Sarah walked into LewisTech with a practiced smile and a coffee she couldn't taste. Every step down the hallway echoed with judgment, though no one was really looking at her. Still, she felt it, the weight of last night, the sting of her mother's sharp rebuke, and the humiliating silence that followed.
With a composed breath, she stopped outside Daniel's office and knocked.
"Come in," his voice answered coolly.
Sarah stepped in, her usual poise in place. "Good morning, Mr. Lewis," she greeted, keeping her voice steady despite the tightness in her throat.
Daniel didn't glance up immediately. "Miss Williams," he said, finally lifting his gaze. "You're late."
The words hit her like a slap, but she smiled through it. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I had a family issue at home," she murmured, brushing past the mention without much thought.
Daniel raised a brow, eyes sharpening as they pinned her in place. "Family issues?" he repeated. "I thought you lived alone. Aren't your parents abroad?"
Sarah froze for a split second. He remembered. Of course, he did.
She forced a light chuckle and leaned on the edge of the desk. "They are. I meant family issues abroad, my mother called, and…"
"I have no interest in your family issues, Miss Williams," Daniel cut in sharply, dismissing her explanation like a report he had no time to read.
Sarah stiffened, her lips twitching as she swallowed down the burn of humiliation.
Daniel turned away from her completely, addressing Thomas, who had been quietly standing in the room the whole time. "And Thomas, have the roses delivered to Esther."
"Yes, sir," Thomas replied with a polite nod, catching Sarah's eye. She hadn't even noticed him until now. He offered her a neutral smile before striding out, briefcase in hand, already thinking of the errand ahead.
Sarah blinked, stunned. Roses? For Esther?
"Mr. Lewis," she began again, tone softer, more cautious. "I'm sorry to budge, but don't you think it's… a little sudden? Proposing to a girl you barely know?" Her voice trembled faintly, the pain behind it slipping through the cracks.
"Just yesterday she was your daughter's governess, and now today, she's the girl you want? What happens tomorrow? Do you make her the mother of your daughter?"
Daniel's gaze darkened. "Miss Williams," he said, voice laced with warning, "I believe you're forgetting your place."
"I apologize, sir," she rushed out, the tremble in her voice now impossible to hide. "I know it's not my place to speak on this, but I'm only concerned for you. You know little about girls like her, some of them pretend to be kind, to act sweet and humble, just to get close. To take advantage."
She took a step closer, hoping her words would finally reach him. "There are a lot of social climbers out there, sir. Gold diggers who'll say anything just to.."
"I think I'm capable of telling right from wrong, Miss Williams," Daniel said coldly, cutting her off. "And trust me, I know a social climber when I see one."
He didn't need to say her name. The words struck hard enough without it. Sarah stood frozen, her pride shrinking beneath the heat of his judgment. Still, she kept her mask on, offering a brittle smile as if his words hadn't just bruised every part of her soul.
"Do us both a favor," Daniel continued with finality, "and focus on your job, or you might find yourself without one."
"Yes, sir," she whispered quickly, pulling herself together. She opened her tablet with trembling fingers. "Your schedule for today includes.."
"Cancel them," Daniel interrupted again.
She blinked. "Sir?"
"You heard me," he said, tone clipped. "Also, I'll need you to contact an event planner. I'm organizing a birthday party, for Esther."
The tablet nearly slipped from her hand.
A birthday party. For Esther.
The blood drained from her face as those words echoed in her mind. Daniel Lewis, the man she had poured years into impressing, the man she had practically built her life around, was throwing a birthday party for her sister. Worse, he was planning to propose.
It was happening.
Reality sank in like ice into her bones. He was falling for her sister, Esther, of all people. The same Esther who hadn't lifted a finger to earn any of this. The same sister who always got the warmth, the grace, the soft place in their mother's heart.
How could fate be so cruel? How could the universe bless Esther with the one thing she had fought so hard for?
But no. She refused to accept it. If the universe wouldn't help her, then she would help herself.
Sarah clenched her jaw as she walked out of the office, her heels striking harder against the floor now. She wouldn't let this happen. Not without a fight.
If Esther thought she had won, she was sorely mistaken.
Somewhere at UNIMAC University, Esther sat slouched in her third class of the day. Her head rested on folded arms atop the desk, eyes heavy with sleep and reluctance. After the chaos of her morning at the hospital, she had every intention of skipping school altogether. But her mother and Zainab had both insisted she attend. Final exams were fast approaching, and she couldn't afford to fall behind.
"Hey, what's that?" a student's voice cut through the classroom air, laced with curiosity.
"Oh my God! Who's being proposed to?" another chimed in, giddy with excitement.
Esther barely lifted her head, lazily turning toward the commotion, until her seat partner nudged her arm sharply.
"Esther! Look!"
Groaning under her breath, she finally straightened and looked out the window, and froze.
There he was.
Thomas.
Standing tall at the front of the lecture hall door, dressed sharply, with a bouquet of red roses in hand. Behind him stood not one, not two, but an entire line of men in black suits, each holding large, lush bouquets of roses. A full procession.
Esther blinked. Once. Twice.
Nope, still there.
She let out a long sigh.
"What on earth is this?" she muttered to herself.
The entire class was on its feet now. Phones out. Windows crowded. Whispers and shrieks rising like a wave.
