“You must be shitting me!” Anaya cursed under her breath as she watched the spectacle on the billboard through her car’s windshield.
Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. She was barely able to hold in her anger and confusion.This had to be a prank. A very dangerous prank. Otherwise, why was her boyfriend, soon-to-be fiance, proposing to someone else in front of the entire world?
No, she must be seeing things. There is no way Thomas was cheating on her!
As if it couldn’t get worse, Anaya squinted her eyes and recognized the lady to be Thomas’s supposed cousin. The same one he introduced to her about a month ago. He had informed her they were both working on a project which was why she never suspected each time he told her he was with his cousin.
Now, she realised that there was never a freaking project!
“This can’t be happening.” Anaya murmured under her breath, shaking her head slowly. “Wait, he was busying proposing to someone else when I was waiting for him to show up at his birthday party?”
She had been worried sick, thinking he had gotten into an accident or something, only for her to see this charade playing on the billboard. The headlines read “CEO of Edingard Entreprises and billionaire, Thomas Edingard, Proposes To His Heartthrob”
As soon as the red lights turned green, Anaya drove her car down the road heading towards only one direction–Thomas’s apartment.The moment she got to the luxurious building, she headed to the fifth floor where his flat was located.
With anger, she punched the password to his apartment and rushed inside.
“Where are you, you bas-” Anaya’s display of anger fell short when she saw Thomas and his fake cousin, Sandra, in the living room.
The girl was straddling Thomas on the couch and they were both half naked, buried in each other’s faces. Thomas was the first to notice her and he pulled away.
“Anaya.” His voice was breathless from the passionate kiss he just had but there wasn’t a single remorse. Not even a tinge of guilt.
Anaya swept her eyes over the living room. There were balloons over the place with a half-eaten cake on the coffee table.
“So, you were having your own party here while I was waiting hours for you?” Tears threatened to slip out of Anaya’s eyes but her anger overpowered any sadness.
“What is the meaning of this, Thomas?” She glared at him as Sandra jumped off his lap, adjusting her mini skirt to cover whatever decency she had left.
Anaya clenched her fists when she noticed the big ass diamond ring sitting on Sandra’s finger.
“What exactly, Anaya?” Thomas rose to his feet, his golden hair glowing under the light.
“Are you being serious?” Anaya hissed. “The proposal? This?! Is this supposed to be some kind of joke, Thomas?”
“Rest assured, Anaya, it’s not.” Thomas deadpanned, his stoic face sending chills down her spine. “I wanted to break the news to you tomorrow before the headlines got out. But the reporters were much faster.”
“Let me introduce to you, my lovely fiancee, Sandra Melric.” Thomas wrapped his arm around Sandra, planting a kiss on her forehead.
“And me? Us? What we shared for five freaking years? What happened to all of that?” Anaya gritted out, her body heating up with fury.
“I was simply having fun, Ana. And when my company was almost ruined, you came in like a knight in shining armour. Offering me the power of attorney was the only reason I stayed with you longer than I wished.” Thomas scoffed.
“Now that my company is back up and everyone is singing my praises for managing the situation brilliantly, I have nothing more to do with you.”
“I gave you everything, Thomas. My family’s wealth, our partners and contacts. I did all that because I loved you and I believed you did as well.” Tears dropped from Anaya’s eyes and she didn’t bother to hide her pain and desperation.
“Well, I never asked you to do that, did I?” Thomas laughed and Sandra chuckled next to him. “Besides, you were too clingy for my liking. Bitch couldn’t stay two days without calling me.”
Unable to control her anger, Anaya grabbed the cake on the table and threw it at Thomas. Unfortunately, he escaped the attack narrowly and the cake landed on the wall behind him.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Anaya?!” Thomas yelled, his eyes shooting daggers at her.
“You think you’ve won, huh? You think this is the end?” Anaya chuckled darkly. “Just wait and see, Thomas. I will pay you back in ten folds.”
“Are you threatening me?”
“Nah, it’s a fucking promise, you bastard!”
With that, she turned to leave the apartment. Knowing there was no way she was going to fall asleep sober, she headed straight to the nearest bar.
An hour later, she was already drunk. Her phone was tucked away in her purse because of the incessant notifications from different business blogs. All of which were congratulating her boyfriend–ex-boyfriend–on his engagement.
Being the sole heiress to her late parents’ company, Robinson Empire, Anaya had given Thomas power of attorney when his company was going bankrupt. She did it because she loved him and saw him as her future husband.
But he had shown his true colors today that he was nothing but a backstabber and a remorseless cheat.
“Hey there, pretty.”
Anaya jumped up when she felt a lewd hand snake up her waist from behind. She turned around only to be hit with a disgusting liquor-filled breath.
“Get your hands off me, big man!” Anaya pushed the drunkard away but he was resilient.
“Oh, don’t play hard to get now. I can soothe your pain more than the alcohol in your body.” He breathed heavily close to her ears and Anaya grimaced with disgust.
“I said-”
“She said stop!” A deep voice cut her off, echoing from behind. It was laced with the promise of a potent threat. Anaya turned to the bulky man with stormy eyes. Somehow, she felt comforted by his mere presence.
