MARK“Everyone knows that Alexa has been madly in love with you from the very first day she set her eyes on you, way before we even met.”The words still kept ringing in my head even as I arrived back at my mansion in good health. It was as though I was hearing the love word for the first time.Alexa was in love with me before now? Did she know me before I arrived at Mr. Silver’s house that fateful day?I didn’t get any answer to all the many questions that were flying through my head, majorly because after Ivy stormed out, I was too stunned to have said anything. Then Alexa had turned and walked out too.It had been a brief moment of emotions for me, especially, and before I could come out of it and ask Alexa about what Ivy said, I was told that she had already left. Now I was back at my house, strong and better, but with confusion in my head.There was also the revelation that Doctor Jones revealed to me, which was intense, and that too, I did not get answers to it. Ivy ensured that
IVY“I just want to hide my head in shame, mum,” I said to my mum as I buried my face in my hand. “We have worked so hard to get here, and now I have ruined everything,” I sobbed deeply.She stayed quiet, as she would usually do most times, and her silence always spoke the loudest volumes, because I knew without a doubt that she was already plotting something, which was why I was always confident to run to her for everything.She always had solutions to every single problem.After I left Mark’s ward at the hospital, I had realized that I made a terrible mistake by revealing Alexa’s feelings for him, but then again, I had been in the most agitated state, not knowing what to do and the words had just come out.It had saved me from that confrontation, but I had ruined things in the process.“Mark is going to call off the engagement; I am sure of it,” I continued when she remained quiet. “Maybe I could have found something else to say, but at that time, I was too nervous to think of somet
ALEXAReturning to my office seemed like a horrible idea, because I could not stop being agitated. Fortunately, my assistant didn’t have any more bad news for me, so I simply asked her to change the door sign to close and close for the day.He knows now; what next is going to happen?Or maybe I might be the one over-thinking things or overreacting. Mark had never cared about me, not even after I nursed him back to good health and stayed by his side for years. No, he never cared. Most men would have already known that I was hopelessly in love with him by then, but Mark Ronaldo, because he was still in love with Ivy, was too blind to see.Why else would I accept to marry him in the blink of an eye? Why would I still stay even after Ivy returned and tried to get him back? Even if I had taken care of him when he was in coma, I should have left the moment he woke up, but I didn’t. It had been for devotion, but every other sacrifice I had made wasn’t.It was for love.I continued to pace ab
MARKEverything that had happened in the last couple of hours continued to plague my thoughts. Ivy had lied to me, and I had been stupid enough to let the one woman who stood with me and nurtured me back to health instead.I really wished now that I could turn back the hands of time. I would have stopped that divorce by every means possible. Now it dawned on me why I could only get aroused by Alexa Silver. It was like that with her because she was the only one my body was connected to when it was shut down in coma. Everyone around me had lied. They all knew, yet they had allowed me to live in lies for years! Doctor Jones knew; maybe he should be the one to get arrested first. Vector, the one person I thought was my best friend also knew, but he decided to take Ivy’s side. All along, I had thought that he had a fond likeness for Alexa, which was why all the years that we were married, he never had any ill thing to say about her. Yet, he had also lied to me.Ivy’s deception had been t
MARKThere was nothing that I could have said that would have changed Alexa’s mind. The resolve in her eyes had been firm.There was nothing else I could have done than to walk away with the last dignity that I had.Leaving didn’t mean that I would stop trying. Everything just happened, so I tried to understand that Alexa was still dealing with the emotions of her secret being revealed. All I needed to do was to give her enough time, and also impress her.“She cannot continue to turn me down when she eventually sees how important I am to her business,” I said to myself.Alexa was a businesswoman now, and surely, she would come to understand the power of influence and power over businesses sooner than later.As I drove back home, I began to think of ways to step in as her savior. I wasn’t a man who chased after women, but right now, the only thing I could think of doing was chasing Alexa Silver and wooing her all over again. Something shifted in me the moment Ivy made that huge reveal,
IVY“How did it go?” Clara asked.I understood her eagerness and dragging me right into her bedroom to question me as soon as I arrived from Mark’s house, because I had almost the same feeling right before I went.“Tell me, Ivy, how did it go?” She pushed eagerly.“I think Mark fell for it,” I answered.Well, he was pretty speechless after I showed him the video. I knew that he would have loved to deny it, but then again, it was a glaring truth he could not deny, and so he had been silent and quiet, and not wanting to make it stale, I had walked out.“You think?” Clara asked, her eyebrows furrowing. “Ivy, that wasn’t the answer I expected from you,” she added.“We didn’t come to a conclusion,” I told her. “Did he kick you out of the house?” Clara asked worriedly.“Of course he didn’t, because he wouldn’t dare,” I said with a smile.My mother was always right about everything! After using the video to get what we wanted months ago, I had wanted to delete it completely from my phone be
