Chapter 12: The Gift.

Author's POV

Hannah dropped all the bags on the kitchen slab apart from the bag containing the gift that Alex had just given to her and ran up to her room to open her gift, "oh my goodness, this is sooo beautiful, they are soo shinyy. I can't believe he got me Cartier jewellery, this brand is super expensive" Anna said to herself with tears in her eyes after opening the small fancy Square shaped box containing a matching chain necklace and earrings.

"Call me as soon as you are free" Anna texted Sophie and placed her most expensive possession at the moment on her vanity table, undressed and went to have her bath. After having her bath, she wore her pajamas, took her phone and went down to prepare a light dinner for herself since Jane wasn't back yet and had said she will be having dinner with her colleagues today.

When she got down she noticed she had not arranged the groceries when she got back with earlier and decided to do that before cooking. In a few minutes she was done with stocking the fridge and the cupboards and decided to have a healthy dinner since she had only eaten junks all day.

When her Salad and grilled chicken was ready, she poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat to eat, while eating she texted Alex asking him if he was home already. Not long, Sophie's call came in and she immediately picked up the call,

Anna: Girl!!, where have you being?

Sophie : Sorry darling, after Matthew left I had to tell mom about my day so I got your message late, so give me the teaaa.

Anna: You are always after gossips, anyways something crazyyy, just happened, let me face time you, I need to show you something.

"Okayyy" Sophie said and both girls laughed. Anna finished with her meal and went to her room, she facetimed Sophie and showed her what Alex gave her.

Sophie :Sweet lord, where did you get that from?? What don't tell me..

Anna: Alex gave this to me

Sophie :No way, no freaking wayyyyy, Alex gave you a f**king Cartier Jewellery, why? I mean when? You know what? tell me everythingggg.

Anna laughed, "girll you're screaming, calm down. Listen okay, he gave it to me today when he dropped me off and said he saw it at the mall and thought it would look good on me"

Sophie : awwwwn, what did you say when he gave it to you.

Anna: He didn't let me open it while he was there, so I didn't know what was in it until he left. This is too expensive, do you think I should return it?

Sophie :Girllllll, are you joking right now? You didn't return the gift Samuel Wright gave you so why will you return this one? Plus I am soo sure that Alex is into you, you are going to break his heart if you return it.

Anna: This one is wayyyyy more expensive and beautiful.

Sophie : Sweedy, if it makes you feel better about accepting his gift, money is not a problem for the Black's so by all means accept his gift and say a f**king thank youu.

Anna: okay then, let me call him and thank him for it.

Sophie :That is better, ouuuuu I fell like he is going to ask you out soon.

Anna : Sophieeee, don't get my hopes high, he is probably just being nice.

Sophie laughed really hard "you are being all delusional, are you trying to convince me or yourself. It's already so glaring that he is into you, so tell me, do you like him?

Anna: why are you asking me that?

Sophie: I can see you blushing, just tell me. If you don't give me a response within the count of five, that means you like him.

Anna was silent even after Sophie counted to 5, "ohhh you like him" Sophie screamed, "I am not just sure, am I attracted to him? Yes, but I don't know if I am into him" Anna repiled. "That's not a problem you will figure it out eventually. Awwwn I can't wait till we start going on double dates" Sophie said and they both laughed.

Anna: He hasn't confessed to me yet and you are already making plans, I can't believe you.

Sophie :Ohhh please, there is nothing wrong in making plans.

Anna: ohhh he just texted me

Sophie : Reply him, or call him even and let him know you love his gift, I will talk to you tomorrow then.

Anna: Alright girl, thank youu. Byeee darling

Sophie : Byeee.

After ending the call Anna replied Alex's message,

Alex: yeah, got home about 5 minutes ago.

Anna: Great. I really love the gift, they are really beautiful, thank you soo much.

Alex: I am glad you like them, I wish I saw your reaction after opening it though. Sadly they are not as beautiful as you are.

Anna: Lol, now you are trying to flirt with me.

Alex: Is it working then?

Anna: A bit, I guess😂

Alex: That's progress then, but I really meant it. That piece will only complements your beauty.

Anna: You haven't even seen it on me yet, so how can you say that.

Alex: You are far more beautiful than that jewellery, it's quite obvious.

