LOGINMARKBrent showed up at my office to drop off the last of my company’s documents that he had been using to work for me. Now that everything was over, he didn’t need to keep them.“It’s been a really long time since I last saw you,” I told Brent lightly, and it was true.“I have been very busy,” he responded.I didn’t doubt Brent because he was a very skilled lawyer, and as a result, everyone wanted to use him to sort out their differences.“This is the only time I could sneak out of my time to come and deliver these to you,” he said, referring to the documents.“Thank you, Brent,” I said.Without Brent, I would probably have lost my company to Mr. Devon. Now, because of the same Brent, Devon and his cohorts were now in jail, serving time for their crimes.“But this doesn’t mean that you have stopped being my company’s lawyer,” I reminded him.“Of course not, Mark, but for now, you really don’t have anything to be worried about,” he said.I nodded in agreement.Even the accountant tha
ALEXAI was already up and freshened up when I heard a knock on the door. I jumped slightly in fright as my first thought was that it was Ivy.“Who is it?” I asked.I told myself right after that I didn’t need to be afraid, but then again, the thought of just having Ivy here didn’t make me feel good at all.What if she ended up revealing this big secret I was keeping?“It’s Noelle,” Noelle responded.I released the breath I didn’t even realize that I was holding.“Come in,” I said.The door opened and Noelle walked in.“You didn’t have to knock,” I told her.Knocking had made me jumped, but I didn’t say that to Noelle.“I wanted to be sure that you were awake,” Noelle said as she came close to me. “How are you doing?” Noelle asked deeply.“Fine,” I simply responded.“I am guessing you didn’t have a good night’s rest,” Noelle said, daring me to deny it. “I know you, Alexa, so maybe you should think deeply before you think of lying to me,” she added, sounding a bit lighter.I sighed.“H
IVYLena and I spent the next few days after the news of my supposed death had gone viral, going through every news in Paris, and eventually, we got to find out that the fair was the next day.“This is going to be a grand occasion,” I told Lena.“And you think it would be the right time to make the move?” She asked me and I nodded.“According to the list provided by reporters, my stepsister, Alexa’s business, will be on display, so she is definitely going to be there. Also, everyone in the city is going to be present there,” I responded.Talking about Alexa and the fact that the business she had started in my very eyes had blossomed so much that it was now featuring in the Paris fair. I felt a pang of jealousy deep in my bones, but of course, I couldn’t say that to Lena.Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that.Jealous of Alexa or not for living a perfect life while I needed to play dead for probably the rest of my life, this was my reality now and I needed to focus on how to find my way
IVYI got into my room and fell on the bed.“Finally!” I said out loud.I never thought that a day would come where I would be back to where I had always known as my home. “This is such a great feeling,” I told myself cheerfully.Even Alexa wouldn’t have been able to stop me from staying here, and it was a good thing I had something to hold against her, otherwise, she would have teamed up with her best friend and they would have sent me away.“I am back home,” I said to myself out loud again.I rolled from one end of my big, lush bed to the other end, allowing myself to feel alive and better again. In the last one year, my life had been a nightmare. When Lionel took me away from the mental home, I had thought that that was my breakthrough, but I soon realized that it was simply transitioning from one hell to another.But here, it would never be like that.There was no Mr. Silver to turn me away; he was the only one that could have successfully kicked me out. As for Alexa, I could alw
ALEXA“Every time I think it cannot get worse for me, it just spirals out of control,” I lamented painfully to Noelle.Tears gathered in my eyes and I knew that I wouldn’t even try to stop them from falling.“Gosh, this is too much for me to handle,” I added bitterly.And from the sound of my voice, Noelle could tell that I was at my breaking point.From dealing with no success at the fair and Donald Shell’s threats, and Mark’s betrayal and sting of success in my face to Ivy’s return…I could literally see my life shattering right before my very eyes.Ivy went upstairs to her old bedroom some minutes ago.Of course, I couldn’t say no to her bargain.What choice did I have?Knowing Ivy, she would do what she threatened to do if I had asked her to leave, and I couldn’t bear that, especially now that Donald Shell had resurfaced and threatened to take his little revenge. I knew that his taunt at the fair was just the beginning of something worse to come.Which was exactly why I really need
ALEXA“You are alive?” I asked, still unable to believe my eyes.Noelle was also stunned into speechlessness. We both saw the news about Ivy’s death together, so how come was she here right now?“Surprise…!” Ivy said with a coy smile.I would have said I was seeing a ghost but Ivy sure didn’t look like a ghost, and I didn’t believe in ghosts, and even if I did, Noelle couldn’t be seeing ghosts at the same time, right? So, Ivy wasn’t certainly a ghost.She was alive and right here at this very moment.“How is this possible?” Noelle asked, eventually coming out of her shock.Ivy turned to Noelle with an unpleasant stare.They never got along well from the very beginning. Noelle never liked Clara or her daughter, Ivy, and she never hid it.“This is between families,” Ivy sneered at her.Noelle scoffed.“I know you have been away for a while, Ivy, so I am certain you must have missed it, but listen up, you are no longer a member of this family,” Noelle stated firmly. “Your mum was divorce
ALEXAShivers ran down my spine at the realization that someone had been watching me. I began to tremble with fear.I knew that it had to be my apartment because as soon as I came out, the person zoomed off.I might have been able to see who it was if it hadn’t been a tinted car, and it wasn’t a fa
MARKAlexa sobbed, and I allowed her to. She was so fragile and vulnerable at this very moment, and I allowed her to stay in my arms.“Did you catch the plate number?” I asked her carefully.“That was the last thing on my mind,” she responded through tears.“Alright, that’s okay,” I said, patting
ALEXA“You think this is a joke, right?” Donald asked me, his anger rising.“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said, my worry also increasing.Donald was now more upset and desperate, and that could get him to act erratically. I had no idea what he was told when he received the phone call
ALEXAWe drove in the car that Mark had come in, and I neither asked any questions nor protested.There was a man at the back of the car, but I didn’t pay him any mind or even look at him for too long. Right now, I just wanted to be in my apartment to process what had been about to happen to me.Wi







