Zoe pushed the door of the mansion open and looked around to find some of the maids going about their daily duties. She zoomed past them, hurrying to the dining room where the other servants were busy clearing the table.“Where is my mother?” She asked immediately and one of them turned to look at her, surprise that she was actually there written all over her face.“She should be in her bedroom, Miss, Zoe.” The timid girl replied. “She left here just now.”“When”? Zoe asked, retreating from the dining room but still looking at her.“Five minutes ago.”“Five minutes. Damn it.” She swore under her breath, turning away from the woman. As she made her way up the stairs, Avery walked into the house.“Zoe?” He called.“Upstairs, Avery.” She called without turning to look at him. “They said she is upstairs.”She heard the sound of his feet taking the stairs with her without saying a word. At the top of the stairs, she took the hallway and when she got to her mother’s door, pushed it open wit
After promising Zoe that he was going to look into Aaron, Avery made some calls, asking his people to watch him closely and make sure he was not defying his orders. He was driving to work when he received a call from one of his investigators. Looking at his rearview mirror to make sure his security car was directly behind him, he answered the call on the third ring.“Speak to me.” He said into the phone.“Good morning, Mr. Trent.” The caller spoke in a very clear voice.“Good morning, Trey.”“Your wife was actually correct when she said your brother was still operating his business.” He said and Avery held tightly to the steering. “I watched his warehouse in the city yesterday and his employees were taking in orders and supplying. Some of them even went out in a bus two nights ago.”Avery shook his head. “Did you follow them?”“No, Mr. Trent. I only watched the warehouse.” He replied in a low voice.Avery groaned in anger, unconsciously increasing the speed of his car. He was pissed t
Zoe saw Avery walk into the house with a bloodied nose and a stained shirt. The first thought on her mind was fear that he had encountered the perpetrators responsible for the threats they have been receiving. Her heart began to race in her chest as she walked up to him, following him into his treatment room when he said nothing to her.He sat on the chair by the door, lifting his head and relaxing it on the back rest while she searched through the wardrobe to get supplies. She didn’t want to ask questions for fear that her suspicions were correct. What if he had encountered the bastards on his way to work? What if they had tried to kill him off but was not able to?She turned away from the wardrobe, placing some First aid materials on the table before kneeling and taking his face in her hand. Avery looked at her, seeing the fear in her eyes.“Zoe?” He called and she shrugged off tears from her eyes.“You are bleeding from the nose, Avery.” She said to him trying to cover up the pain
The darkness made Zoe to begin strategizing immediately. She ignored her almost wet hair and the towel she recently threw to the ground and began to walk blindly around the room. This was exactly what had happened on the last family dinner she had with the Trents and it had just been a little threat. So maybe now, they were being threatened also.She continued to walk blindly until she was able to touch her bed. Using her hand, she traced the edge of the bedding, getting to the bedside table. She reached for the bedside lamb and tried to turn it on, all to no avail.“Shit.” She cursed under her breath. Every light in the house was connected to one source? That was really stupid of them. The loud sound of the alarm in the entire house, scared her a little but she was grateful when the emergency lights came on. Knowing fully well that Avery would be getting a message by now that something was wrong, she abandoned the search for her phone.“Miranda?” She called, making sure that the maid
Avery drove into his home with Aaron riding shotgun to see police vans and ambulances parked in his driveway. His heart filled with panic as he walked past each van, ignoring the looks the officers threw his way. He wasn’t interested in any of them at the moment, all he wanted to do was see his wife and sister perfectly fine.The police wheeled out two bodies from the entrance of the house and he took off the white sheets on both to find two of his security agents in them. The maids were all looking distraught as he continued into the house, but he paid them no attention. There were a lot of police men inside the house, some dressed in uniforms and some dressed in casual wears. Zoe sat on the stairs, dressed in a white robe, her hair tangled and scattered. Detective Gonzalez was speaking to her but she wasn’t replying, instead her eyes were faced forward, staring into space.Avery felt a certain type of relief when he saw her. He made to walk towards her and to hold her in his arms wh
The next day, Zoe sat crossed legged in the middle of the bed, looking at the room and its largeness. The room had never felt this large till today and she couldn’t stop herself from remembering what she was doing in this large room while Mia was being killed. She couldn’t stop herself from remembering how she hid behind those doors like a coward while Mia was being shot by an unknown man just downstairs.She closed her eyes, pressing the pillow to her face tightly to stop the memories of the previous night from clouding her brain. She wanted to stop seeing Mia’s dead face as it stared at her but it wasn’t possible. Then she thought of the man in the garden. Yes, one thing she could do, was remember just where she had seen the man from last night. She needed to remember where she knew him and why he was killing her family.The knock on the door frightened her a little and she placed her hand over her ears, to stop the noise from affecting her.“Zoe?” Someone called from the door. She
