Twins For The CEO

(Five years ago)

"Please sir.." Anne begged, her bare trembling legs sprawled across the floor, quite unsure what to say.

"Get out of my house you slut!" The CEO thundered, completely red in anger.

Anne shakily hugged the flimsy material of her nightdress around her body in a hopeless attempt to cover up her nakedness. She felt fear, despair and shame. How could she defend herself when she was almost completely naked in his kitchen? How could she explain she'd still been a virgin an hour before?

"I'm sorry..." she babbled, her eyes fixed on the floor, not wishing to look any of her oppressors in the face. "I'm not a slut. I'm...Your son and I love each other."

She lost her balance and her covering when the slap came, so unexpected and tingly. Her lips quivered along with the rest of her body as the tears began to fall. She watched them all; her best friends who'd shared their dirty fantasies with her, the CEO who'd hated her from the start and the few maids whose conspicuous presence belied their poor hiding spots. They looked at her with expressions ranging from disgust to pity.

"Never mutter those words ever again, you cheap thing!" He continued. Her humiliation was doubled when three armed men filed into the room. He smirked when he saw them."These kind men are going to show you out. I don't know how you cleverly snuck your way into my house, but they're going to toss you right back into the streets where you belong."

At the far end of the room, Asher gazed at her, wanting it all to end, hating himself for being unable to do anything. He walked up close but stopped right beside his father, his resolve breaking. She looked up at him, her blurry vision preventing her from seeing the tenderness behind his blue eyes. Her voice was quiet, accusing. "Will you let him do this to me, "

She saw his hand twitch but stop when he looked at his father, then the first wave of fear washed over him, and he stiffened. He cleared his throat and stretched to his full height, the same look of contempt now plastered on his face.

"My father is right." He stated without meeting her eyes. "I may have been dumb to fall for your tricks, but that will never happen again. One more thing. I am the heir to Ingram Corporations. Don't address me by my first name ever again."

One hour ago

Anne creamed the cake batter over and over again, unable to keep Asher out of her mind, completely messing up the recipe her grandmother had taught her.. She imagined him sitting before her, biting into one of her muffins and telling her it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever tasted.

She sighed as she put the first batch into the largest oven she'd ever seen, sadly reminding herself she didn't have a chance with him. She heard arguing and stiffened. It was Asher and his dad.

She heard his footsteps before she saw him and her heart rate doubled.

She showed him the muffins she'd made when he asked what she was doing in the kitchen.

"Could I try one?" He asked, throwing her off guard.

He stood before her as he took the first bite and chewed softly, his eyes never leaving hers for a second.

"This is the most beautiful thing I've ever tasted." He said, meaning it and she flushed, overwhelmed by his presence.

She thanked him and noticed how close they were, so close she could smell his aftershave and expensive perfume.

Asher's arm reached out to touch hers and she gulped but leaned in closer, her lips slightly parted. His head dipped closer, slow but steady until their lips danced with each other, setting butterflies in her stomach. The kiss became rougher, erotic as she was as eager as he was.

Her nightdress came off easily and she stood unashamed before him in the kitchen, while his hands explored her body like no one ever had before.

He held her face to his, silently asking permission and she nodded. The pain was excruciating but short and soon enough it was all over.

He smiled at her as he gave her a curt kiss on the forehead, before quickly putting his clothes back on, leaving her on the floor. His smile suddenly downturned when he gazed at the door, frozen, scaring her. Her eyes followed his and her heart stopped altogether as she came face to face with the CEO, knowing her nightmares were just beginning.

"Hurry up and do the freaking designs I showed you! How do you manage to screw up every single thing you put your hands on?" The words coming out of Anne's mouth sounded nothing like hers but in her position, anyone would have done the same.

"Ma'am, we're only three in this kitchen and we're doing the work of more than thirty people." Rain, her least favorite employee, spoke.

Anne's mind was all over the place so she didn't even give her a reply. Her kitchen looked like someone had set a zoo on fire, with pans and ruined cakes all over the floor. She was livid. The most important people who had the power to decide the fate of her bakery and ultimately her life were right behind that door, and if she didn't deliver her best, she was screwed.