"Quiet everyone!" the lecturer called, trying to command order, but his voice was barely heard over the frenzy.
"Settle down!" he barked again.
No one listened.
The man threw his hands up in defeat and turned toward the door. "You know what? Class dismissed."
The moment he stepped out, he was nearly run over by the sea of students surging forward to witness the grand spectacle.
Esther stayed seated, slowly beginning to gather her books and materials. Deep down, she knew it. All this madness, it was for her. And that realization alone made her want to disappear.
As she stepped into the hallway, Thomas caught sight of her.
"Miss Cole," he said formally, holding out the bouquet. "Mr. Lewis asked me to give you these."
With that, he motioned the men behind him. And one by one, ninety-nine men stepped forward in perfect rhythm, presenting ninety-nine bouquets of red roses.
Esther's eyes widened. She took an instinctive step back, shaking her head.
"Thomas… I can't accept this," she said, her voice low but firm.
The crowd gasped.
"Oh come on, just take it!" someone squealed. "This is like, movie level romantic display"
"Go on, just accept it! Look at all those roses, so grand and fancy," another gushed from the crowd, their voice bubbling with excitement.
"I can't," Esther insisted firmly, stepping back. Her chest tightened under the growing pressure of eyes and whispers around her.
"If you don't accept them, Mr. Lewis might actually fire me," Thomas said, half-pleading. It wasn't entirely true, but with Daniel's unpredictable moods lately, he wasn't about to test fate by returning empty-handed.
Just then, a familiar voice pierced the noise.
"Bestie!"
Heads turned as Dija pushed her way through the throng of students, walking like a celebrity crashing a press conference. Esther's eyes immediately softened with both relief and dread.
"Wow," Dija breathed on her first real look at the rose parade. "You and your boss really don't know how to play it safe, do you?" she asked, shooting a sharp look at Thomas. Her gaze practically sparkled with irritation.
It was obvious she'd warned him, and Daniel, to keep things subtle. But instead of a sweet, quiet gesture, they had gone all out and turned the campus into a rose garden showdown.
Thomas looked confused. "What? You said ninety-nine roses."
"Yes, roses, not ninety-nine bouquets of roses!" she hissed, folding her arms across her chest in dramatic frustration. "And you brought an entire football team with you?"
"I couldn't carry them all myself," he defended, managing a grin that almost looked proud.
Esther watched them both in disbelief. "Bestie," Dija turned to her again with a dazzling smile, "you've got a secret admirer and a big one at that."
She twirled in mock delight. "Ugh! I would literally pass out if someone pulled this on me!"
Esther raised a brow. "Then you can have them. I have no use for all this drama."
She turned to leave, but Dija grabbed her arm.
"Me? No way! They're not meant for me. Besides," Dija softened her voice, tugging Esther gently closer, "there's so much thought behind this. Effort. Sincerity."
Esther stayed silent.
"And think about poor Thomas," Dija went on, eyes sparkling with mock tears. "If you don't accept them, Uncle D might just fire him. Then I'll be forced to marry a jobless man and give birth to children in poverty, children with no food to eat, no roof over their heads, no school, no electricity, no Wi-Fi!"
"Dija"
"No Wi-Fi Esther, think of the horror."
Esther rolled her eyes with a groan. "Fine," she muttered, defeated, just to shut her friend up.
Dija spun on her heel. "You heard the lady!" she announced like an emcee at a wedding. "Drop the roses and go!"
The suited men moved with silent precision, lining up the hall with roses that turned the whole space into something out of a floral fairytale.
Esther stood rooted in place, watching the roses pile around her like a garden she hadn't asked for.
But even as her heart wrestled with mixed emotions, confusion, frustration, reluctant warmth, she knew one thing:
Daniel Lewis wasn't done.
"Did you tell him about my weakness for roses?" Esther's eyes narrowed suspiciously at Dija the moment the crowd disappeared along with Thomas and his floral battalion.
Dija chuckled nervously, taking a cautious step back. "Bestie, you know I love you, right? I'd never do anything to hurt you."
"That's not an answer, Dija," Esther said, taking a slow, deliberate step forward. "Did you, in any way sold me out, choose your uncle over your friend?"
"Yes," Dija confessed quickly, hiding her face behind her hands. "But.." she straightened up, eyes pleading, "I did it all for you, my love."
"For me?" Esther arched a brow, sarcasm laced in her tone. "Go ahead. Convince me."
"You still love him," Dija said without hesitation. "And he's realized his mistakes. He's trying to make things right, to win you back. So I decided to play Cupid and help push him in the right direction."
"Dija," Esther sighed, shaking her head, "I told you I'm done with that chapter."
"I know," Dija said softly, "but hear me out. The man is genuine this time. I've seen it in his eyes. He truly loves you, Esther. He'd do anything just to call you his woman."
Esther said nothing. Her fingers twisted nervously around each other as her thoughts grew heavier, her heart betraying her with a softness she didn't want to acknowledge. Maybe Dija was right. Maybe Daniel was trying to find his way back to her.
But it wasn't that simple anymore.
Not when her own sister now had claws out for the same man.
She still had feelings for Daniel, feelings she hadn't been able to bury no matter how hard she tried. But she wasn't sure she was ready to fight her sister for love, not at the cost of their family… not when their mother pleaded for her to be patient with her sister and not let anything break their bond.