“What do you mean that you want me to leave?” Margery asked Zoe who wasn’t even making eye contact with her. Zoe on the other hand kept on looking at Avery, pleading with her eyes that he listens to her and send her mother away.“I do not want her here, Avery.” She said to him. Avery looked from her to her mother, surprise on his facial features.“Something terrible just happened to you, Zoe.” He started. “She must have been scared to her wits. Just give her some time to at least look at you before you send her away.”She shook her head again but he ignored her and took Aaron out of the room to give them privacy. Zoe finally focused on her mother since there was nowhere else to look. She knew it was quite insensitive of her to play the blame game at the moment but that was all she could do in order to unleash the anger in her heart.Margery got up from the bed as soon as Avery and his brother left and began to pace the large room. She looked around, taking in the décor and interior of
Avery and Jacob sat together in his study trying to talk about work and the company. Avery had a glass of scotch in his hands, contemplating on whether to drink it just to escape from the ache he was feeling in his chest for a moment or to deal with his loss like a normal man. He traced his fingers around the rim of the round and short cup, staring at the content even though he wasn’t seeing anything.“Are you going to drink that?” Jacob asked him, but he shook his head avoiding eye contact. The color of the scotch and how pretty it looked inside the cup intrigued him surprisingly and he found peace just by looking at it.“Do you want me to drink it?” He asked Jacob in return who said nothing to him. They were supposed to be discussing company policies and not talk about scotch, but Avery found himself not wanting to talk about work when his sister was prepared to be buried six feet below the ground.“Maybe I should drink the scotch.” He replied. “Scotch helps sometimes and thank God
Zoe went round the little church Avery had picked for them in her simple floral white dress. She had pleaded with him that she didn’t want anything extravagant so he had done his best to get something small in the province close to their vacation home in Maples.Everything was finally going on well with her life. She and Avery were now in a place that she could never have imagined and they were going through life together. Sometimes he sends Aaron messages, to assure him that they were still brothers, but as usual, Aaron ignores them. As a couple, the both of them had visited Francis’s grave together in Maples, bringing him flowers and she had assured Francis that she forgave him for the lies and deceit while they were together.Zoe continued to look at the statue and altar in the catholic church where Avery had agreed they got married because he wanted everything to her taste. She was grateful for him and knew for sure that the both of them were going to have a good life together.“Z
‘I need you home right now’ kept resonating in Avery’s mind even as he dropped the call. He looked at Jacob who was busy surfing through the media, looking for ways to savage the remaining reputation that they had left.“Zoe said she needs me home.” Avery said to Jacob and the latter lifted up his head to attend to him. Avery stood up from his work chair and began to roam around the space between his work table and the window.“She needs you home can mean so many things, Avery.” Jacob said, watching him keenly. “What are you getting worried about?”“She needs me home could also mean that she is tired of the life I am leading with her and wants an out.” Avery responded, watching Jacob who sighed.“If she wants an out, then you have to let her go.”Avery shook his head immediately, knotting his tie that he had loosened when he had been working. When he put on his suit, he turned back to face Jacob.“I cannot live without her, Jacob.” He said. “I have to let her know that I cannot live w
Zoe woke up in the morning to an empty bed. She yawned weakly and rolled off her side of the bed, wondering where the hell Avery had gone to so early. The wall clock in her room read twenty minutes past eight which meant he was supposed to still be in the house.She searched the bathroom and the closet but he was nowhere to be found so she made her way down the stairs. The maids she met on her way greeted her differently and with pity as if they knew exactly what she had been through for the past two days. In the dining room, Kara brought a cup of coffee to her which she accepted with gladness in her heart. Finally, she was in the comfort of her home and could eat anything she liked. That wasn’t possible when she was at the mercy of Aaron.Zoe sipped her coffee, watching Kara who was looking at her with keen eyes. She smiled when she lifted the coffee from her lips at the young girl.“Did you miss me?” She asked, making her blush. “Where is Avery by the way? Have you seen him this mo
