family's arrival.******Monica woke up to Sly's banging on the door. For the first time, she set an alarm to sleep yet, the alarm hadn't sounded but when she saw Sly in workout clothes, the grogginess in her eyes instantly dissipated."Meet me at the gym in five minutes," Sly commanded before he exited her room. He did it on purpose to avoid any kind of argument. Monica was having a
"Love? are you insane? This is purely business okay?" Monica was blushing at her own words. She remembered vividly the first time they met. He told her she was plain and there was no way he would be attracted to her. Coupled with her parents' advice, she had blocked the slightest chance of entertaining the fact that Sly would ever love her."Oh is it? Don't you feel your stomach giddy when he comes around or your heart racing when he comes close to you?" Gertrude would not relent.Monica felt she was going to have a heart attack with Gertrude's ceaseless questions and decided to find a way of escape."Come on, my heart races whenever I am around strangers so it isn't strange to feel that way around him. Anyway, your big mouth tells me that you are fine. I should call him to come and take me home.""Hold on, he came to drop you off?" Gertrude's voice was laced with shock, her eyes almost popping out of their socket. Monica was smart academically but completely naive
After confessing his true state of mind, Sly bid James farewell, leaving the latter dumbfounded at the cafe. He drove back to Gertrude's house to pick up Monica.Gertrude watched the couple from her window upstairs, her mind buried in worry concerning her friend. Monica sat at the passenger seat, her mood culpable. Sly noticed the shift and offhandedly asked,"How did it go?"Monica sighed. "It was good. She just had..." Monica wanted to tell Sly about Gertrude's breakup but remembering how he warned her against matters of love, she thought against it."She just had what?" Sly asked, noticing her uncompleted statement.Monica forced a smile, "Never mind. It's just girls' talk. Nothing to worry about."Sly wasn't convinced. "You don't expect me to believe that. Come on, tell me," Sly's tone was relaxed and stimulating. Monica almost gave in."It's not something you would like to hear but can I ask you something?"Sly shrugge