ALEXAI patiently waited for Noelle to return to the apartment that we now shared together. I just wanted someone that I could talk to, and there was no one else that I wanted except my best friend.Things had spiraled out of control in the blink of an eye.In less than forty-eight hours, a lot of things had been revealed and changed. First of all, the threat that came from Clara and Ivy again, and secondly, Mark trying to get back with me. I wasn’t dumb, I knew that that was why he came to my store.Thinking about it put me in a rollercoaster of emotions.I was angry, because after everything I had sacrificed for Mark, he never thought that I loved him until he had to hear it from Ivy. If Ivy hadn’t made that revelation which I was certain that she regretted, otherwise they wouldn’t have come to my store trying to keep me away from Mark, Mark would never have wanted me.Then I also had the tiny feeling of regret.If all of these had happened without Ivy and her mother in the picture,
MARKI arrived at work and immediately sent for Mr. Devon. There were things that needed to be sorted out and I wanted to get right to it.“You sent for me,” Mr. Devon said as he walked into my office a few minutes later.“And it’s a good thing that you are here early,” I told him. “Please sit.”Mr. Devon took his seat.“You look really troubled, Mark. Did something wrong happen?” Mr. Devon asked.Usually, I would have kept this to myself, especially knowing that it was not out in the public yet, but then again, the video that Ivy showed me had been on my mind. I barely slept a wink last night, and I was still restless.Seeing the video had left me speechless, because I had no idea how that video came about. Since the accident, I had had trouble getting it up, but then in the video, I was having sex with another woman. It was strange.And confusing.“How discreet can you be?” I asked Mr. Devon.He looked at me with surprise. “I am surprised at your question, Mark. I have always had yo
ALEXAThe next couple of days were very busy for me. From the little money I had gotten from the few clients I had before, I did some shopping and rebranding.Noelle had gone out of the city for a few weeks, leaving me alone to deal with the business, but being busy made me very happy and relieved.At least, for the entire week, I didn’t see or hear anything from Mark.A tiny part of me was disappointed. He had come to my store to strike a deal and I had turned him right down, which was the right thing to do anyway, but then again, I wouldn’t have accepted his deal, not with everything that came along with it. I had half-expected him to stroll into the store to try to persuade me a second time; not that I would accept it, but just the thought of being chased and sought after by Mark, even though it was on a negotiation basis.Ever since we got to know each other, I had been the one always doing the chasing and seeking after, and for once, I wanted him to do it even though it would ha
IVYThe pain I was feeling on my head had subsided greatly. When I opened my eyes, I was still in my bedroom, thankfully.My horror was passing out and waking up in a hospital, which would have led to many questions that I didn’t want to answer to, to begin with. I couldn’t recall the last thing I said before I passed out, or what the conversation was all about. The only thing I could recall was the fact that my mum had been talking to me.As for what she was talking to me about and what my response was, I had no clue.The door creaked open and I closed my eyes. Then peeped to see who it was. If it was my mother, then I would simply pretend that I was sleeping. Somehow, I dreaded seeing her and having a conversation. Something in my guts told me that the conversation wasn’t one that I was willing to hear.But it was Mr. Silver, and so I opened my eyes.“Ivy, are you awake?” He asked calmly and I nodded.He walked into the room gently and sat on the couch beside my bed and he peered at
MARKMr. Devon had advised that I paid Donald Shell a visit and have a conversation with him. He had told me that a man like Donald Shell would not back down, and that the earlier I paid him a visit, the better.“If you play your cards right, he could even throw in some investment that would help you get back on your feet,” Mr. Devon had chipped in that last piece of advice.So I had booked an appointment with Donald.Seeing him had made me jealous of him. He was almost about the same age as me, but yet, he was filthy rich and powerful. His name alone had caused quite a stir in most companies, and he had a huge influence and control in the city.“Mark Ronaldo, to what to do I owe this visit?” Donald had said when we eventually met up at one of his establishments.“Donald Shell,” I had also called. “Thank you for meeting me,” I had said.“As you already know, Mark, I am a very busy man with a tight schedule. I suggest we don’t beat around the bush,” he had suggested coyly.“I was told
