(Eva's POV)
"Cruz, is this what you want? To break up with me because of your slut of a sister?" Maddison shouted, but Cruz stood unfazed.
"Yes, babe. Your brother got kicked out by your parents because of his bad boy lifestyle at college, and you accommodated him. Why can't you accommodate my own sister?" Cruz asked, his tone sharp, and Maddison fumbled to find words.
"Babe, you cannot compare my brother to your sister. Noah's issues are different. Fine, if Eva stays, I don't want to see her anywhere near the company. She's fired!" Maddison declared and turned to go back upstairs. My brother sighed and turned to face me.
"Come on, let me show you to the guest room. Tomorrow, I'll accompany you to go see Mom and Dad when they've calmed down," Cruz spoke softly, and I stood there worriedly.
"I don't want you and your wife to have marital issues because of me," I spoke calmly, but Cruz smiled.
"Don't worry. I'll talk to Maddison," he replied calmly, while I watched Noah sit on the couch, his eyes on me.
"Come on," Cruz led me to the guest room, and I was marveled—the guest room was bigger than my room at home.
"Brother, are you sure you and your wife won't quarrel again because of me?" I asked, my voice filled with concern, but he shook his head.
"Don't worry about Maddison. What would you like to eat? Have you eaten?" Cruz asked, and my stomach growled in hunger at his inquiry.
"It's fine. I'll send for your meal," Cruz said as he turned and walked out of the room.
Sighing, I moved over to the white couch in the room to sit down. My phone rang, and it was my older sister, Elora, calling. We weren't so close, especially since she had tried to secretly date Jacob Stone, but he didn't spare her a glance and reported to me what she did. Since then, our relationship had been strained.
"Hello, Sister," I said, my voice calm, and Elora's sharp voice resonated in my ear. "Eva, how can you cheat on Jacob? I thought you said you loved him very much and wouldn't cheat on him?"
"It was a mistake. It wasn't intentional," I replied for the umpteenth time, and Elora scoffed.
"What would you have said before? That you didn't willingly cheat on Jacob? Eva, your wedding with Jacob was just three months away, and yet you cheated. I'm ashamed of you. Do you know that Jacob has called off the engagement and ordered us to pay him fifteen million? Where do you want us to get that money from?"
"I'm not going to pay Jacob. I didn't cheat on him willingly, so I'm not the one to be blamed," I said firmly, but Elora snapped.
"Shut up, Eva. If you hadn't captured Jacob's attention before I did—I was the one who invited you to the Elites Club five years ago, and you snatched Jacob before I could even say hi to him," Elora ranted, and I sighed. I knew my sister wanted Jacob, but he didn't like her. He came to meet me instead.
"Sister, I don't want to talk about this. I'll visit Jacob and try to negotiate with him. You don't have to worry about paying him," I replied, my voice calm, but Elora yelled, "How about Dad's company? He lost a lot of clients because he couldn't fund the loan demanded. You need to beg Jacob to take you back. You better go and look for him and beg him." Elora ended the call, and I sighed heavily.
Knock knock.
The sound of someone knocking startled me, and I moved over to the door to find out who was there. When I pulled the door open, I met a young woman standing there like a maid. She carried a tray of steamy food in her hands.
"Hi, I brought your dinner," she said, and I saw Noah walk past her as he went to the next door after mine.
"Alright. Thank you," I replied before collecting the tray and going back into my room. I locked the door and went to set the meal on the table, then sat down to eat the delicious jollof rice and fried chicken. The delicious taste soothed my body and calmed my restless mind. After finishing the food, I drank from the bottle of water, and my mind wandered to Ethan Owen.
I pulled my bag, brought out the blue card that Ethan gave me. He was offering me a job at his company for two million, while Maddison had already fired me from her tech company. Even though I was a software developer, I decided to accept working for Ethan as his personal secretary. After all, the pay was relatively high, and now that I needed to repay Jacob, I knew I could only rely on Ethan's two-million-dollar secretary job.
So I called the number on the card, my hand trembling as I heard the call ringing. Who was going to pick up? Was it Ethan's assistant or customer care? I pondered, as the card had Owen's Group CEO printed on it. Name—Ethan Owen.
The call rang, and there was no response. Trying again, I sat with unease as I called the number once more. A knock on my door startled me, but I was eager to wait for Ethan's call. Unfortunately, Ethan didn't answer. I sighed and moved over to the door to see who was there.
Pulling the door open, I caught Noah standing there.
"What do you want?" I asked him coldly, and he smiled at me.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to know how you're doing and if we can be friends," Noah said, his brown eyes glinting with interest as he peered at my face. He was taller than me and had a well-built body, but he was my age-mate—I was a twenty-five-year-old woman.
Shaking my head, I replied with a stern voice. "No, we cannot be friends. Because your sister accused me some minutes ago that I would sleep with you. So I cannot be close to you. Stay away from me and focus on your life." I turned to go back, but he caught my hand.
"Wait, it's not like you're a kid, or I am. My sister doesn't have the right to control me. I honestly want to be your friend."
"Well, sorry, I don't need your friendship. My best friend betrayed me, and I cannot blindly trust a new friend, whether male or female. I want to be alone at the moment. So shoo away." I walked back into the room and slammed the door in his face.
Exhaling, the sound of my phone ringing caught my attention, and I moved over to the table to grab it quickly before the call ended. I was taken aback to see that Ethan was the one calling me back. My hands trembled as I sat on the chair and answered the call.
