Their steps echoed through the foyer of Fabian’s house as both man and woman walked in, mirroring the hollowness in Fabian's heart. Amber followed him quietly from behind, careful not to make any noise and watched as Fabian ignored V’s greeting to make his way up the staircase like a man under a spell.Fabian had driven like a madman to his father’s mansion just in time to hold his old man’s thin frail hand before he breathed his last. Amber remembered how happy the sickly man looked when he finally saw his son. He was deathly pale with a sunken face, with only skin clinging to his body. It was obvious he was in extreme pain, but even through the many different tubes and needles that pierced the old man’s body, he still managed to smile at them.The image of Williams senior struggling to lift his frail trembling hand just so he could touch Fabian’s face left a deep impression in Amber’s mind.“Father,” Fabian had whispered, clasping the elderly man’s hand in his ow

It would be two days later before Fabian finally emerged from his room. He hadn’t planned on stepping out of his man cave so soon, but a surprise invitation to attend an exclusive preview of ‘The Millennia’ changed his mind. ‘The Millennia’ was his former partner’s promotional launch of the soon to be rival product of VX2. A part of Fabian was furious, and yet another part of him was confused. How on earth did Liam come up with his own version so fast? The man had hardly left Virtuex for less than a year and he was already launching a product of his own? Not to mention a product that he claimed to be on par with the VX2? As far as Fabian could remember, the son of a bitch never set foot in the design meetings during the initial stages of VX2 and had practically zero knowledge of its design; so how on earth did he manage to make one on his own? Granted, the man was smart, but Fabian had been friends with Liam long enough to know of his limitations. Unless he somehow m

“Come with me,” a voice hissed into her ear from behind, sending shivers down her spine. Liam. She knew it was him without even turning her head as he grabbed her hand roughly and pulled her into the corridors of the yacht. Like a fool, she allowed him to drag her, even though every pore of her body screamed for her to run for her life. But she couldn’t, and like a slave, she went with him – all the way to a deserted VIP suite at the far end of the yacht. “Amber my dear,” Liam smiled slyly as he closed the door behind them, finally letting go of her wrist. It hurt where he had grabbed her and she nursed it gently. She made a mental note of him not locking the door. That was a good sign. The VIP suite was much larger than the normal suites and had a built-in jacuzzi in the middle of the room. The warm bubbling water was lit up in bright blue hues by its submerged lights. His manner was arrogant as he stepped forward and he forced her t

The night had been brutal and Amber wanted nothing more than to leave everything and run away. To disappear into the shadows of the night and never return. It was a tempting thought. A very dangerous thought. All this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t set foot at the La Fire Club, she blamed herself, a flash of anger skirting across her face. So what if she had to continue working three to four jobs a day? At least she and Anson would have been able to lead a normal semblance of life. But now, here she was, standing alone in her bedroom. No, this is not my bedroom. This is Fabian’s guest room, she corrected herself bitterly and her gaze fell upon the little black handbag that lay innocently on the bed where the coin-like device lay hidden inside. I’m going to do the bidding of a man who might very well be the killer. What blasphemy is this? She bit her lips and fisted her palm. The thought of running to the police was very

Amber expected the blueprint to smell of ammonia; after all, didn’t blueprints stink of urine? Her late father had a few copies of his company’s blueprints and she remembered pinching her nose at the stench.Time flies, she thought. They’re using laser printing for their drawings now. She really needed to brush up on her knowledge of today’s technology. Her lack of education was made even more obvious when her eyes fell on the drawing itself. It was alien to her. With all its odd abbreviations, numbers and geometries, Amber could only rely on the product name at the very bottom right of the drawing to confirm that it was in fact the VX2 blueprint. Carefully, she placed the A3 paper on the cool wooden floorboards, soothed it out evenly and positioned her phone over the paper.SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! And that was it.It is done, she blinked, surprising herself. She had taken photos of the blueprint. But strangely, the heav