Rina wished she could frame the look on Regina’s face, and store it in her bedroom so she could stare at it as much as she wanted to. It was one of horror, her jaw almost dropping to the ground in astonishment. Regina blinked. “He said…”“George detests you,” Rina drawled, then shrugged. “But I’m not here to talk about my manager. However, I have to admit that he did such a fine job. If he desires to go into acting at any point in time, I will be giving him my whole support. I can’t believe you fell for it.”“Rina…”“Actually, at first, I doubted it,” she continued, cutting Regina off. Rina gingerly pulled the empty seat out and sat slowly, placing her purse on the table and crossing one foot over the other. “I told him you were smarter than that – that you would see right through his façade. I mean, almost everyone in the country knows how close George and I are. And for someone who pays such keen attention to my life, I am disappointed you missed it.”“I’m not going to sit here and
“I have been thinking about your offer back at your little porn studio,” Rina started casually, tossing the words in the air like no one could pick them and twist them the way they wanted to. Regina’s eyes darted in panic to the tables around, ascertaining if anyone had heard Rina.“Keep your voice down,” she whispered harshly.“I don’t recall you doing that when I came for the interview the other day, so mind the way you talk to me, and don’t tell me what to do. This is my turf and you play by my rules.”“You have forgotten that I don’t have to sit here listening to you,” Regina shot back. “Unlike you who is in crazy debt and needs a job urgently, I have a name and reputation. People love me, and wouldn’t believe a word of what you say. So, Rina Power, I advise that you think carefully about choosing your prey before going on your next hunt.”“Then you will not be crossed when I send the recording out on Instagram, right?”Regina was already beginning to stand up again, but the force
Regina’s eyes darted longingly to the doors again. At that moment, she wished she had left everything the way they were, rather than diving into it without warning. She’d underestimated Rina, and now, she was going to have to pay dearly for it. But Regina couldn’t allow anything to happen to her career. It was all she had to her name and knew that she would be nothing without the fame that came along with it.Unlike Rina who had always been a force to reckon with, even after her retirement, and still causing a buzz everywhere after she got blacklisted, Regina was aware it would be the opposite for her. She would fizzle out almost immediately, and no one would remember she used to exist at some point.Rina looked smug as she leaned back on the seat, ringing the bell on the table for her second course. She had all the time in the world to play this little game, and she wasn’t even in a rush to end it. Regina, knowing her future was in Rina’s hands at that moment, knew there was nothing
William was already outside the door by the time Rina got out into the night. She got into the back seat and sighed with contentment as she relished the events of the evening with a smile on her face. William watched from the rearview mirror, a smile of his own tugging at his lips. He was certain that for the first time ever, Zayn had met his match in her. They only had one little issue. He was surprised that day to see Jada at the office, her flawless face exactly as he remembered. William wondered what she was doing back after three years, and what her game was this time around. She always had something up her sleeves, and even though Zayn had known the last time, he still let her carry it out until the very last moment, just to prove a point. He didn’t love her- that, William was sure about because Zayn didn’t believe in love. But for a moment there, he thought she was someone he could co-exist with as man and wife. But he’d been mistaken. She just might have been the source of hi
The night was one of the longest, at least for Rina. The sheets bore witness to her thrashing and turning, as Zayn’s words evaded her thoughts, and left her needy. She thought about it over and over again, in her head, creating different scenarios of how that conversation could have gone. But the thing was, Rina could never be sure what Zayn had exactly meant by those words. He could have been messing with her, as his long list of casanova acts preached. But at the same time, Rina couldn’t shake off the look in his eyes, like he’d been fighting something off, and losing terribly at it. She removed the pillow from under her head and tried to lay on the mattress alone, hoping it did the trick. But her eyes were still wide open in another thirty minutes, sleep constantly eluding her. Giving up entirely, Rina sat on her bed and grabbed the remote to the TV, turning on a N*****x series. She grabbed a pillow and squeezed it tight as the light from the screen flooded the room, taking her min
The internet was blowing up with the news and clips of Regina’s public apology and Rina was loving every moment of it. She spent most of her day going through the uploads and comments on Instagram, especially the ones on Regina’s Instagram page. She knew rightfully not to mess with Rina and had obeyed her instructions to a T. Rina’s phone was also blowing up with calls from podcast and TV stations, as well as her DM getting flooded with messages. While some of them accused her of threatening “their Regina” to get an apology from her and make the country overlook her misdeeds, others sent in their apologies as well.But Rina wasn’t moved by any of that. It was only a means to an end, and she wasn’t at her destination yet.In a few minutes, Scottsdale put up a memo on their pages after certain people accused them of being a scam for blacklisting Rina. In the memo, they assured the public that they would get to the bottom of Regina’s public apology, but in the meantime, people should dis