"Drop your pans and get the fuck out." She ordered quietly, her forefinger pointing to the door. She couldn't stand Rain anymore. If anything, the puny woman had been nothing but a setback ever since she hired her.

Anne had divided the workload evenly. Rain was to prepare six crêpes, Jake, her other employee, spoke.

"You're still gonna pay me for this month, bitch." Rain retorted and tossed the ugliest looking crepe on the floor. When she stormed off, Anne breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now she could focus on the matter at hand.

"The Grinch is finally gone." Jake said and they both laughed.

Their laughter was short lived when the waitress burst in and announced frantically that their guests were getting impatient even after their appetizers.

She had to go out there.

If her ratings got any lower than they already were right now, no one would ever want to come in there and she'd have to shut it down. Jake would easily find a job elsewhere. This bakery wasn't just her workplace, it was the only proof that she still had her life together, but now it was falling apart just like everything else. Scratch that; it'd been falling apart for quite a while now, but once there was a written verdict from those stuck up food critics out there, it would be a done deal.

The beep from the oven snapped her out of her self pity and she hurriedly turned it off and tried to bring the tray out with her bare hands. She screamed when it burned her and dropped it, but it fell to her feet, hurting her further. The remaining cupcakes broke into several uneven pieces of burned and raw, completely unfit for consumption not so much for presentation. She gaped in horror and took a few steps back, bumping into Jake who'd just filled his tart plate with batter. It splattered onto the floor leaving a gooey mess in its wake.

The tears stung her eyes but she held them in. She wouldn't give up just yet.

"You're gonna have to make the quickest but best pop tarts you've ever made." She instructed Jake, taking off her apron and going back out to appease her unwelcome guests.

"How are we enjoying our time here?" She began, with a plastered smile on her face. No one smiled back.

"Let's just cut to the chase here, ma'am. So far, you've given us no reason to give you a positive review." The first critic on glasses said. "You begged us to give you a second chance and we did. Even announced when we were coming. We never do that for anyone. I'm sorry but if we don't get any..."

Suddenly, Jake was out with a tray filled with the only pastries that had survived. Anne shut her eyes in despair. Presentation. It looked horrible.

The six critics shared a look as he hurried up to their table, slipping. She froze, but he recollected himself and set the poorly prepared pastries on their table.

The critic who'd spoken first was the first to stand and the others stood up as well, looking as though they'd just been insulted.

"We've tried our best but this is the height of it. Whatever happens next is beyond our control. Good day." He said, before leading his crew out of the bakery.

She was on her knees on the floor, as she watched them leave her establishment, the worst case scenarios forming in her mind. This was it. It was over.

"What do we do now?" Jake asked, afraid for her.

She wiped the few tears which had slipped out.

"We prepare our last order..." She whispered, getting up. "And bake it like we never have before."

***

Asher gathered his things together, getting ready to leave the office. He had just completed a deal of thirty million dollars that evening, but he couldn't say business was blooming.

His personal assistant stood staring longer than necessary, her cleavages on full display and her teeth biting into her blazing red lips. He couldn't stand this creep. Ever since he hired her, she'd tried everything; flashing him, purposely bending over and pretending to pick stuff up and all that bullcrap.

He knew what she wanted but she wasn't exactly his type. And besides, he never mixed business with pleasure. Plus he had more pressing things on his mind.

His ailing father had requested his presence once again and gosh was he getting sick and tired of the old man. Sometimes, he wished he'd just die already. The man had been the worst father when he had his strength and his health, but even in his frail stage, he still managed to make his and his sister's lives miserable.

He drove his new model tesla reluctantly into the mansion he'd once called home. It held so many memories for him, his mom's salty cooking, his father controlling his every move, and even the bittersweet day he'd lost his virginity and strangely developed a craving for blueberries. Hopefully, this meeting would be a short one. It was his birthday and he'd rather spend it partying or balls deep in some hot broad than with his dad giving him useless advice.

