The smell of antiseptic and metallic smell of blood was what hit the sterile air of ward 001, Crescent Hospital. The sharp and steady beep, beep, beep of a heartbeat monitor cut across the room, displaying the heartbeat of Gabriel Finns on the screen. He laid on the bed, a red tube snaking to his arm, passing blood into his system. The stab in his belly had been wrapped with bandages. Gabriel's eyes were wide open, cold, staring into the ceiling sharply like a demon awakened from a 1000 years deep slumber. His eyes were red with anger, his fist curled into a tight fist at his side as anger knotted in his chest. For the first time in his life, someone stood up against him and called his bluff. And now he ended up in a hospital with a cut in the belly, receiving treatment. Death wish! Gabriel lifted himself to sit on the bed but a sharp pain shot from his injury point, paralyzing his brain for seconds. “Fuck!" His jaw tightened, his fingers clenched tighter. He gave up and laid

“What is this place called?" Juliana asked the driver as her gaze darted left and right, taking in the monumental buildings she was seeing behind gated fences. She had never been to a place like this before. It looks like a sumptuous estate yanked out from a magazine. The atmosphere was sirene and sterile. Merely seeing the exotic cars moving along the road, she knew this place wasn't meant for ordinary people. Soon, Kane's car slipped into the gate of one of the mansions. As the Taxi was moving in front of the gate, Juliana looked in the direction and saw Kane stepping down from the car. But that wasn't what made her jaw drop— It was the gigantic architectural layout that stood in the centre of the compound. It was different from the ones Juliana had been seeing all along. “What..what is he doing in a place like this?" She wondered, her mind reeling. Kane was just a struggling banker who had zero in his account. Throughout their marriage, Kane had nothing to boast of except his b

It took Juliana about fifteen minutes before she got to Globulex bank. Immediately the Taxi pulled over at the curb, she yanked the door handle and pushed it open, desperation and impatience palpable in her reaction. She slammed the door shut more than she intended then began strutting toward the building of Globulex. The taxi driver snapped, realizing she was yet to pay the taxi fare. “Madam!” He called, halfway out of the car already. “You've yet to pay!" He said directly, his voice loud enough to make a few heads turn. Juliana stopped sharply on her track and spun on him. She caught people looking at her and she couldn't help but feel slightly embarrassed by the unwanted attention the driver had just caused. Her face twisted with a mix of disgust and exasperation as the driver walked up to her. She rolled her eyes on him, her face a mask of anger. “You should have taken a microphone and announced it loudest.” She hissed, fumbled through her bag and tossed him a $100 dollar note.

Juliana forced herself to stand but her knees buckled under the heavy weight of her torso. Her breath was shallow and heavy. Her mascara was a mask of smeared damp clay. She sauntered across the room which looked really messy— papers littering over the floor, clothes— Kane clothes sprawling over the floor like garbage. She collapsed onto the bed, the loan grant still clutched in her hand like it was a lifeline. A clue to dig about her Ex-husband who she never cared about in the past. Did she care now? She stared into the paper for the umpteenth time. The prints blurred in her visions. “What...what did he use all that money for?" Her mind reeled, a carousel of chaos and possibilities. In the next seconds, her posture stiffened, her confusion shifting into determination. “I must find out about him. Everything.” She said, her grip tightening on the paper. She trudged into the bathroom, her naked body leaned against the cold tiled wall, her chin lifted as the water poured down to her f

Juliana paused and looked down at her finger. The ordinary ring which Kane used to propose to her years ago was still there. No glitters. No sclints. Just subtle silver foil. “I want that back.” Kane said, his voice calm but firm. His expression was cold and unreadable.Juliana froze. Kane had come all the way at that dead hour of the night to collect an ordinary ring? She didn't remember it, she could have pulled the ring and tossed it in the trash.Though Kane bought the ring for just $400 but it wasn't about the cost. What made the ring worthy was the effort, the sweats that dropped from his body before he could buy it. He could afford millions of the same ring now and even buy one that is far more better than it. But someone like Juliana don't deserve his efforts. Not anymore.A cruel amusing smile split Juliana's face before she burst into a wave of laughter, her cheek flushing red as the laughter rang with no end in sight, bouncing off the wall.A forgotten tears slipped fro