Mr Ceo's Ex Wife

The man in the Shadows

When Damien made his way to his car, his phone rang, he looked down at the caller ID and sucked in a breath.

He memorized this number five years ago, of course, he knew that the number belongs to a very powerful man. A very dangerous man.

Uneasily, he answered, “Hello?” he heard nothing on the other side for a while, so he pulled the phone away from his ear to check if the call connected. Seeing that it was, he immediately put it back to his ear and waited silently.

“Did you know?” A deep voice entered his ear waves. Damien shuttered and bit his lip nervously.

“I suspected, but I didn’t know he was cheating on her,” Damien answered honestly. “Otherwise this wouldn’t have happened, sir.”

“She knew, did you know that?” the man’s voice was calm and serene, but this only made Damien even more nervous. “She knew, but you didn’t. Do you know what that means?”

“I figured out she knew moments ago,” Damien tried to keep his voice steady, but he couldn’t help the quiver at the end. “No, I don’t know what it means?”

“You failed me Damien” The man chuckled deeply and Damien’s heart leaped into his throat, it was a dark humorless chuckle.

“Gi...give m...me t...h...thirty minutes sir, I swear I’ll find her!” Damien stuttered out uneasily.

“You better find Sarah before I do, Damien. Your little boyfriend, mum, and dad’s lives depends on it.” The man sneered before hanging up.

Damien slouched against his car as he tried not to crumble to the ground, clenching his blank phone he redialed the number of his assistant.

“Did you find her?” Damien questioned as soon the call connected.

“No sir, but we are narrowing in on her,” the assistant answered, this answer didn’t make him feel any better, instead it made him feel worse.

“FIND HER, FIND HER RIGHT NOW, YOU HEAR ME!” Damien shouted into the phone, scaring the assistant into dropping the phone and accidentally hanging the call-up.

Damien hit the roof of his car repeatedly in frustration with a growl, and Maxwell just happened to see this. Frowning, Maxwell walked towards him.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Damien tried to collect himself but when he turned and saw Maxwell, his face twisted as if he ate something sour.

“Damien?” seeing his best friend’s expression, Maxwell put finding Sarah in the back of his mind, “What is it?”

“Nothing, let's just find her before she does something stupid,” Damien managed to swallow his fear and anxiety after a few breaths.

“Damien if there’s anything bothering you, anything at all, I can help you know that right?” Maxwell gave Damien’s shoulder a light squeeze as he stretched his hand out to help.

“Help me? Why don’t you abort that child and shred the divorce papers if you want to help me?” Damien smiled was cold as he glared at Maxwell in anger. Maxwell’s words triggered Damien’s hidden resentment.

“I can’t do that. I don’t love Sarah.” Maxwell licked his lips and looked away from Damien’s angry eyes. “Anything else I can do but not this, this is my private matter.”

Damien could stop himself, he grabbed Maxwell’s suit jacket and slammed him against the car.

“You are a selfish son of a b***h do you know that? You have no idea how special your life and wife is,” Damien shouted as he tightens his hold on Maxwell’s clothes. “You think you can throw money at my problems right now? You have no f*****g idea, not even money nor connections can f*****g help me right now!”

“Woah Damien, calm down man,” Maxwell waved off his personal bodyguards who were sitting in the car waiting for him.

“Calm down,” Damien sneered, “Pray I find her, otherwise you’ll be a dead man.”

Damien pulled Maxwell away from the car and shoved him onto the floor before getting in his car and speeding off, leaving a confused Maxwell on the floor.

Maxwell’s bodyguards rushed up to him and helped him up. He, himself, was confused. What did Sarah have to do with Damien’s problems, wasn’t she just a normal girl? If she’s not, then that mean Damien lied on the report?

All this was confusing him, so he could only do his own investigation on Sarah background. He never thought Damien would hide something like this from him. Sarah’s background seem like she was important based on Damien’s reaction.

“Let’s go home,” Maxwell ordered and turned to enter the car. Maxwell, who usually likes to work while he’s on his way home, didn’t touch the pile of urgent papers. Instead, he laid his head back on the seat and closed his eyes to think.