MARKThe name Donald Shell brought back a lot of horrible memories that I thought I had left buried inside, especially when he left the city. As I thought of him and his face flashed in my head, my mind flashed back to one of the worst days of my life.I had just been appointed as the CEO of the company, taking my rightful inheritance and position, and it was revealed to me by Mr. Devon, who had always been there that the company had been going through some rough patches, majorly because some bad deals have been made.I was hardworking and determined, so I wanted to fix things at all cost.“What do I do now, Mr. Devon?” I had asked him, because even though I wanted to fix things, I didn’t exactly know where to begin from.“Some people have been exposing the secrets of the company,” Mr. Devon had revealed to me.I trusted him so much, and I still do, because even before I officially became the CEO, he had always been very helpful. He was a man that was very trustworthy. My dad trusted
IVY“How the heck did this happen?” Clara asked worriedly.“I think we should get her to a hospital,” Mr. Silver suggested.“No, not yet,” Clara declined. “Why not, Clara? She is badly injured and bleeding from her forehead, and I am certain that she has lost a lot of blood,” Mr. Silver insisted.“Not yet, honey,” Clara said. “Why don’t you call your doctor to come in and take a look at her first?” Clara suggested.“He is not going to get here in nothing less than thirty minutes, Clara, and that is if he is not tied down at the hospital. Are you saying that we should let her continue bleeding and putting her life at risk simply because you want home service when we could easily take her down there right now?” Mr. Silver asked.“I bet if it was Alexa you wouldn’t be talking about time and your doctor’s schedule,” Clara fired, consciously ignoring the other things he said.Mr. Silver’s mood took a nosedive instantly.“Ivy treats you as though you are her biological father, and instead
ALEXAThe meeting with Donald Shell had gone well enough, and I was happy. Asking to be his friend wasn’t a big deal. Also, he was cordial and reserved all through.Donald Shell had this air of authority around him. It was almost as though I was speaking with a man who was flawless.“I only went away to start another branch somewhere else. Now that I have established it, I decided to come back and continue right from where I stopped,” Donald had answered after I asked him why he had left.The discomfort I saw in his eyes was forgotten. Maybe he didn’t want to talk about it, and so I simply believed his response. The rest of the meeting had gone well, and as I got to the front door of the apartment that Noelle and I now shared, I had a smile on my face.And I had Noelle to thank for it, even though she had been expecting me to go out and return with news of me and Donald getting into a relationship. I shook my head at Noelle even though she wasn’t present. She was always full of roman
ALEXA“Noelle, this is supposed to be a business meeting and not a date,” I complained to Noelle as she beautified me.Noelle knew that I wasn’t interested in meeting anyone romantically as I vehemently turned down her intentions. She eventually gave up and talked about meeting him and pitching my business to him, which was why I was right here, allowing myself to get dressed for the meeting.However, Noelle was doing too much.She had insisted that I wore an alluring dress and went through the hassle of looking dazzling.“I am not going to sell myself to him to date me,” I added as Noelle lined my eyes with mascara for the third time in seconds.“This is one of the richest men in town, Alexa. Now that he is back in town, he would be needing a good stylist, and you know what I always say about appearance when pitching your business,” Noelle said.“Somehow, I have a feeling that you are not talking about business alone,” I said and Noelle laughed.“I just want you to have a good time a
MARKI arrived at work and immediately sent for Mr. Devon. There were things that needed to be sorted out and I wanted to get right to it.“You sent for me,” Mr. Devon said as he walked into my office a few minutes later.“And it’s a good thing that you are here early,” I told him. “Please sit.”Mr. Devon took his seat.“You look really troubled, Mark. Did something wrong happen?” Mr. Devon asked.Usually, I would have kept this to myself, especially knowing that it was not out in the public yet, but then again, the video that Ivy showed me had been on my mind. I barely slept a wink last night, and I was still restless.Seeing the video had left me speechless, because I had no idea how that video came about. Since the accident, I had had trouble getting it up, but then in the video, I was having sex with another woman. It was strange.And confusing.“How discreet can you be?” I asked Mr. Devon.He looked at me with surprise. “I am surprised at your question, Mark. I have always had yo
ALEXAI patiently waited for Noelle to return to the apartment that we now shared together. I just wanted someone that I could talk to, and there was no one else that I wanted except my best friend.Things had spiraled out of control in the blink of an eye.In less than forty-eight hours, a lot of things had been revealed and changed. First of all, the threat that came from Clara and Ivy again, and secondly, Mark trying to get back with me. I wasn’t dumb, I knew that that was why he came to my store.Thinking about it put me in a rollercoaster of emotions.I was angry, because after everything I had sacrificed for Mark, he never thought that I loved him until he had to hear it from Ivy. If Ivy hadn’t made that revelation which I was certain that she regretted, otherwise they wouldn’t have come to my store trying to keep me away from Mark, Mark would never have wanted me.Then I also had the tiny feeling of regret.If all of these had happened without Ivy and her mother in the picture,