Weruche wondered over to Karis living room. It was lighted only by the fading rays of the sun.The front view of the house overlooked the setting sun, and it was visible from the glass wall of the living room. Weruche found she could not still herself enough to enjoy the beauty. She had never been able to understand guilt, in the past, she had not needed to because she had rarely felt it, but now it was a bitter taste at the back of her throat. Karis Ilobi did not deserve her betrayal.She swiped angrily at a few tears that spilled over, she could not understnd the girl she was -- the woman she was becoming. It was true that she needed to find a way to protect herself, but did she have to betray Karis in the process? She had once made a decision to visit her brother in jail, but somehow, she could not still bring herself to go -- or perhaps, it was her mother she needed to see. Her mother had been cremated on Emeka's orders, and her ashes were probably stored somewhere in the hous

The little man had said her father wanted her dead for ten thousand dollars. She had been given an eight thousand -dollar sign up fee by the House of Percove but even if it had been up to ten thousand, even if she had been willing to give out all the money she had earned, as a ransom for her own life, the little man had said there were others who wanted her dead, others who could pay even more than Emeka to see her head on a platter -- and in any way, she did not know how she was going to ransome herself from her stepfather's bounty. She could not just tell everyone that they could come pick up for ten thousand dollars if they agreed to disregard her stepfather's bounty, that way she would have to pay off over a million people and even millions more. It was far easier for her father to put a bounty on her head than it was for her to ransome herself. Then I thought struck her . . . .It was easier to declare a bounty than a ransom. Perhaps the best ransome for herself would be to put

Karis did not feel the same way about her! Weruche caught herself watching him several times, waiting for him to turn and smile at her, wink, compliments her, or just simply acknowledge that she was present. She was desperate for any attention from him but she got none, instead she watched in awe and bitterness as he flirted with every single female in the room -- all except her.He was extremely charming today and Weruche the struggled not to blush as she thought of how good he looked in a three-piece black suit. She had forgotten how charming he could be when he wanted to, how charming he had been when she first met him, how generous. She could still remember the look in his eyes when she had looked into it and saw that he knew she was going to steal his watch.Those eyes refused to look her way now, as he focused his generousity and courtesy on every other woman in the room.Did he find her so disgusting, so revolting that he could not even look her way with one of his char

Weruche had been home for two days, yet her father had not shown up. Sometimes, she wondered if she was missed at Percove. It was not as if she had any important thing to do at the moment, the industry was still being set up, and they could always call her if they needed her -- it was just that the fact that she could be away for over a day, and none of her flat mates had noticed to call -- but then again, it was possible Tessa had already told them.So far, she had not spoken to Karis, and somehow, even though her body craved his touch, she wished she could keep it that way. That way, she could think clearer.She was at home now, listening to a recording of one the South American musicians at the arena when her door bell rang. Excited, she rushed over to open the door, Tessa had become a very close friend over the past few weeks and she looked forward to seeing her, Weruche had also given her the address -- it was a long reach, but perhaps, her friend had flown over to check up on

Weruche finally got a call from Karis. At first, she had thought the conversation would be awkward, but he had been completely distant and polite as he explained a few things that had to do with her job. She had felt a little bit more broken than she would have felt if their conversation had actually been awkward instead of distant, polite and cold. At least awkwardness meant that their was still something between them.She missed him, she hated herself, hated the fact that she missed him, that she had been stupid enough to end what they had, and still to cowardly to move on. But how could she tell her heart to move on, how could she command her heart to stop having feelings for the first man who had kissed her, touched her, made her feel like a woman.She had almost given up hope, until he had suggested out of the blue that he was also in New York, and perhaps they could meet up.She longed to meet with him, to run into his arms, and let him hold her, only in his arms could she feel