It was a choice for her to make; not just any choice, but one that would alter her life overnight.
Just her outfit alone indicated that she wasn't anyone common. She was virtually a queen. Not just any queen, but the supreme queen of magnificence. Looks like she had the guts, to show up at such a place at such a sinful hour. Just her way of walking made heads turn.
And her looks? Man! She was gorgeous. Nah! 'Gorgeous' was an understatement. She was magnificence itself.
She casually sauntered in and went right to the bar counter. Though she looked delicate, her impression was one admirable to be complimented.
But, something seemed off...
'Something must be wrong for a person like her to be in such a place, at such a time.' He assumed as he saw her tug a stool next to him.
Damien couldn't help but stare closely at the lady beside him. It had been ages since he last took a liking to the female specie. He found it tiring, and worthless. Sincerely, he found the other gender ' morally repugnant.
Eleanor turned her head to the side and unintentionally locked gazes with the man beside her. She sneered as an intention incited in her mind.
He was mesmerizing to the eye.
Black eyes, wavy hair, fair skin.
'He'd do just fine she supposed to herself. She didn't surmise that such an excellent-looking man existed, but she was looking at one now.
El, as she was fondly called wasn't in the 'Castle of Wine' for no purpose. Nah!
She had a plan, she had ideas. And the man beside her would suit her plans well.
"Miss, you shouldn't ogle so much," Damien said, as he swirled the wine goblet in his hand. He felt her gawking so much.
Eleanor didn't look away, as he turned to look her in the eye; rather, she shriveled her brows.
"Looks like there's something on your mind," He asked, bored.
"Wanna share?"
It was slightly remarkable, his facial expression hadn't altered a speck since she came in. She feels such men were only attempting to play arduous to get.
She scoffed inwardly.
"Why would I want to share with you?" Eleanor asked with a look of skepticism on her face.
Damien twisted to her fully and glimmered. His glimmer wasn't soft, and neither was it cold. It was solely...
Business Like.
"You're a weird person" He began with a soft tone.
Nonetheless, Eleanor's tone was similar to his, "What incites you to say that?"
"Walking in a murky street, late this night, aren't you courting death?"
Eleanor stayed silent. After a time, she whispered, "I need a drink."
"Drinking wouldn't resolve all your troubles. You can only ease up a little by spewing everything to the person who'd be ready to would listen."
"Why would I do that?" she eventually mumbled after a deafening silence between them.
"Because you're prepared to do so"
Eleanor reflected for a while, she certainly needed to babble about her troubles as it was too hard for her to suffer alone.
She lifted her head to glimpse at the man before her. He appeared to know everything.
"Come with me," He whispered as he stood up and started walking towards a door. After a few seconds, she chose to follow him.
"You can begin talking now," he said lightly as he gave her a glass of water. Eleanor looked at the glass of water in her hand for a while, before taking a sip.
She took a deep breath and started to speak, "My family disowned me. Simply because I refused to marry the scumbag they wanted."
"He isn't up to your standards, right? His financial situation isn't good. Am I right?" Damien speculated. It was a usual thing, after all.
Eleanor sneered, "Thought you'd be able to put the rest together. Well, things are different."
Damien's interest was instantly piqued, he didn't expect it'd be a different stereotypical plot, "Finally, something interesting. Go on"
"His status is good. You see, my family took a wedding contract to him and arranged a blind date for me today. I thought it was a normal business run with my father, but little did I know that I would be asked to sign a wedding contract with a scumbag. A scumbag who f*cks anything in a skirt. Of course, I declined...."
Eleanor spoke everything out even though she hadn't wanted to in the beginning. But, she felt better as the stress had been relieved.
Damien sat quietly for a while, but he began to laugh.
"I stand to be corrected. So, you're leaving, but you're planning on having a one-night stand with a total stranger. For revenge. Right?"
El looked at him and didn't reply.
How did he know?
"I need a drink," She said instead of replying to his speculations because he was in fact right.
