The Reckoning Begins
She was all engulfed by fear and to prevent herself from falling and keep her fear hidden, she tightened her trembling hands around her dress. She was confused and didn’t know what to say or do at that moment. The thought of Sophia hurting her beloved son which she had separated from her since childbirth, made her tremble the more.
“No, I can’t allow her to do that to him. I can’t lose my child when I have got the chance to finally be with him. I can’t” Hillary had thought, still shivering in fear, with Sophia’s eyes on her, pleased to see her in the state she was in.
“She dares to threaten me with my child after hurting me that much? What kind of wicked soul is she?” Hillary queried silently, still holding onto her dress tightly.
“No, I can’t let her trample all over me like she did in the past. I can’t let her scare me off and give up on getting my revenge on her. Does she think I will let go of everything she did to me and my family if she threatens me? Now is not the time to let go of everything when I am close to achieving my aim. I won’t back down. I never will. For mum’s sake and Austin’s sake, I won’t. I will protect my child at all costs and still make sure to bring her down. I will never give in to her request to back down, until I see the end of her. Never will I!!!” Hillary thought clenching her fist in anger, with her body which was earlier engulfed by fear, now regaining its fierceness and thirst for revenge, as she ruminated on what she had been through in the hands of Sophia and her family. Letting go of her fear, she allowed her quest for vengeance overtake her and dominate her soul, making her momentarily weak heart hardened and the scared expression on her face replaced with coldness and ruthlessness. Determined not to allow Sophia’s threat to get to her, she slowly turned around to face Sophia, with a compassionless and cruel look on her face. The look on her face was so mean and scary that Sophia’s victorious smile vanished and was replaced with that of sheer terror, her confidence crumbling under the weight of a sudden tension,
Slowly, Hillary took deliberate steps towards Sophia with her cold expression totally void of emotion. Her eyes were sharp, glinting like ice under dim light, focused intently on Sophia. Each step she took towards her echoed ominously, heightened the dread in the air as Sophia trembled, shrinking under her looming presence. The closer she got, the more suffocating the atmosphere became for Sophia, with her also taking one step at a time backward. But Sophia’s steps weren’t as fast as that of her opponent as she got close to her in no time, closing the distance between them.
“What are you ……?” Sophia asked, trying to maintain her composure although she was frightened by Hillary’s gaze but before she could finish her question, a slap landed across her face. Shock was written all over her and she was perturbed.
“Are you mad? What the hell did you ……… ” Sophia yelled but before she could finish, Hillary landed another slap on her cheek. This time around, Sophia was speechless, and she didn’t know what to say. All she did was to place her hand on her hurting cheek, rubbing it to relieve herself of the hurt she was getting from it.
“You dare threaten me with my child after stealing him away from me? After all the things you did to me, you still have the effrontery to threaten me with my own child? Wow, you are bold. I love your courage” Hillary said, with her eyes blazing with fury and anger.
“You know what? Listen and listen well. This will be the first and the last time I will be saying this. Don’t you ever in your life threaten me with my child again. What did you say again? You can take him out of the way when I get on your nerves?” Hillary asked, smirking, not expecting a response from Sophia.
“I dare you Sophia!!!! I dare you, Sophia Porous, the daughter of Stephanie, to touch a strand of my son’s hair and see how crazy a mother can be!!!! Next time this happens, I won’t be so nice letting it end with a slap. I am sure this wouldn’t repeat itself again, bitch” Hillary blurted out angrily, spatting on Sophia before walking away. As she did, Sophia tried putting together some words, but they wouldn’t come out no matter the number of times she tried to. She was in shock, the shock of how Hillary had changed so much within the space of 5 years.
After that incident, Sophia’s drive to make Hillary vanish forever increased. She wanted her out of her sight forever, but she couldn’t do anything rash as she was just a few steps away from achieving her dreams.
“Once I manage to have my way to the top as the Chairman of the company, I will get rid of her. For now, let me focus on making the collaboration with Annie Fashion Group a success” Sophia had told herself. Sophia put in her best in order to find a way to connect with the owner of the company on the outlook, but Edward’s help wasn’t forthcoming as he was focused on getting his memories back as soon as possible. Edward couldn’t control his feelings for Hillary anymore as his heart raced each time he set his eyes on her. He felt himself drawn to her but he couldn’t approach her as Hillary was always cold to him and all bottled up around him. She was never free with him and always avoided being alone with him in an enclosed area, especially if they by chance met in the kitchen.