Anna: As much as I'm flattered, the designers of Cartier will be sad to hear you say that.

Alex: I am sure that after seeing you, they will agree with me.

Anna: lol, that's okay, my cheeks are all red already.

Alex: okayy 😂

Anna: thank your mom on my behalf, tell her I enjoyed her meatpies.

Alex: I will do that. Speaking about my mom, she seems to like you a lot,she had a lot of questions to ask about you when I got back home.

Anna: oh wow lol😂. I enjoyed her company, I can't lie.

Alex: For your own good I won't tell her you said that.

Anna:why did you say that.

Alex: When my mom likes someone, she tends to want that person around especially when she is going shopping, you can ask Sophie for more information, she's had her own fair share.

Anna: I will do my research 😂. Alright we'll talk tomorrow, I am exhausted, Good night.

Alex: Okay, sleep well ❤️.

Anna got ready for bed and was about to lay in bed when she heard the sound of her mom's car pull up in the drive way, so she ran down stairs to meet her mom.

"Welcome mom, how was your day?" Anna asked Jane as she gave her a hug and collected her bag from her. "Thanks love, it was a bit stressful, we had the last meeting over dinner so it was a bit relaxing, how was your day? You seem really excited" Jane said to her daughter who was in the kitchen as she sat on the sofa in the sitting room to take off her heels.

Hannah laughed as she handed a glass of water over to her mom "you always see right through me, before I give you the tea you need to see the dress myself and Sophie got" Anna said and showed her a mirror picture of herself and Sophie wearing the gown they bought at the mall today while in the dressing room.

"You both look really lovely in this dress, someone had a lot of today" Jane said, "Go freshen up mom so I can tell you all about my day, I will be waiting for you in my room" Anna told her mom. "Yes Ma'am" Jane said and they both laughed as she went up to freshen up.

20 minutes later, Jane walked into her daughter's room and sat on her bed, "mom you won't believe what happened today" Anna told her mom and began to narrate everything that happened that day, she then showed her the gift that Alex gave her "this is really expensive, I hope you have said thank you to him" Jane said, " yes I have, I didn't know his parents were that wealthy. I even thought about returning the gift to him but Sophie advised against it" Anna told her Mom as she kept the jewellery back in it's place.

"My darling, you should never reject gifts as long as they were given to you with good intentions. Even if I feel like he shouldn't be giving you something this expensive when you both are not together yet, it's rude to reject gifts" Jane told her daughter.

The mother and daughter pair discussed a lot before retiring to bed.

On the other hand, Alex who was in the study room in the Black's massion was finding it difficult to concentrate, Hannah's face kept popping up in his mind, he picked up his phone and began to look at the pictures they took that day. He stumbled on a picture he took of her licking her ice-cream, there was a bit of it on her nose and she looked cute, he decided to use that picture as his wallpaper.

When he got home earlier, his mom had bombarded him with a lot of questions about Hannah, he knew she was beginning to suspect that he liked her, "I really hope she doesn't meddle in my affairs" he thought as he packed his books and and retired for bed since he couldn't concentrate on studying.

Somewhere in the Black's mansion, when everyone had retired to bed, someone still remained awake, he stood by the window and was speaking to someone on the phone " He trusts me now but we till have to be a bit careful, we strike after I get him to sign the papers" the man said, "make sure to get the job done properly and on time Julius, time isn't on our side" the person on the other side of the phone told him and hanged up immediately. "you are not prepared for the storm that's about to hit you Philip" the man named Julius said.

Alexander's POV

It's another Sunday morning, I woke up earlier than usual, so I had enough time for my morning work out and a bit of training. On Sunday mornings I normally have about 3 hours training sessions (fighting and shooting) with a few guards.

I started this training when I was five years old with my dad, my mom wasn't aware at first but when she found out about it she was vehemently against it, she was scared for my sake and didn't want me to take the route my dad took. Dad was involved in the underworld and he knew it was dangerous, even if his identity in the underworld is a secret, he wanted to make sure I was prepared to face the world and left options opened for me in case I needed the help of the underworld in other to gain power, so he decided to start training me from a young age.