Damien smiled as he had gotten the answer from her silence. She wanted a one night stand and he wanted it too, so...
"If that's the case, let's play it"
"Scram!" Eleanor shouted.
Damien laughed at her reaction.
"There's no use having a guilty conscience. Don't tell me you didn't expect it? You most definitely did!
"I'd tell you why you plan on a nightstand. It is so that you can conclude your life after being assaulted. It's better if we do it when you're sober. That way there'd be no regrets and you'd be able to experience the pleasure in it. Or do you plan on doing it when drunk?"
He was being too plain, Eleanor thought as she looked at him.
Eleanor burst into a fit of laughter suddenly, "Say, you've had eyes on since I walked in, yea?"
"Who wouldn't? Though I reckon you are around 18-19 of age, you are still attractive" He replied in all honesty. Damien wasn't one to keep secrets.
"Although I'm a very picky man, I don't just touch any woman. So you should feel honored" he added as he sipped from his wine glass.
Eleanor looked at him. He was quite a narcissist, but, given his exquisite and well-defined looks, he had the right to be a narcissist.
"You up for it? We don't have all day. Shall we play it?"
Eleanor looked at him in silence for a while.She was thinking if she should go on with it or just quit now. After a moment of contemplation, the former won. She would do it...Eleanor grinned mischievously as she spoke, "Let's play it". Excitement, fear, anger, hate, revenge- all were present in her tone at that moment. Eleanor knew her family well. The McKinleys were one of the most prestigious families in the whole of New York City. They were prideful and she knew how affected they were by her refusal to marry the scumbag they had chosen for her. She felt content at the thought of how to hurt their pride."Shall we then?" Damien said, standing up. He stretched out his hand for her to take and Eleanor didn't hesitate to do so.Each step she took was a question to herself if she wanted to go through the ordeal. She wouldn't back out.!Damien led her further into the room and soon, they arrived at another door. As he opened the door, a wide and spacious bedroom came to view.Eleanor
Alexander's angry voice thundered in the McKinley Manor, as it broke her thoughts.Eleanor raised her head to look up at him. Tears streaming down her face, she met his gaze. He had meant it!"You're just as useless as your mother. Nothing good comes from you!" Alex screamed.Those words pricked her heart immensely.She knew her mother had died due to heart issues. She had heard so from her late paternal grandmother. It was said that when her father started keeping a mistress, who is her stepmother, Elaine, her mother started to develop Cardiac issues.He killed her mother and still dared to speak ill of her.Eleanor wiped her eyes and turned to leave.She would leave, but it wasn't the end."I do not want to see you within a 50 miles radius of this house!" Elaine barked out, a sinister smile playing on her face.Finally, she wouldn't have to worry about such a pest anymore."Markus! Take her away from here. And make sure she doesn't return here ever again!" Alexander said.The man c
The city of New York continued to thrive, Bloom, and flourish for five years after Eleanor left."Mommy, we're landing soon wake up"A crisp voice made Eleanor open her eyes, upon which she immediately saw an adorable young face.Tasha Anderson-Red stared at her mother keenly. "Mommy, why are we back in New York City?""Are we here to look for daddy?" Nathan chimed in.Eleanor stretched her body lazily and sat comfortably. She mumbled, "You don't have a father""Mum, we're not kids anymore. So we're not going to believe any nonsense you spout. We couldn't have been conceived magically. Or did we pop out of rocks?"Eleanor "..."Eleanor didn't respond as she began to tie up her waist-length hair.Tasha continued to speak to her brother, "We'd look for daddy ourselves, right?""Yes," Nathan assured his sisterly warmly.They'd surely look for their father.A glint of warmth flashed across Eleanor's grape-like eyes. She was reminded of that night from five years ago. The night her precio
