stephan hissed into her ear, "you heard the man. We'd better get to it soon, eh? Was I thinking… tonight? If you're free, that is?"She elbowed him hard in the ribs, but he didn't back off. "Remember what happens if you mess this up for me. Be nice now, and later tonight, you can be as naughty as you like." He grinned so wide she worried his ears might drop in. She bit her bottom lip hard, so hard it drew blood. If Mr. Sterling didn't come soon, she knew, then she would have to sleep with his guy.Then, quickly, the room grew silent. It was like the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. A fork clattered; a mother silenced a child; a wine glass chimed. Then, shoes hoofing on the marble floor, growing louder, each stride resonating purpose.A man entered, tall and handsome in a charcoal grey suit. Chest out shoulders back, hands in pockets. Such elegance and confidence that he commanded the attention of everyone there. parsley's eyes fixed on him and realized that figure. It was Mr. S

You have the nerve to come back here? After running away with a man, just like your shameless mother!" Shouted Norah, livid, jumping out the sofa.Dalton, usually the diplomat, joined in, "Are you crazy, parsley? How could you sleep with stephan's uncle? Is there any misunderstanding? Just go and explain to stephan and old Sterling, and tell them it's nothing between you and Ryan."parsley clenched her fists. "No misunderstanding. stephan and I couldn't be together anymore."Norah pointed her finger at her, "Did you hear that? She really has a thick hide! Shameless thing! The same as her mother, who ran away from home, abandoning her daughter and her husband!""Stop it!" parsley stared at her aunt, "I'm not going to marry stephan, and I have the freedom to choose who I marry. And -let me be clear- stephan and I are over. That man, he has done things to me! Or are you just worried about your factory? Well, don't be. stephan won't dare do anything in fear of his uncle. Okay?"Dalton was

"It's okay. I'm sure you'll find your parents." Said parsley."I don' think I want to. Not anymore. I mean, they abandoned me, so, who's to say that, even if I did find them, that they would even want to know me? They didn't even bother contacting this place since leaving me here." He spread out his arms, from the tall brick wall to the playground. Then, he placed a hand on hers. "Savannah, everything okay?"parsley smiled. Kevin still understood her – could read her like a book, even as she actively tried to hide from him. He persisted. "Tell me, parsley, what happened?"So she let it out. At first, she wasn't sure how much to tell. She started with small things, like her life with her aunt and uncle, but soon she was moving onto bigger things, and she couldn't stop despite herself, like a dam that had just broken.She described her arranged marriage to stephan and how she'd been sent to another man's bed. And how she'd then discovered that he???d been having an affair with her cousi

He stood upright, flung his head back, and laughed. "Yeah, maybe. Probably. But hey, you know, what's a billion dollars to us, eh?" he shook his head. "Sorry. It's like this. The Sterling Group is going to sue us, and I don't think it's a secret that we're going to be outgunned there. And that isn't even the immediate problem. The problem right now is that we can't even pay bail to get him out. The girl, Valerie, saw the whole thing and testified to keep him locked up in there. The whole thing's a bloody mess."Just as Kevin emerged from a wedged open green fire door, they sat down and cuffed to a table and chair bolted to the floor. He saw them and shot a scowl and Dan.Dan held up his hands "Don't you start giving me shit, she wouldn't take no for an answer."parsley looked at Kevin, and his eyes hollowed out by large black rings. Had he slept at all? She wanted desperately to reach over and hug him; tell him that he was an idiot and that she loved him for it. But she couldn't. Inst

What do you want," commanded Ryan, a note of irritation fluttering at the edge of his words. "It better be good.""A friend of mine…" she thought a moment about lying but then thought against it. Ryan's security, Mark, probably knew everything anyway. She sighed, deflated, shoulders slumping. "A friend beat stephan up bad – really bad - and put him in hospital. And now stephan is threatening to sue him. I tried talking to stephan," she started, "but he- he-" she blinked back tears, took a deep breath. Shook it off. Got to the point. "I came to ask if you could convince stephan to stop. Maybe change his mind and not sue Kevin." She planted her palms on the back of the armchair."So it was you." Ryan's cheeks were dimpled. "It was you and your friend who broke his nose and ribs.""It wasn't me. It was Kevin, and only because of a huge misunderstanding. Please, it's not something that he should've done, and he knows that."Ryan held up his hand. She stopped. "He went out of his way to f