The old man looked worse than before, plugged to tubes and other pathetic equipment, but Asher felt no sympathy for him whatsoever, just impatience.

"Asher. " His voice was throaty and weak. "How are you today? You never come to see me unless I keep begging..."

"Fine. Been busy." Asher responded automatically, glancing at his watch.

"I wish you'd come over more often..."

Asher didn't bother to listen to any other thing the old man had to say. He knew what the end would be. He wanted an heir from his only male child and he wasn't ready for such an unnecessary responsibility.

His phone beeped, indicating a message on his phone. It was from his best friend, who told him to come over as it was urgent.

"... and that's why you need an heir in case anything..."

Asher was up on his feet. "Sorry dad, gotta bounce. Catch you later."

He tapped the old man lightly on the forehead and left slowly. Even though he hated his father's guts, the company wasn't fully his yet and he knew his psychopathic dad could do something stupid, like will it to someone else if he felt he wasn't getting the affection he felt he deserved from his son.

Asher drove like a mad man to Jason, his best friend's house, his mind wandering. He hoped his friend was okay. He'd never pulled such a stunt before.

He burst into the house and called out Jason's name. The house was dark and empty and he froze in confusion. He heard footsteps and his hair stood at the back of his neck, getting ready for anything.

"Surprise!"

The lights came on and he saw his friends and a couple other people he didn't know. He had a deep scowl on his face in return as he mentally searched for Jason, thinking of a hundred different ways he would kill him for setting him up like this.

"Hey dude. Happy birthday." Jason said, slapping him on the back and leading him to the dining room, where a gigantic blue cake stood.

"Are you fucking crazy!" Asher started, whisper screaming. "What the fuck is all of this? You know I don't dig this cringy surprise party shit!"

"I know, dude. Lara put me up to it. I'm sorry." Jason smiled, putting up his arms. Lara was the closest thing he currently had to a girlfriend.

"Besides, she invited some of her hot friends over. Think of this as an opportunity."

The next few hours went by smoothly and soon enough, more than half of the ladies had already tried to approach him. Although his father had been an asshole, the man had set him up for life. Being the CEO of Ingram corps came with a lot of benefits, but he had a reputation to maintain. He was never one to chase a lady but he wouldn't take a lady who threw herself at him either.

"So the big twenty-five. How does it feel to be CEO at such a young age?" Jake, Jason's little brother asked, sitting beside him and holding out a piece of cake to him.

"With so many cars, houses and assets to your name?"

Asher smiled and took it. "It feels like fucking heaven."

He took a bite of the cake and froze, the familiar taste taking him years back. Blueberry with cinnamon. No one had ever mixed the flavors so perfectly since...

Anne sighed as she closed the bakery, desperately hoping she hadn't just closed it forever. She felt exhausted, mentally and physically. Her last order had been testing but she'd put in her all.

Her chest felt heavy as she went home, thoughts of having to depend on her grandmother once again, weighing her down.

After losing her both parents within months of each other, Anne's monthly visits to her grandmother's had become permanent. She blamed herself for their deaths. Her father had died not long after she gave him news she was pregnant and her mother had grown thin each day after, wasting away so badly that when she died it was like she'd already been dead. She'd just had her babies and with no support from anyone else, she'd felt so alone in the world. She'd spent each day staring out the window, neither eating nor feeding her babies until her grandmother forced her to. She thought of her life each day, her hatred for the Ingram family growing and growing, constantly blaming him for everything.

It took her over a year to come out of her shell again. When she saw how much her twins needed her, she knew she had to step up. The bakery had been her grandmother's and it had blossomed at the beginning, but when the old woman fell ill and the responsibility fell solely on Anne, the bakery began falling apart.

She knocked on the door of the home they all shared and waited. Two little boys sprang out and at once were all over her. Her babies. They were the light of her day.

"Mum! Grandma didn't let us do anything fun..."

"Why don't you let us come with you mum..."

It was like this everyday. She truly wished she could take her boys everywhere with her. Her grandmother was old and the stress of maintaining two five year old boys was definitely hassling for her, even though she never complained.

