The sleek black pulled up to the towering building, a man coming quickly to open the backdoor. Adira emerged from the car like a queen, with two men flanking her sides like loyal knights and her secretary following closely behind. Making her way into the building, she could feel all eyes on her, as well as the people whispering her name in awe and admiration. Her designer clothes hugged her clothes in all the right places, and her hair cascaded down her back in glossy waves. Her makeup was perfect, highlighting her features in all the right places, and her jewelries sparkled like stars in the sky. Her steps were measured and graceful, each one seeming to command the attention of everyone around her. She stepped into the elevator with her people and as the doors closed, she took a deep breath. Soon, the elevator doors open and Adira stepped out to the sixth floor, which was noticeably different from the other floors. The air was tinged with a sense of exclusivity and privilege. The hallway was almost empty with only a few security personnel standing by, their eyes scanning the area for any potential threats. As Adira walked through, the securities immediately straighted up and bowed respectfully at her, acknowledging her authority and status. Who wouldn't bow to the wife of the Almighty Nikolai Kensington? She walked pass them with a confident stride, her heels echoing off the walls. Finally, she got to the conference room and the atmosphere shifted. The room was already filled with people, but their conversations died down as they caught sight of her. As she walked further into the room, the scent of her power and influence seemed to fill the air, and the people couldn't help but watch her. She got to her seat which was at the head of the table and sat comfortably. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry it took me so long to arrive," she stated formally, flipping through the pages of some files. Those were her international clients. "It's fine, Mrs Adira. Hope you had a smooth ride here?" Mr Seryozha from Russia asked with a duchenne smile. "Yes, thank you." The meeting commenced and the guests discussed business strategies, cultural insights, and explored opportunities for international collaboration. The discussions were engaging with the room filled with the sound of note-taking, applause and occasional laughter. After a long while, the meeting came to a close. Adira was the first to leave with her secretary and bodyguards. She exited the conference room, took the elevator and descended. "Ma'am, Mr Vanderbilt has been calling. He wants to know if you've gone through his proposals yet," her secretary - Bonnie - reported in the elevator. "Tell him to exercise patience. I'm still reviewing it," Adira replied, nor looking at her. "Okay, ma'am." They got down to the second floor and her people followed her, wondering If she wanted to get something, 'cause the second floor was a shopping complex. Bonnie followed closely behind her. "Ma'am, do you need something?" She asked politely with a smile. Adira said nothing as she kept walking until she got to a row where nice male outfits was displayed. Initially, she wanted to get something for herself, but a particular outfit from the male category caught her attention. It was a black turkish turtle-neck that was tucked into a brown pair of tailored trousers. It looked so good on the mannequin, Adira found herself imagining what it would look like on Nikolai. Nikolai, her husband. It's been a year and seven months since they got married, and all Adira has enjoyed was the wealth and fame he'd given to her. He's made her so rich and powerful, the whole world respects her. But as regards to their terms, she's made sure to keep to it. They barely see each other, even if they lived in the same apartment. She's never been to his room, and neither has he been to hers. Most times, he was out on business trips and would spend weeks, likewise her. She's traveled to fifteen countries since she started working for the company. Most times, she was tempted to approach Nikolai, but thinking of the fact that he could terminate her contract and make her lose everything filled her with so much fear. She only had three months left before the divorce and she didn't want to do anything to ruin it. Nikolai was too hardened, it scared her. Bonnie noticed how she stared at the male outfit and blushed. "Ma'am, are you um... considering getting it for Mr Nikolai?" She asked with reddened cheeks. Adira gave the outfit a longer stare, saying nothing. She wanted to get it for Nikolai, she knew it'd look good on him. But she was scared of what his reaction might be. What if he ends up getting mad at her? Or ends up rejecting it? The contract had said 'no form of affection'. Would he consider this as an affection? She sighed and tried walking away, but suddenly, she halted on her tracks and turned back to the outfit. "Go pay for it, Bonnie," she instructed her secretary. ****†****†****†****†****† BRINDLETONA ****†****†****†****†****† Jardine's phone rang endlessly on her legs. She was staring at the silenced calls but didn't have the courage to pick any of them. It was the same set of her people - her mother and her grandparents. She sighed tiredly as she looked up at the hospital bed where Lancelot laid motionless and unresponsive, like a sleeper lost in a dreamless state. A tear slipped her eye. She reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly into hers, wondering when he'd ever wake up. For a year and seven months, he's been that way, in a terrible coma. It all happened during their honeymoon in Maldives. Lancelot had gone out to get some steak and on his way to their residence, his ride got involved in a ghastly accident. The driver died, but Lancelot was lucky enough to survive. Only that, he has been in a coma since then. Jardine's life has been hell for the past nineteen months as she hadn't had the opportunity to enjoy more of her marriage. She's been spending her day in the hospital, praying and waiting for the day Lancelot would regain consciousness. She wondered if it was karma punishing her for her sins, but whatever it was, she's had enough. Her phone beeped with a message and she glanced at the screen to see it was from her grandmother. Fearfully, she picked it up and went through the message. 'You nincompoop! How dare you ignore my calls, huh? Our stakes keep going down ever since the Yonder Dynamics cut us off their link. We've tried all we could to contact them, but they won't even give us a listening ear! This is all your fault. I'm very sure Adira is doing all this on purpose because of what you did to her! You better get back here and fix this, Jardine. Leave that sleeping husband of yours and fix things!' Jardine could sense the anger in the woman's message, it was so evident. Her heart gave a heavy leap as she read through the message. Seeing Adira's name made her quiver. She tossed her phone away and stood up to face the window. For sometime now, Adira's name has been ringing on the lips of everyone. After Nikolai got married to her, she became so powerful and feared. It was still a puzzle to Jardine how she had been able to get the attention of a man like Nikolai. It was a big shock to everyone, and as for Jardine, it made her scared.When Adira got involved with the company, she cut her family off and since then, they've been on her neck to come back to the country and fix things. Jardine didn't know what or how to fix it. She ruined that lady's home and didn't know what she could possibly do to get favoured by her. Her family was in a deep mess. She looked back at Lancelot. What would his reactions be when he finally wakes up and learns that Adira had become so powerful? The whole thing happened after he had gone into a coma. So, he had no idea. Jardine was truly worried and felt a bigger problem coming. She tousled her hair, feeling so drained. Realizing she was hungry, she decided to go get something to eat. But on her way to the door, she heard the sound of the machines start beating in a rhythmic manner. She turned swiftly and her eyes dilated when she noticed a movement around Lancelot. At first, it was just a small twitch of his fingers, then his eyelids began to flutter open. "Lancelot!" Jardine called in a gasp as she ran to him, her heart pounding heavily against her ribcage. "Lan... Lancelot?" Her eyes glistened with both fear and anticipation. His eyes weren't open yet, but his fingers were still twitching. Swiftly, she ran out of the room to get a doctor.