● BOSTON CITY ●

“Okay then, take care of yourself and let me know Sally gets back so I can talk to her” Lucia Sawyer said into the receiver.

“Okay, love you too and take care of Mathew. Make sure he cope in school, you know how shy he get sometimes” Lucia said and ended the call sometime later.

“Is that Marie?” Grace, Lucia sister ask when she ended the call.

“It is. They just got to their sister apartment and are settling in” Lucia said, happy to know that all her kids are together in D.C.

“How old are they now?” Grace ask.

“They will be twenty in November” Lucia reply, continuing with the pastry she’s baking.

“They will be twenty in November. Don’t you think it’s time you let them know the truth?” Grace said and that made Lucia pause.

She stared at Grace who was watching her in return.

“What do I have to let them know?” Lucia ask, feigning ignorance.

“We both know that it’s been long and you take them to….”

“Enough, Grace. Let’s not talk about it” Lucia said.

“But the twins deserve to know….”

“I said it’s enough! I don’t want to talk about it and that’s final, let’s keep it that way,please” Lucia said and Grace nod in reply.

******
● WASHINGTON D.C ~ LANDON RESIDENCE ●

“So? You did come alone” Desiree Landon said as her grandson strode in, alone.

“I told you that wh@??ver you have to say to her will be said to me, so go ahead, grandma, am listening” Xavier said, taking a seat.

“Tell me one thing, are you in love with this girl?” Desiree ask and Xavier let out a laugh.

“With the way you brought me up. Do you think I have a heart to fall in love with anyone?” Xavier ask in return.

“Then why are you going this far for that girl. In the past, you never meddled”

“Point of correction. I did try to stop you, I never agreed with the way you treated those people that found out my secret but you ended up doing things your own way”

“If you know that then you should know that I will do things myself own way this time around” Desiree said.

“No! You won’t be having your way this time around, grandma” Xavier said firmly.

“Is that a thr_@t?”

“Take it whichever way you want but get it through your head that I won’t let you touch Sally or anyone else”

“I really have a lot to thank Sally for. Not only has she brainwash you to turn against me, she’s also making you rebel! Something you never did before” Desiree said, looking very angry.

“Sally did nothing. This is just me standing up for myself, you’ve had enough control over my life and it’s time you stop”

“You know that all am doing is for your sake”

“I know that and I will always be grateful but it’s time we put an end to it. Am old enough to take care of myself” Xavier told her.

“You really believe that? You know that without my help, things will fall apart for you”

“It might but am willing to give it a chance” Xavier return coolly and that got Desiree hitting the table in anger.

“You are hell bent on disobeying me and all because of that girl!” Desiree tell at him.

“This isn’t me disobeying you, am just trying to take over my life from now on”

“Fine then, let’s see how it goes for you and let me tell you now that I won’t make things easy for you. You will end up crawling back here, asking for my help”

“I expected that from you but don’t worry, I won’t be doing that and let me also tell you that am prepared for wh@??ver you throw at me, I won’t let you win this time, you’ve been winning long enough” Xavier said and left, making her more angry.

*****
● SALLY’S APARTMENT ●

“Since there’s only two room. Why don’t you two share a room?” May suggest as she stood in front of the empty room with Mathew and Marie.

“I don’t think that will be a good idea. We might be siblings and all but I don’t think it’s right that we share a room” Mathew said.

“That will be hard. At first we wanted Marie to share our room but it’s going to be too tight which is why we thought you two can….”

“How about I take the couch” Mathew suggest.

“Hell no! Don’t worry, May. Mathew and I will share the room. We will unpack and join you downstairs to prepare something to eat” Marie said, drawing Mathew into the room.

“Is it too hard to share a room with me? It’s not like we will be staying here forever. We just need somewhere to sleep until the college dorms are ready and besides, we both agreed not to be a problem to Sally” Marie said.

“I know but it’s just that I….I can’t share a room with you” Mathew said, turning away to stand outside the window.

“You know Mathew, you’ve been acting weird lately. Sometimes, you make me feel like….you h@?? me” Marie said and immediately, Mathew took hold of Marie’s hand.

“Don’t ever say that, you know I can never h@?? you. You are my sister”

“Then prove it by sharing this room with me. If you really don’t h@?? me like you claim, then let’s share this room together” Marie said, making it hard for him to refuse.

“Fine then”

“Great. Need to take pictures and send it to Melanie, she will want to see the new place I stay” Marie said, moving away from him to take a pictures.

The real reason he has been refusing to share a room with her is because he knows how tempting it will be to him.

He has been doing his best to keep his feeling under control and now that they will be sharing a room, it’s going to hard for him.

What’s he going to do…he thought, watching Marie take picture while his feeling for her intensify.

******
● BROOKS RESIDENCE ●

“Your tea, Godfather” Genova said as she walk in to place the tea on the desk.

The bald scary man sitting behind the desk in the study room stare pick up the cup and gulp down the content.

“How are things going?” Teddy Brooks ask, relaxing on his chair.

“If you are talking about the take over of Bindu industries, it’s going well just as you want” Genova said.

“That’s good but Bindu isn’t what am interested in. Am talking about Xavier Landon, how is the plan coming along?” Teddy ask.

“Xavier doesn’t suspect that am not the real Genova. He solely believes that am his childhood friend, we even went to the park recently ” Genova said.

“Great. Just keep up with the pretence, you need to make sure he trust you completely, it’s the only way for me to get my revenge on Desiree Landon” Teddy said, tightening his fist.

“Have always wanted to ask Godfather, what exactly did Desiree Landon do to you?” Genova ask.

“You don’t need to know. What you need to understand is that to get to Desiree, we will need Xavier Landon and so, you mustn’t fail me ” Teddy said and Genova nodded before leaving the study room.

******
● LANDON REAL ESTATE COMPANY ●

Sally was having lunch with Claire at the company cafeteria when Adam Parker showed up.

“Oh my gosh! It’s Adam Parker” Claire said with her mouth full.

His arrival did havoc on the female employee having lunch except for Sally who is set on ending the date with him.

“Flower for the most prettiest lady in the room” he said, giving a single rose to Sally who reluctantly took it.

“So, what time do we go for our date?” Adam ask, seating beside her.

“About the date. I need to….” Sally words were left unsaid when her phone ring.

She answered and speak for a while before ending the call.

“Am sorry, I have to go” Sally said.

“But what about our date?”

“Maybe some other time. This is really important” Sally said, throwing his rose on the table before dashing off.

“Am so sorry for that. Maybe she got a call for work and….”

“There’s no need to apologize on her behalf. I totally understand her, she’s playing hard to get but what she doesn’t know is that I love a challenge, if she wants me to pursue her then am in for it” Adam stated, a smile splaying on his lips.

*****
● XAVIER’S OFFICE ●

“Take a seat, Sally” Xavier offered as soon as she walk in.

“Did the conversation with your grandmother go well?” Sally ask.

“It didn’t go as I expect which somehow made things bad between us”

“How bad is it?” Sally ask.

“We had an argument and I told her that I can handle my life and she should stay out of it which she took badly and blame you for it” Xavier reply.

“Doesn’t that make things worse for me?”

“It does which is why I have a proposal to make to you. I know I once ask you before but I didn’t mean it then” Xavier said.

“What is this proposal of yours?” Sally ask, wondering why she felt uneasy.

“Let’s get married, Sally”

TBC ❤️