"Boys. Won't you let your mother rest?" Her grandmother scolded. She limped into the room with a soup spoon in her hand. "How did it go with the inspectors, hun?"

Anne sighed. She didn't want her to worry but she deserved to know the truth. She bent till she was face to face with her boys who were on either side of her, squeezing her hands.

"Sweeties, why don't you go in and wait for mummy. I'll be right with you okay?" She implored them.

"That's what you always say!" Damien, the older twin screamed and dashed up the stairs.

"Damien." She called, but she only heard his light footsteps upstairs.

Daniel, her younger twin stared at her with big deep blue eyes, still holding her hand. She felt like she was staring at Asher and she shut her eyes.

"Please Danny, you have to understand. Mummy has a lot on her mind and..."

"You never want to be with us anymore, mummy." He murmured accusatorily, pulling his hand from hers and following his brother.

Anne watched him go and felt like a terrible parent. She hated the fact that her sensitive sons thought she didn't care for them. The bakery took almost her entire day everyday and yet there was literally nothing to show for it. She was extremely low on cash, with loans she really needed to take care of. It would probably have been better if she hadn't had the job at all but was there for her kids.

"You know you can tell me all about it." Her grandmother said, holding her close, and she let herself cry.

***

The good news came at night and Anne flipped. She'd just received an order, despite her negative reviews. The client probably hadn't checked them yet. The order was specific; the exact replica of the cake she'd prepared a few days ago, but in cupcake form. The client must have surely been at Jake's brother's party.

As early as six in the morning, she was dressed for work. She kissed her sleeping sons goodbye, leaving them with promises they couldn't hear.

At the bakery, she got straight to work. This was a recipe she knew like the palm of her hand, so making it was a no brainer, however, she regretted having asked Jake to take the day off. Jake usually handled the deliveries with his truck as she couldn't afford to pay the delivery fees each time.

This meant she would have to deliver it herself and she was not looking forward to it.

She drove to the address she was given and marveled at the sight. The house was gigantic. No wonder whomever it was had readily offered double the price to have it delivered directly to him.

The gatekeeper easily let her into the building immediately he saw the small parcel she was holding. Her fingers lightly brushed the perfectly trimmed hedges as he'd mind went over the place, feeling fear. The last time she'd been at a mansion, bad things had happened. Her heart began to pound but she calmed herself down. This was nothing like the last time.

She took her phone out and dialed his number.

"Come into the house. The front door is not difficult to spot." His deep voice said on the other end and she suddenly felt chilly.

"But..." she began, feeling uneasy. Coming into the compound was one thing but going into the house... anything could happen.

"I know you're skeptical but I can't walk right now. I'll give you a tip for your trouble. How does a thousand dollars sound?"

Her eyes popped as she imagined all the things a thousand dollars could do for her. It was suspicious, but it didn't change the fact that she desperately needed money, and if some guy in a mansion who probably spent more than that amount everyday was her way to get that money, she would take it.

She convinced herself nothing would happen. Her grandmother had access to every order that came so that meant she also had his address in case anything happened to her.

"Okay." She said, walking in and feeling like she's just signed a deal with the devil.

****

When Anne agreed to his odd request of coming into the house, Asher released the breath he didn't know he had been holding. She must have been really struggling just as Jake had said, since tiny change like a thousand dollars had silenced her skepticism immediately. He'd been willing to say more, but he didn't want her to become suspicious.

He was happy he'd decided to work from home that day as he was afraid she wouldn't have come herself if she knew she would be delivering to the CEO of Ingram Corporations.

He had wanted to get more information about her from Jake, but the guy was a blabbermouth. He didn't want her wondering who wanted to know so much about her.

For some reason, he felt uneasy when he heard his iron door open, then footsteps. His body was on edge. She was actually coming.

He noticed all her changes in emotion; recognition, confusion and then anger. The cake parcel fell out of her hands, her face contorted in anger. He'd expected a negative reaction, but not this quickly.

"You!" She said, seething, pointing at him.

He crossed his arms, looking at ease, despite the extreme storm going on inside him.

He didn't know what he had expected to happen, but this wasn't it.