All he wanted was a divorce, why was everything such a mess? Little did he know there was always a man. A man in the shadows helping, a man in the shadows protecting, a man in the shadows watching.

A man who was on his way to New York to settle old accounts on a fast Jet from LA. This man sat with one leg folded on top of the other with a glass of brandy in his left hand and a laptop in front of him, showing him footage of a blonde woman sitting at a park alone like she had been doing since she stumbled into it half an hour ago.

He checked the time on his watch before dialing a number, “Have you found her, Damien?” he questioned as soon as the call was answered.

“Yes I um... she is at Ridge Wood park been there for a while, I had my people surround there to ensure her safety.” Damien reported swiftly to him.

“Don’t engage with her unless absolutely necessary” The man hung up and resumed watching the live video feed of Sarah.

Sarah sat down on the park bench playing with her fingers, she thought she would feel to scream or break something but instead, she just felt numb.

Everything was ruined, Sarah was sure he was on his way over here now. After not seeing him for years, Sarah couldn’t help but what to see him one last time, but the danger that came with that impulse was great.

After she sat down at the park for half a day, she sighed while standing up and left slowly, completely aware there were people watching her every move silently.

She seemed to resumed her aimless walking again until the sky darkened. She walked as if something was pulling her forward, never really taking note of her surroundings. If it were anyone else, they would have probably would have been assaulted already.

When she tripped and fell, everyone thought she would stop. But she just sat up and tugged off the heels she had on, then stood shakily and continued limping slowly down the pavement until she reached a bridge.

She stood in front of the bridge, and slowly regain some clarity. Sarah looked around and saw she was being passed by a few couples.

Life went on around her, and she suddenly felt stifled. Sarah smiled mockingly as she turned to watch the murky waters below flowing before climbed over the railing.

“Hey, lady, stop!” someone shouted, which only made Sarah moved faster to scoot away from the hand reaching out to grab her.

“Miss, let us talking about it. Your life is precious, nothing is this bad. “The same person pleaded with Sarah. Sarah only glanced backwards, and laughed then she let go and was falling followed by screams and shouts. For just a second, she felt weightless

“I’m coming to see you,” she mumbled quietly, “coming to see you, so we can protect him” before her body entered the ice-cold water.

Damien who was silently watching her from a van rushed out when he saw her began to climb on the railings, tripping over his own feet as he pulled his shirt off readying to jump in but was stopped by a passerby.

“You can’t!” the person gripped on him with all his strength, “That water is shallow in some places.”

“I don’t care! Let me go!” Damien tugged and pushed the man away before jumping in after her. Not notice another man jumped in too.

They both surfaced at the same time and stared at each other blankly for a split second before diving back in the waters to find her.

It felt like forever for those in the water rushing to find her, but only two minutes passed by. Unfortunately, Damien resurfaced empty-handed again not a second after the other man resurfaces empty-handed also before taking another deep breath and going under.

Luckily, this time Damien got to her first and resurfaced with the unconscious Sarah. The other man resurface and saw Damien tugging Sarah to the shore, where his men rush with torchlights and blankets.

The man rushed towards them and helped Damien place Sarah on the dry blanket, then performed CPR on her.

Everyone stood on the sidelines, including Damien, as the man perfectly execute the correct steps to perform CPR.

Sarah was cold and unmoving, her face seemed bloodless as her lips. Blood was trickling down her forehead. She wasn’t as lucky as them upon entry and hit her head.

The light shining on them finally let Damien get a proper look at the man, the man’s short wet jet black hair stuck to his forehead.

He had a sharp nose, slightly high cheekbones and a perfectly carved jawline filled with a stubble. Damien couldn’t help but gawk at this handsome man.

Damien forced himself to look at Sarah, who still wasn’t responded to emergency CPR the man was performing. The distant sound of sirens and mumbles and whispers of everyone else made Damien shutter, or maybe it was the cold air nipping at his skin.

Either way, if she dies she’s taking a lot of people to accompany her, including himself. Losing himself in his thoughts, he can’t help but think of the worse.

“Come on, Sarah, breathe god dammit breath!” Damien was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice. Shocked, Damien’s eyes widened at the man desperately trying to make Sarah breathe.

It was him, who threatened him, the man in the shadows.