Andrea’s POV “Never! Stop stalking me, Zion.” I stormed into the elevator, furious at his question. What did he think me to be? I wasn’t a weakling to give in to his manipulation. I could fend for myself and fight it out.He followed me into the elevator, making me even more furious. “I won’t stop until you give in. So, why waste time?” I sucked in a deep breath to stay calm. “You’re wasting your time pursuing me. I’m not interested in you. Get out and stay out of my life.” The elevator stopped at my floor and I marched out. To my immense annoyance, he still followed me. “I see. So, who are you interested in now?” He grabbed my arm to stop me. I turned around to face him for the last time. This was getting too complicated now. I hadn’t expected him to pursue me to this level. Why was he doing it? Didn’t he have any important work to do?“No one! Can you leave me alone, Zion? I’m tired of this. The more you pressurize me, the more I’ll run from you. I am married to my business and
Zion’s POV I drove over to the headquarters of the Concorde Group to attend the annual board meeting. It was something I couldn’t ignore, although I dreaded meeting Delia. She would definitely try to convince me to take over the reins of the business once again but as her puppet. Only she didn’t realize that I would never be her puppet. I would take over as CEO again only if she signed 20% more shares over to me. With a majority of the company shares in my name, I would have a clear advantage over her. For the last four days, my life has been a roller-coaster ride with no time for anything. After the massive disappointment on Saturday when Andrea skipped the get-together because of me, I realized my mistake. Her words echoed in my head all the time. I realized Andrea had rejected me! She had moved on from me! There was no place for me in her life! The realization hurt me a lot, and I spent the entire night seeking solace in my bottle of Jack Daniels. The next morning, I noticed t
Zion’s POV “If I die, I won’t let you live either!” I opened the door and walked in, leaving Delia seething outside. What did she think? Would I let her get away with what was rightfully mine? I smiled at all my employees, who were slogging hard to get the conference room ready for us. “Sir, do you need anything else?” asked my events manager, Genevieve Chloros, who had joined us eighteen months ago. Although I had a very brief association with her before stepping down as CEO, I was surprised to see her still sticking here. Delia hated the woman at first sight, and I was sure she would soon replace her. I inspected everything and gave her an appreciative nod when Delia stormed into the room. “Where are the name tags? I asked you to reserve specific seats for the board members. Why hasn’t it been done, Ms. Chloros?” She fumbled and looked completely at a loss. “I wasn’t aware, ma’am. I’ll do it right away.” The door opened and a few of the board members walked in before Genevieve
Andrea’s POVSix Months Later “Roberta, ask Mr. Johnson to meet me right away. I want him to email me the month’s updated accounts.” Dean Johnson was my finance manager who has been working with Ratio for the last four months. Ever since Zion returned my projects and disappeared from my life, sales had picked up and I was neck-deep at work. Yet not a moment passed by when I didn’t think about Zion. What would he be doing? How did he forget his wish to have me move in with him? The Zion I knew never gave up if he wanted something truly. Then how did he give up on me? “Sure, Andrea!” She walked out and after three minutes, Mr. Johnson came in. I had no time to ponder over what could have been and concentrated on the figures instead. “Ma’am, last month’s figures have broken all records. It’s been the best so far.” I nodded, but I frowned at the half payments received from a few incomplete projects. The work pressure was so much, that I had to build a design team to help me. Currently,
Andrea’s POV It was almost 10 o’clock when I wrapped my work at the office. I facepalmed when I realized I had forgotten to send Zayden and Adrian’s belongings to Cromwell Mansion. Now they all would be furious with me. It was well past their bedtime, anyway. Would they be expecting me? Maybe I could drop the stuff tomorrow morning on my way to work. I drove, wondering whether to go to Cromwell Mansion and face everyone’s disappointment in me or to go home and sleep. The latter sounded a better option, and I drove home. Maybe one night I could just relax and catch up on some sleep. Parking my car, I went up the elevator to my apartment, but a nagging sense of guilt crept into my heart. I should have picked up the twins from Grandpa’s house instead of dumping all my responsibilities on them. Maybe I should make it up to Danielle this weekend by inviting them to dinner at my place. I groaned at the thought of preparing dinner. Grandpa insisted on having home-cooked meals instead of
Andrea’s POV The next morning, I didn’t get a moment to think about Zion. It was a weekday, and I hadn’t packed the children’s stuff last night. It took me almost thirty minutes to do so. Afterward, I got ready for work, loaded the stuff into my car, and drove over to Cromwell Mansion. It was just seven in the morning and I could get the twins ready for school on time. The door opened, and Kathy smiled at me. “The twins just woke up. You’re in time.” “Great! I got late last night. So I brought their stuff now.” “That’s okay. Let’s get them ready.” I was glad of the help since I was used to doing it all by myself. With Kathy’s help, Zayden and Adrian were ready before Zane. “Your dress is totally ruined, Andy. How will you go to work wearing this?” asked Danielle with concern as we sat down to grab a quick breakfast. It was a luxury for me since most of the days I didn’t get the time to have my breakfast. Kristina arrived after we left and stayed over late. “I’ll manage.” In my h
Zion’s POV Yes, I felt jealous of Knox’s children. Andrea left her work and took out time for them, dropped them home, and even kissed them. Whereas she behaved like a stranger to me, not willing to listen to my side of the story. I watched her read the message I sent her, roll her eyes, give me a haughty look, and drive away! What the hell! I didn’t want to stalk her anymore. What was the use? She wouldn’t get out of her car and confront me. The Andrea I knew would have gotten worked up and faced me, demanding an explanation for stalking her. I have known her for so long, but never had I seen this cold side of her nature. From where did she acquire so much patience? I was running out of mine. My phone buzzed with an incoming call from Maddox. I knew why he was calling me. They were meeting at Escapades tonight to celebrate Christian’s birthday! Christian St. James was our close friend who married the girl he loved for years, Skylar Carnell. He was one lucky guy! I accepted the c
Zion’s POV My heartbeats almost stopped for a moment. Andrea had four-year-old twins! Was I their father? Then why didn’t she tell me about my children? I wouldn’t have pined for five long years to have her in my life if I knew. I was too confused to think.“My children? How do I not know anything about this, Andrea? Why didn’t you tell me?” I gripped a chair to calm my trembling body. This was the biggest shock of my life! I hadn’t expected Adrian to be my child! “I had told you, Zion, but you refused to accept them as yours. Don’t you remember?” I gaped at Andrea, remembering the day she came to see me in a traumatized state. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind after a bitter argument with Delia. It was the day when my life had turned upside down and I had to agree to marry Elena for the shares of the Concorde Group. “Please guys, stop fighting!” said Maddox, separating us. Eros grabbed Knox and forced him to leave me alone. “Yes, you can sort out your differences amicably,” sai