Just like Sophia had promised herself, she focused on the task ahead of her as she thought achieving the task would pave the way for her to gain power and make it easier to take Hillary out of the way. Hillary and Richard on the other hand, didn’t make an attempt to carry out the task they were saddled with by Daniel. They were so relaxed and comfortable that Sophia thought they were working silently and had Jack spy on them, but he found nothing. They didn’t make an attempt to get in touch with the Fashion Brand and they cared less about the outcome of Daniel’s decision.
“Seems like they have finally given up” Sophia had thought but on the other side of the coin, she wasn’t comfortable with how relaxed her opponents were and which made her suspect something wasn’t right. Nevertheless, she continued working towards achieving her goal. She tried getting in touch with their prospecting partner, but she got no response from them. She emailed the company, put a call through countless times but they neither picked her calls nor responded to her mails. It was as if they were intentionally ignoring her. She was getting frustrated at that point as she had only 9 days left to reach their ultimatum. She thought over and over again on what other way to go about it and then, her mind struck her dad.
“I can ask for dad’s help” she thought. Her dad was a rich and influential man, who has connections in most of the countries.
“He should be able to link me up with someone who can help” she said to herself and with that, she made her way to her father’s company.
“Hello, dad. How are you doing today?” she asked, upon making her way into her dad’s office.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.
“”I am good, my princess. It’s good to have you in my office. I can’t remember the last time you stepped your feet in here” he responded, surprised by his daughter’s sudden visit.
“I have been busy, dad. That’s why” she said, with sadness and worry written all over her face.
“Are you sure you are fine? You look all worked up and worried. Is everything okay?” her dad, who had taken note of his daughter’s countenance asked, being concerned.
“Dad, I need your help” she blurted out, with a hint of urgency in her voice.
“Spill it out. Anything for you, my love” he responded, smiling at her adorably.
“Do you by chance have a connection with Annie Fashion Group?” she asked, praying silently that her father’s answer should be a yes.
“The Fashion Brand in Australia?” he asked, wondering what business his daughter had with the brand.
“Yes, that one” she confirmed, getting all eager.
“Is there anything I need to know? What business do you have with the company?” he asked, looking at her intently with his eyes narrowing down in suspicion.
“I will tell you about that later. Can you link me up with someone that works there as soon as possible?” Sophia questioned, getting impatient.
“Okay, if you say so. I actually know of someone whom I can link you up with” he responded, resting his back on his armchair.
“Really? Thank you so much, dad. You are the best dad ever” Sophia said with her face lit up and the worried expression on her face vanished, which was replaced with a widened smile. Getting up from where she was seated, she walked up to where her dad was and gave him a hug.
“So, how do I get in touch with the intermediary?” Sophia asked, freeing herself from her dad’s embrace.
“Just wait, let me put a call through to him” he responded, picking up his mobile phone which he had placed on the table beside his laptop. He dialed an unknown individual’s line and they both spoke for quite some minutes after the person picked.
“Thank you, Festus. Will tell her to get in touch with you. Do have a nice day” Williams said, hanging up.
“He agreed to help. Will forward his contact to you now, you can get in touch with him” Williams said, facing her daughter.
“Thank you, daddy. You are awesome. I love you” Sophia, who was overjoyed, showed her gratitude, giving her father a peck.
“Anything for my princess” Williams responded, smiling at her. His smile was so sincere, which showed how much he loved and really cared for his daughter. Walking back to where she had placed her bag when she came in, Sophia picked it up, hanging it loosely on her shoulder.
“Dad, I need to be on my way now,” she said, smiling at her dad.
“So soon? Won’t you spend some more time with me? It has been long since I last saw you and your mum has been lamenting on how you have made a house you grew up in, forbidden for you to enter” Williams said, feigning annoyance. Since that day 6 years ago when her mother told her the circumstances relating to her birth, Sophia had by all means avoided her mother. She stopped picking her calls and wouldn’t grant her an audience, whenever she came visiting. She hated her for birthing her for a poor, common man instead of a rich one.
“Dad, I am quite busy right now. I promise to make it up to you once I am done with the task before me. It’s all for the better. Bye dad and I love you” Sophia said, blowing kisses at her dad with her hastily making her way towards the exit. While exiting the room, she almost bumped into the wall, which made her dad smile at her tackiness. As soon as Sophia was out of sight, the mask of pretense Williams had put on got unmasked, replacing the smile that was on his face with a fierce look. He gently picked up his phone with the cold expression still on his face and dialed an unknown number.
“Put the plan in motion, it’s time to begin the show!!!!” Williams said smirking, upon the receiver picking with a devilish smile displayed on his face.