Novels by Ah Leeyah

SANTIAGO’S POV“Would you look at this?! The castle in Italy is now open for bookings? Let's get married in a real castle.” Alexia's eyes sparkled as we laid side by side on the couch, surrounded by wedding magazines, notes, and some sketches. She was so deep in the discussion of her dream wedding, and I was deeply immersed by the sight of her.“Yeah?”“Yes please! Imagine getting married in a real castle, it’ll be the talk of the country for months, if not years.” She nodded, picking up one of the wedding dress sketches to compare it to the one in the magazine. When she told me she bought wedding magazines to keep herself warm and remind herself that that would be her with me one day, guilt filled my heart so much that I apologized over and over again. I hurt her so badly.“Then let’s do it if you want. I’ll talk with my assistant tomorrow to inquire about the bookings. We’ll book the castle for a week at most. I heard it has a hotel. You've a

SANTIAGO’S POVI pulled up my white Tesla in Alexia’s garage and made my way up in her house, my heart pounding in my chest with a mixture of anticipation, excitement, and fear. A dim orange light lightened her window and I longed to hold her in my arms.Three years of separation and sacrifice had led to this moment and had brought awkwardness to our relationship. I had called her earlier while in my office, but our conversation was no less than one held between an employer and his employee. It was in short a really uncomfortable one.I made my way up the winding path to her front door, my feet heavier with each step. I was to be blamed for the situation I found myself in and the least I could do was to be grateful that she even gave me her time after what I did.As I reached the doorstep, my hand hesitated for a moment before ringing the bell, the sound echoing like a clarion call. I hid my fists in my pockets, waiting for a response. The do

LALIYA’S POVThe familiar sights and sounds of Texas city welcomed me back, coupled with the arms of my older brother, Crone. It had been three years since I set foot in my hometown, yet it was like I never even left for a moment.This was the city I was born in, the city I had grown up in, and the city I was known in. While my father’s companies had connections all over America (all over the world in fact), I always preferred to stay in Texas.My brother pulled me into a hug and I sighed in his embrace. How I wished to spend a lifetime just secured in his arms. Not many words were exchanged between us, other than him suggesting to drive us to his house since my house was empty and he didn’t feel good to leave me all alone yet.Apparently, he had sent my househelps home after I had gotten married, which made the whole house void of a living soul and probably dusty at the moment. I would have to stay with him for some time, while my house is clean

LALIYA’S POV“Look, that’s the boss’s brother’s wife.” I heard the whispers as I walked into Elio’s office. Pretending not to hear them was hard, but I tried my best to keep my expression as vague and distant as possible.“You mean ex-wife?” another one said and giggled.“Oh shut up, it hasn’t been announced that they broke up. But yeah, she’s going to be an ex one day.” The second one joined the first one in giggling.I strode past them and walked straight into Elio’s office, ignoring the secretary who tried to stop me, saying I must get a reservation first. She ran after me anyway.I pushed open Elio’s heavy oak door, my heart even heavier than the door. Never in my life did I think Elio was ever going to betray me like that, but he did and I felt stupid once again for even trusting anyone. I was never going to learn, was I?Elio sat behind his desk, a folder in his hand and glasses sitting on the brim of his nose. His expression was guarded and professional, t

SANTIAGO’S POVWith furrowed brows, I inspected the weekly financial reports that my secretary dropped on my table.The stock markets had taken a nosedive. I rubbed the bridge of my nose in sheer anger as I stared at the financial reports pooled on my mahogany desk. Unimpressive numbers danced before my eyes and I cursed at the fluctuating stocks. Low stocks were usually bad and could be a disaster for the investments, especially when some dramatic major shareholders got paranoid and withdrew their shares rather than being patient till it rose again.“This has to be the most fucked up thing I’ve seen today,” I muttered to myself, my voice laced with both anger and resignation. “This is just unacceptable, something must be done.”The tip of my fingers traced the documents as I pondered on how to maneuver myself in the conference meeting I had later in the day. The arrows on the graphs and charts irritated me because they went down lower than usual. The conferen

LALIYA’S POV“I honestly cannot believe Santi would do this. And without asking for your take on it?” Elio fumed.Elio Meadows was my husband’s younger brother who had turned to be my best friend over the years. He was nothing like his brother and if I wasn’t a part of the family, I would bet my money that Elio and Santiago weren’t real brothers.While Santiago was rude, cold, and inconsiderate of people’s feelings, Elio was warm, kind hearted, and probably the most understandable person I’d ever met. He was just like my brother, Crone.“If he wasn’t my brother, I would have punched him in the gut for daring to hurt you. He has no right! How could he decide to file for a divorce even though you both have the same rights in the marriage?”It’d been three days since I got the divorce papers from Santiago. He dropped them in my hands and said ‘sign it’. It was a clear command that showed me that he didn’t need my opinion, he just needed my signature.“It has