The plane arrived a little later than expected.As Cassie's feet touched the ground of New York City, she smiled. She pulled out her phone to make a call. A cab driver had pulled up before her, so she signalled him to wait a while.After a few rings, the call connected."Cassie?" Eleanor's voice came from the other end.She sounded busy and tired."Boss, are you alright?" Cassie asked in a low tone.Eleanor hissed at Cassie's question. She was sure that Cassie's plane had already landed, but instead of her asking for the address, she was asking about her condition. Well, that was just Cassie.With this in mind, Eleanor replied gratefully, "I'm fine Cass. Here's the address _____"Cassie ended the call getting the address. She told it to the can driver and they begun their journey.After an hour drive, the cab pulled up in front of a big metallic gate. Cassie was awestruck by her boss' house. She was elated as she quickly paid off the cab driver quickly.She was eager to get into the
"I'm here to take what rightfully belongs to me!"Eleanor turned to the confused group across the table with a sense of urgency. She politely greeted them, before stating her businesses there. "Hello, apologies for barging in. I'm Eleanor Anderson-Red and this company belongs to me. My mother, Mrs, Zera Anderson passed it down to me. There's a document that had been notarized by her attorney. If you need to clarify, it can be shown to you. Therefore, Mr McKinley here, and his toy, have no right whatsoever, to sell this company. I am in charge!"Callaghan and his group of lawyers were surprised by this shocking revelation. This was a twist they hadn't seen coming.They had come here to buy the company because they thought it belonged to Alexander. But they were wrong!They turned to each other and began to whisper amongst themselves.Alexander and Elaine, fearing the worst, became anxious. Billions of dollars was about to go down the drain. Just like that, it'd slip from their fingerti
The air in the meeting room was suffocating as they struggled for air.After watching Eleanor leave, Elaine had quickly opened the documents only to be left shocked.Is this real?Seeing his shocked and speechless his wife was, Alexander grabbed the sheets from her and scanned through them."What is this?" He spat out in anger as he threw the papers furiously on the table."What nonsense! These cannot be real! I had this discarded!"After taking Eleanor out of the picture, Alexander had ordered for the discarding of the original documents that were notarized. He had made a new one were he stated that for Eleanor to take over the ZerAnderson Group, she had to be married. He had made that condition because he believed she would never return ever again.Now he realizes how foolish he was, he should have removed her name completely!Thinking back to that time, he realized that he had forgotten about the copy that was left with Lawyer Jesse.Alexander gritted his teeth in frustration.He w
The plane landed at the airport late in the afternoon.Taking the car that was already waiting for them, they made their way to Damien's Villa.***After Eleanor was done talking to lawyer Jesse about the ZerAnderson Group, she told Cassie and the kids to wait for her while she visited the McKinley Manor.***At the McKinley Manor...Old Madam Cindy, the leader of the McKinley family, was the oldest of the family and Eleanor's grandmother.Cindy was sick and as such, had to spend the most of her time in the bed. She had been diagnosed with a terminal illness 4 years ago and since then, she has been struggling for her life.Eleanor was not sure, but she knew that it might be only her grandmother who loved her in the entire family she's always called her own.She went into the room and saw the old woman sitting leisurely on the balcony with her personal servant by her side."El, is that you?" Cindy's voice was aged.Eleanor nodded."Come closer child, I have missed you."Eleanor walked
Eddy was watching Damien typing on his laptop. His long fingers were moving swiftly across the keyboard and there were a few lines of data on the screen that caught Eddy's eyes."Boss," Eddy said pointing to a random line. "there""What?" Damien asked irritatedly, not understanding what Eddy was pointing to.Eddy moved closer to his boss and touched a picture. It was the picture of a lady and Eddy felt the resemblance was deep to the one his boss had sketched."The woman in this picture," Eddy began, "she looks like the one from your sketches. The one you've been searching for for years."Damien's interest was instantly piqued and he immediately taped the picture. His eyes widened instantly.Eddy was right. She did look like the girl from that one night years ago. Those eyes, he could never forget them. Except for the fact that the one in the picture looked more mature, everything was the same.After the nightstand with Eleanor, Damien had been crazy about finding her. He had even beg