Zayn was in his office when Mia stuck her head through his doors, announcing he had a visitor. At first, he thought it was Jada, as he had been wondering why she was in the building the last time and hadn’t appeared since then. Zayn hadn’t had the time to go probing, but he was hoping it was a one-time thing, even though deep down, he knew Jada wasn’t the type of person to start something and leave it unattended to.“It isn’t a woman named Jada, is it?” He questioned, looking back at his computer screen.“No, sir,” Mia answered, causing him to look up at her. He didn’t have any meetings for that hour and wasn’t expecting anyone else. Mia knew that the only way people got to see him was through a prior appointment so everything about this was strange.“It’s Mr. Osteen,” she announced. “I was going to turn him down the moment he showed up but it sounded really urgent. And since you’ve had a personal meeting with him before, I figured you might want to know he came over to see you.”“Of
Rina hadn’t gotten over Joel’s sudden fury over the phone, no matter how hard she tried to push it behind her, to act like it didn’t matter. Joel was her friend for the duration she spent at the fashion house, and nothing could ever change the fact that he had helped her when everyone else pushed her away, when she was bordering on the edge of poverty, with only a few dollars to sustain her.It bothered her that his thoughts towards her had changed, even though it was none of her fault. Rina wished he had been patient enough to figure out what was going on with her, rather than act all vengeful and spiteful, hurling harsh words at her. She had gone through so much already and didn’t deserve that from someone she used to consider her friend.It was not strange to believe that Joel was acting out because she had left the fashion house and rejected his advances, but at the same time, wasn’t that too much of a response? Rina had done nothing outside what she had set to do from the beginni
The mornings sun was up and lovely. Rina looked outside her bedroom, wondering how her life had become this way, especially after she had reminded herself of many reasons why she shouldn't get romantically involved with any man because of what she had faced in the past. But here she was contemplating how she was going to make the most of her relationship with Zayn. She couldn't deny the passion that she felt after kissing him and knew that lying to herself was useless at this point. If she could turn back the hands of time, she probably wouldn't have taken that offer, but now she had no choice but to live with it. Pretending that they had never kissed was the coward's way out which she didn't want to take. She prided herself on being an adult who could make her decisions and stick to them but right now she didn't think she fit that category because of every emotion she felt in the last few minutes. Something was wrong with her and it was her duty to find out.Tired of hiding inside
Nathan paced his room when he heard people talking about only one person. Imagine the audacity of his brother to become the talk of the town. So much was happening all at the same time and he couldn't help the intense anger coursing through him. There had to be a remedy to the nonsense that he was facing right now. How they expected him to be happy with their union befuddled him. "How's the plan going?" He asked his Intel."Great, sir. They are still in the dark. We can't strike now because they might easily find out. Just give me a few days to sort some things out." Nathan didn't have the luxury of time like she thought he did, "I don't care about what more time you need. I need you to be quick at getting answers!" He barked, "Surely that's not too much to ask of you, is it?!" "No, sir." A docile response erupted. Meanwhile, the newly wedded couple were having fun at the top of the roof. "Right... I see what you mean about having a grand wedding. This has been trending on the blo
Rina inspected her dress in the mirror as she twirled around, appreciating how put together she was. She looked every inch of a blushing bride and felt like the world was a better place. No one would ever know that this was a contract marriage with how Zayn had gone all the way out to act like he was head over heels in love with her. Given the unusual circumstances, she had completely forgotten that anything of that nature existed and tried to find a means of dealing with the man in the present. He looked like he was enjoying himself. On cue, her phone rang, which she picked up instantly. "Hey." She answered breathlessly, before clearing her throat to reduce the awkwardness. Heaven forbid that she showed that she was thinking about him. Who knew what he could be thinking and how that was going to affect her? "Hi... I called to ask how things are going on your end. You didn't tell me anything about your dress. Is it up to your taste?" Zayn asked, making small talk just to hear her