There is still so much I don't understand about the underworld, Dad promised to bring them to my knowledge when the time is right. With my little knowledge I can tell that everything isn't as rosy as it seems. My trainings are still done in secret, apart from Matthew only Dad and a two guards who assist in my training know about it.

Dad and Uncle Julius had to make a very important trip that morning so I didn't meet them at the breakfast table and Matthew was already done eating before I came down , "Alex, would like to go with me to church?" Mom asked me as soon as I finished my meal, she knows how much I avoid going to church but she always tries to drag me there anyways.

"Mom you know how much I hate those long boring services, moreover I have a lot of things to do today. Why don't you go with Abigal and Diane like you always do " I asked.

"They have a play date with someone friends from school this morning and I really don't want to go alone, you and Matthew should please come with or don't you care about your sweet mother anymore" she asked trying to emotionally blackmail me.

"Arghhh okay, I will speak to Matt so we can go with you, why time are you leaving?" I asked he finally giving in.

"ohh I knew you love me the most, it starts by 9:00am so let's leave by 8:45am" she said and placed a kiss on my cheek and went to her room, I am guessing to get dressed.

I looked at the time and it was 20 minutes past 8 already so I went to Matthew's room to tell him about what I just got us into, I can already imagine the look of horror on his face, "Church?? Why all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong? " Matthew asked immediately I told him about it and I laughed "we leave by 8:45am, make sure you are ready" I said and left his room to get dressed.

I got to my room and picked up my phone,when I unlocked my phone and saw Anna's picture that I had used as my wallpaper, I smiled to myself. when I opened my instagram, I noticed Hannah had posted a few of the pictures we took yesterday, I liked the post and left a heart comment. Diana had left me a message asking if we could hang out today, that girl doesn't just understand that no means no, I repiled telling her I was going to church today so I am really occupied.

It was excatly 8:45am when Mom, myself and Matthew left for church, mom sat at the front with the driver while myself and Matthew sat at the back seat feeling really upset.

Even though I had nothing major planned for the day, I would really have appreciated not going to church. Don't get me wrong, I love God but going to church is draining because of the people. Back then whenever Matthew and I use to go to church with mom, everyone tries to please us and introduce their kids especially daughters to us, for goodness sakes we were around 15 years of age.

Hannah's POV.

"I am soo exhausted", I said to mom as i laid on the sofa in the sitting room immediately we got home from church, "heat up the food while I go up to change my clothes" mom said as she headed for her room. I carried my hungry self to the kitchen and placed the Quinoa and Turkey we got from an eatery on our way back from church in the microwave to heat it up, I walked back to to sitting room to turn on the T.V when I received a text on from Sophie, she wanted to know if I could meet her at SWEETS AND JOY by 4:30pm, I missed the pastries they make there already so I repiled telling her it wasn't a problem.

I heard mom's footsteps, it seems she she was coming downstairs so I went to the kitchen to take out the food from the oven, it wasn't too cold so it didn't need to sit in there for long.

After eating, mom and I watched a movie on Netflix before mom went up to nap, I went up to change to a comfortable home outfit, it was past 12pm so I decided to do some reading and assignment so I took a few snacks and a bottle of water to the study room with me. After about 2 hours and 30 minutes of studying, I retired to my room to nap, I made sure to set an alarm so I don't over sleep .

I woke up to the buzzing of my phone, I took a look at the time and it was 20 minutes past 4pm already so I stood up and headed for the bathroom to pee and wash my face.

It was mid September and Autumn was upon us already the weather was a bit cold outside so I wore a black cargo pants, long sleeve white shirt and a black crocs Slipper. I tied my hair in a messy bun, applied gloss, picked up my phone and went down to look for mom. I am sure mom was already awake from her nap, she was probably watching Netflixs downstairs.

"Mom, I am off to Sweets and Joy to meet Sophie", I told my mom when I got down, "Sweets and Joy? Where is that?" she asked me and I laughed "the cute ice-cream and pastry shop a few blocks away" I repiled, " ohh I never noticed, can you get a bucket of ice cream for the house on your way back, we've exhausted the one in the fridge" she told me. "okay mom, see you later" I said as I picked my debit card from my purse in the shelf and left for my date.

A/N:Hey lovelies, I hope we are doing okay. Do not forget to leave your comments and support this author. ❤️+💡