Chapter 1

RONALD

“I think that will be all for today, Gabriel. I have to head home now. You know Alessandra will not go to bed without me,” Ronald said as he stood up from the chair behind his desk and started arranging files.

He was trying to sort out the documents to take home for the weekend to work on and the ones to leave in the office.

“No problem. We’re done with our task for the day. Jemma must be worried about me too,” Gabriel replied.

“Then you better get your ass off that chair and don’t keep that pregnant lady waiting,” Ronald warned.

“You’re right, bro. See you on Monday. My regards to Alessandra,” Gabriel said as he rose to his feet and gave Ronald a goodbye hug.

“My regards to Jemma too. We will probably show up at your place this weekend,” Ronald said.

“I’m sure she would appreciate that,” Gabriel said before walking out of Ronald’s office.

Ronald Gidwani was a successful executive. He was not the richest in the country, but you would surely find him among the top six. He was a single father to his adorable six-year-old daughter, Alessandra.

Ronald’s father passed away two years ago, which left him with his mom, his younger sister Elena, Alessandra, and Gabriel, his best friend.

Being the CEO of a telecom company wasn’t an easy task, but Ronald made his way around, thanks to being a hard worker.

Ronald was sure that Alessandra would still be awake, even though it was just a few minutes to nine. She was used to him reading her a bedtime story. Hence, she would not go to bed without him tucking her in.

Ronald was not used to staying late in the office. Today was an exception because he had so much to do.

Besides that, it had been raining all day. The rain had gotten heavier in the evening, and he didn’t think it would be a good idea to drive in that kind of weather.

As the CEO and founder of his company, Ronald had the finest, biggest, and most expensive office in the building.

After sorting through the documents on his desk, he placed the ones he would be taking home inside his brown leather briefcase. He reached for his mobile phones and put them in his pocket, then exited the office.

Instead of using the elevator, Ronald took the stairs because it had a shortcut to the underground parking lot.

He reached the parking lot almost immediately and walked toward his car, which was parked in the space reserved for the CEO.

The parking lot was quiet, except for the noise from the drops of water coming from the sky. It was still raining, but the rain was not as heavy as it was an hour ago.

Ronald had already dismissed his driver when he figured out he would be staying long in the office, so he had no choice but to drive himself.

Putting his briefcase in the backseat, Ronald got settled in the front seat, started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot.

Ronald and his driver usually took a shortcut. But today was different because he missed the turn, so he decided to take the longer route.

Ronald noticed most shops had closed and that even the road was kind of empty, which was very strange. “Perhaps it’s because of the rain,” he whispered to himself.

At a red light, something caught Ronald’s attention.

It was raining outside, so everything was kind of a blur. But he could see a lady lying on the ground with a small girl of not more than three years old kneeling beside the lady.

With her tiny hands, the child continued shaking the woman’s upper body, pleading for her to stand up.

The traffic light turned green. Ronald shook his head and drove off. It was none of his business anyway.

He continued driving toward his house but could not shake off that scene from his head of the young lady on the ground with the little girl crying her eyes out.

Ronald heaved a long sigh. He made a U-turn and drove in the direction of where he had seen them earlier.

Turning off the car engine, he took off his jacket and placed it in the front passenger seat.

Remembering that he had an umbrella in the trunk of the car, Ronald grabbed it the moment he came out. He opened it up, then approached the people he came to help.

“Mama, I’m scared. Please wake up,” the little girl said in tears as she kept shaking her mother’s body. Both the little girl and her mom were drenched.

“Hey.” Ronald crouched next to the little girl.

“Mama,” she said, pointing to the woman on the ground with more tears falling down her face.

“It’s okay. Your mom will be fine. We have to get her to the hospital,” Ronald said in a loud voice because the rain was getting heavier. He called 911, and soon an ambulance arrived, sirens blaring.

Holding the umbrella over their heads, he helped the paramedics carry the three-year-old into the ambulance.

The paramedics went to tend to her unconscious mother.

Ronald noticed blood all over, but he couldn’t tell which part of her body was bleeding. He noticed a bruise on her face and her arm too. She looked as if she had been hit by someone.

He turned back to the little girl, looking at him with her big blue eyes. She was shivering.

He climbed into the ambulance, reached for his jacket, took his phones out of the pocket, and wrapped it around her.

“Thank you,” she whispered. If Ronald’s attention wasn’t on her, he wouldn’t have known that she said anything.

“Sorry?” he said with a creased brow.

“Mama said when someone gives me a helping hand, I should say thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Ronald smiled at her as he buckled her seat belt. “So, what’s your name?” he asked her.

“Adriana. And my mama is Raina. And you?” she asked him.

“I’m Ronald,” he replied, and she nodded.

“Can I call you Uncle Ronnie?” She looked at him with her innocent eyes.

“Sure!” he warmly replied. “I’ll see you at the hospital, okay?”

As the paramedics lifted Raina into the ambulance on the stretcher, he hopped out, got into his car, and followed the ambulance to the hospital.