"I don't think I have missed coming home like in this few days. I could have almost pulled out my hair if help hadn't arrived at the time it did." Rina muttered as their home came into her line of vision. She was still trying to get over the shock that she had been kidnapped and had no powers to save herself if not for this man who had come at the right time and now she could finally have some breather. Zayn chuckled at her relief, yet refused to speak because he wanted her to let out everything that she was feeling. Some people who bottled things up ended up getting destroyed by the time they tried to process things on their own. "I don't think I can thank you enough for everything that you've done just to get me out of that hell hole." Rina continued her speech as she shuddered. If he had arrived just a few minutes late, she would have been dead meat.Zayn reached for her hand and stroked it in reassurance. "I'm certain that it mustn't have been an easy thing for you to handle, bu
Rina trembled at the thought of losing her beauty, especially at the hands of Kayla, her archenemy. She would never understand what she had done to warrant such treatment from someone who she had never offended in any way, shape, or form, but had decided to be a pain in her ass. "You don't want to get caught by the cops and serve a jail term, do you?" She threatened Kayla who looked unperturbed, yet filled with vengeance and cascaded with cruelty. She was sure that, at that moment, no one could stop her from misbehaving. "Don't come an inch closer!" Rina warned out of fear as Kayla cackled, relishing her victim's cries. This was exactly what she wanted from her and it was a lovely sight to behold. "Aww, poor Rina. I hope you can live with the consequences you brought upon yourself. I know that you must have been through a lot but here is my verdict. No one is going to save you from me. Absolutely no one, no matter how much they try. The earlier you get this into your head, the bett
Rina had told herself over and over again that the last thing she would let Kayla elicit from her is fear and tears, especially what happened the last time with her losing her reputation in the country. It still stuck to her like glue – the aftermath, everything she’d had to go through. And now, it was happening again, sneaking its arms around her and threatening to pull her under. But Rina held her ground, refusing to let it overwhelm her again.Despite how scary the gun looked, being waved in her face, Rina tried to calm herself down, to think through the situation at hand and try to find a way around it. Swallowing, she counted to ten in her head, then smiled disdainfully at Kayla. “You are still the same child from many years ago, do you know that?”“Your psychoanalysis isn’t going to work on me.”“But think about it. We were nineteen, with huge dreams and bright smiles, walking through those doors knowing we’d just gotten scouted into the movie industry. You were scared. I saw th
Rina sat beside Marco as he navigated the traffic, trying not to feel nervous about what was going on. Her mind swirled with all the discoveries she’d made in the last twenty-four hours, wondering how to move on from that point. Everything she had grown up to believe was shaking at the very root and now, she was left with whispers and ghosts, not even certain which of them existed and which didn't.Marco turned left and shot her a look. "You don't seem fine. Do you want to pause for a minute and take it all in?" He glanced at his watch and then back at her. "We can spare a couple of minutes."Rina swallowed. “I want to get this done as quickly as possible so I can return to my life.”"Return to your life?" Marco struck Rina as someone who the Jones family would employ as their lawyer, with his grey hair, impeccable suit, and glasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. She recognized all the brands he was putting on, but it made sense that he was earning a lot of money from managing the
Zayn sauntered through the high gates he had grown behind, steeling himself for what was going to happen in there. He hadn't been careful enough when it came to this, only discovering mere minutes ago before his father's call came in. This was the reason he always said feelings never ceased to complicate things, and yet, he had fallen victim to it. Zayn should have known better. If he hadn't been so occupied with trying to make sure Rina was fine, even though he knew that was an excuse to be around her, perhaps, he would have noticed this development before it got out of hand. Now, he was left with the task of salvaging it, but his brain wasn't working in that direction. Zayn was worried about Rina, despite everything. He had whipped out his phone on his way to his father's house to call her, but changed his mind mid-way, deciding to call Susan instead when he was done with this little issue. He tried to think about a way out of this, his mind reeling and his eyes darting around the
The moment the call dropped dead, Rina pulled herself off her bed, wincing slightly as she moved to the bathroom. She had a quick bath, and part of her was grateful that Zayn had decided to leave for his mansion. If he had remained in the villa, she wouldn't have been able to do what she had in mind. Zayn's clear instruction rang in her head, but Rina shrugged it off as soon as it occurred to her. She used her anger as her ammunition – anger that she had fallen in love with Zayn when she shouldn't have, anger that she had given herself a false hope that he would come around and admit his feelings knowing fully well that the great Zayn Graham doesn't give two fucks about love and whatever it came with. Walking out of the bathroom, Rina sauntered into her walk-in closet and pulled off something simple from the hanger – a pair of black wide-legged pants and a matching button-down shirt. Pairing it with white heels and a black tote bag, Rina applied light make-up on her face, almost unno