Avery held Zoe outside the warehouse as Aaron and his crew were being taken into the police van. His fear had known no bounds while driving to save his wife and that was when he realized that he couldn’t live without Zoe. Jacob was right all along. Aaron, his brother had gotten out of hand and the best thing to do to make sure that he doesn’t do more damage is to put him behind bars.He continued to rub Zoe’s shoulders, kissing her temple when Aaron was brought to stand before the both of them in handcuffs. There was a sorry look on his face but Avery was determined not to be swayed by it.“Avery.” Aaron called, trying to meet his gaze. “You are not going to allow them take me to prison, right?” He asked with a shaky voice.Avery scoffed, finally looking him straight into the eye. “Why wouldn’t I allow them take you to prison?” He asked. “You are a criminal and a murderer. People like you deserve to be in jail.”“Come on, Avery.” Aaron called. “Remember our family name is going to be
Zoe laid still on the cold ground completely ignoring the bed Aaron had asked his people to provide for her the previous day. The room was dark but she was staring at the ceiling, wondering how long it would actually take for Avery to forget her just like Aaron had threatened. That was the only thing keeping her alive at the moment because he had promised to kill her when Avery forgets she existed.She remained still in the dark even when the door opened but squinted when the light on the ceiling was turned on directly above her. Aaron walked up to where she was and looked at her but she ignored him.“Just a little while now, Zoe.” He said, drawing the chair close to him and taking a seat on it. “I was at the house yesterday and Avery is still looking frantically for you. Just a little while now before he forgets about you completely.”Zoe scoffed arrogantly at him, her eyes still focused on the ceiling which she could see clearly now all thanks to the light in the room. His words ind
Avery’s head of security was the only one watching the security cameras and he sat up when he saw Avery walk in.“You had just one job.” Avery said, trying not to scream at the top of his lungs. “You had just one job and that was to make sure you kept her safe.”“Mr. Trent, what…” Daniel stammered.“You were supposed to keep her safe and watch her at every time, what the hell were you doing when she left the house?” Avery continued without giving him time to talk.“Your wife went out in a hurry and we tried to follow her, but she was able to escape the cars.” Daniel spoke“What the hell does that even mean?” Avery screamed this time around. “What the hell is your job if she could disappear out from your sight?”“Mr. Trent, she said you knew where she was heading to.” Daniel said, trying to defend himself. “She told us she had your permission to leave the house and we couldn’t argue with that. She is your wife.”“Don’t you dare remind me what she is because I think I am very well aware
Avery shut his work laptop closed and headed out of the office. He had had quite a tedious day and wished nothing but to go home and be in the presence of his wife whether she hated him or not. At least anytime he was with Zoe, a lot of thoughts is being blocked from his head. The only thing she worries him about is Aaron but with that at least, there was a way to maneuver it. He just had to seduce her and she would forget totally about Aaron.Thinking about it now, it had been very long since he seduced Zoe and suddenly, he couldn’t wait to get home. Charlotte knocked on his office door and when he gave her leave to enter, she stuck her head and part of her shoulder in. He saw the strap of her handbag on her shoulders and could tell she too was about to leave.“Do you need anything else sir?” Charlotte asked and he shook his head immediately.“Nothing.” He replied. “You can go home Charlotte. Drive carefully.”She bowed at him and closed the door quietly behind her. Avery on the othe
Zoe tilted her head to watch Aaron and the look on his face carefully. Of course, it was him. She thought, sighing with distress. But why had she not thought about it and why the hell would he kidnap her when Avery had warned him not to come anywhere near her? She clenched her fists in anger, hating that he was two steps ahead of her just when she had thought she had the perfect opportunity to get him the punishment he finally deserved.“You keep on surprising me, Aaron.” She said, trying her best to keep herself calm. “You surprise me every single time.”“Of course, Zoe.” He replied, taking off his suit. “I am full of surprises, am I not?”The man who had brought her the glass of water, came in with a wooden chair for Aaron to sit on and he took the seat from him.“Do you not need me, boss?” The weird looking man asked and Aaron shook his head after giving his suit to him.“I don’t.” Aaron replied, smiling. “I will just have a little fun with my sister-in-law here and be on my way.”
Zoe relaxed on her seat and crossed her legs again. There was a certain thing she was feeling that she could barely understand. Yes, Aaron had confessed to killing Francis and she had it on her recorder. Then, why wasn’t she on her way to delivering it to the police together with the pictures Amelia had given her? Why was the satisfaction that he was going to surely be behind bars suddenly feeling bittersweet? Was it because she wasn’t sure how Avery would react to it? Or because she was scared Avery would no longer want her in his life if she puts his brother behind bars.The fact that Avery had become such an important part of her life up to the point that she thought about him before making her decision surprised her so much. She just wanted everything to be settled so that the both of them could savage the remaining aspects of their lives and live safely together. Was that the reason why she was stalling?“Did you just confess to murder?” She asked Aaron, who arrogantly shrugged h