EPILOGUE“What do you think?” Henry stared at her with anticipation in his eyes.Anaya took one last look at the mansion’s living room which was decorated in pieces of luxurious golden furniture imported from Asia. When Henry told her he had a gift for her, she wasn’t expecting him to have prepared a home for them to move into. This was one of the houses he inherited from his father. He had been furnishing it ever since she told him she was pregnant.The moment he parked his car in the driveway, she knew this was the home she had always dreamed of staying with her family. The neighbourhood was quiet and serene, she had her personal garden and the yard was big enough for the children to run around.She had to be careful not to scream too much so she wouldn’t startle the baby inside her bulging belly.“It’s the best gift I’ve ever received.” Anaya uttered, unable to stop herself from smiling. “I couldn’t ask for anything more.” A few months ago, she never thought she would live long en
Anaya felt her heart leave her body when she saw Theresa standing close to the cliff with a sleeping Ryle on her arms. She wanted to reach out and grab her son away from the crazy woman but she remained rooted to the spot.Aggravating Theresa in such a vulnerable point wasn’t the best thing to do. A single movement and she would fall into the cliff with Ryle. That wasn’t something Anaya could risk.“Take one more step and I’ll drop dead with Ryle.” Theresa’s words were malicious, a deadly glint that Anaya had never seen shining in her eyes.“Theresa. Step away from the edge of the cliff.” Henry’s voice was calm but Anaya knew he was simmering inside.“No! I will not move from here until you promise to let Ryle go with me.” Theresa hissed.“Are you out of your mind? There is no way I am giving my son to you!” Henry snapped at her.“Please, don’t do this, Theresa.” Anaya pleaded, tears flowing down her face.“Why, Henry?” Theresa scoffed. “You seemed so fine moving on after Lauren’s dea
Henry called his mother as soon as he saw the text message his mother left for him. “Pick up.” He murmured under his breath as Anaya remained frozen next to him.He could already see tears streaming down her face and he knew her greatest fear had come to reality. Theresa had been after Ryle.“Henry!” His mother’s shrill voice came into the line. “God, where did you put your phone? We can’t find Ryle anywhere. That wretched girl took my grandson away!”“C-Calm down, Mother.” Henry said even though he wasn’t quite calm himself. He was livid, boiling with an explosive anger. “I need you to stay in the house in case Theresa comes back. She’s mentally unstable. She might not know what she’s doing.”“She knows!” Anaya snapped. “She knows very well what she’s doing. This has been her plan from the beginning, Henry. To take Ryle away from us. I knew it. I knew my fear was justified. God, we made a terrible mistake, Henry. We gave Ryle to her. We handed our Ryle over to her.” “Anaya, please–”
Anaya took one last look at herself in the mirror to check out her fit for the night. Henry wanted them to wear matching outfits so she wore her pale blue palazzo trousers with a white off-shoulder blouse while he wore his white baggy pants and a light blue shirt.Her brown hair was curled and left to flow down her shoulders. To go with the look, she wore her white wedge sandals and carried her white midi hand bag. Her makeup was left minimal with just powder and shiny lip gloss.She was satisfied with her look but her anxiety about tonight was what sent her mood into a down spiral.Margeret said she was picking up an old friend from the airport and wouldn’t be able to make it until thirty minutes from the time she and Henry would be leaving. When Henry was getting dressed, Anaya sent a text to Margeret, pleading for her to do everything she could to get here on time. There was just something about leaving Ryle alone with Theresa that made Anaya’s stomach clench with worry.“Wowww.”
Laying motionlessly on the bed, Anaya stared at the streak of sunlight that seeped into the room through the blinds. Despite the fact that she tried to cover the window to avoid the brightness, that single ray of sunlight still managed to slip through.It annoyed her a lot. She couldn’t even lay in the dark in peace? Why did it have to be so damn persistent in getting into the room?She couldn’t remember when she stopped crying last night but by the time she tried to stand up to lie on the bed, she nearly tripped over and fell due to the dizziness that wrecked her entire body.Practically crawling, she made her way to the bed hoping to find some moments of rest but her mind deprived her of that. She spent the night rethinking, evaluating and replaying scenarios in her head.Right from the moment Henry brought Theresa to the house till last night where the inevitable conflict reached its climax. She tried to figure out if she had missed something. If she was wrong with her assumption t
“What the–” Anaya watched as Theresa stood up abruptly after being doused with the water. Henry got up as well as some droplets of water found their way on him.“Anaya?” Henry frowned with confusion on his face but Anaya’s anger wasn’t directed at him. Or maybe it was.She wasn’t sure what upsetted her the most. The fact that Theresa had the guts to scheme against her in her own house or the fact that Henry was too blinded because she was Lauren’s sister to see that Theresa was up to no good.Her blood was boiling and she so badly wanted to break something into pieces. Knowing she couldn’t result to violence, she raised her voice at the culprit.“What on earth are you doing sleeping on my husband’s shoulder?” Anaya gritted at Theresa who was wiping the water away from her face.“Anaya, I didn’t–”“Has this been your plan all along?” Anaya snapped, cutting her off. “To steal not only Ryle but to seduce my husband as well?”“N-No, you have it all wrong. I swear, we were just watching T