The click sound of silverware hitting plates reverberated around the walls as everyone busied themselves with the meal. At first, Rina was skeptical about their reception towards it, knowing that they were perhaps used to eating only the best. But she visibly relaxed upon realizing that they were actually enjoying it. Or at least, that was what the expression on their faces told her. When she reached for the pepper shake, Zayn’s fingers brushed hers and she withdrew her hand with the speed of lighting, recoiling from the sudden electric zap that had gone through her. He must have felt it too because he looked up at her at that moment, his eyes dark with an emotion Rina couldn’t place her hands on. Pulling her gaze away from his perfect features, she opted to eat without the pepper, not willing to risk that happening again. Unknown to her, Susan and William watched the duo with keen attention, having their own reservations. They wondered how long they would both deny what they felt
Rina didn’t expect it. When her expectant gaze flicked through his face, she knew then that he had something planned. Perhaps, it was the fact that she had spent some of the worst days of her life with him, and had grown to recognize the light in his eyes when he mulled over something mischievous. But it was there, etched into his features, unwavering. Zayn regarded her from his seat, amidst all the congratulatory remarks flying in the air, and the scent of the meal mingling with it. Was it strange that the only persons whose good wishes she looked forward to right then were Zayn’s? He got up slowly, like time had gradually come to a halt and the whole world barely realized it. For some reason, she stilled herself for what was to come, her anxiousness and thrumming heart making it difficult for her to hear anything else on the table. The rest of the guests had faded into nothingness, leaving Zayn and Rina alone in the world. She looked into his dark eyes, then thought it was probably
“At least, it's going to be yours for the next five years after we get married, and honestly, I was thinking about changing the name on the property deeds to yours. I noticed you’ve grown attached to the space, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from you.” “Zayn, no,” Rina shook her head. “You can’t give me a whole villa just because…” “I can,” he chuckled. “I own a hundred of these scattered all over the country. And besides, you might consider it an early marriage annulment gift. We will be required to sign a prenup as the contract says, but I don’t want the villa included in that.” “Zayn…” “And you might want to get away from me sometimes,” he continued. “You know how annoying I can be. I’m certain you wouldn’t want to see that for twenty-four hours every single day.” Rina wanted to tell him that there was nothing annoying about him, that it was in fact the opposite. She was lost in his presence each time he came around, and in those moments, nothing ever seemed better.
George was dressed in a casual outfit that morning, a pair of track pants, a tight-fitting polo, and a face cap. On his shoulders hung a gym bag with a towel wrapped around his neck. The gym where he regularly worked out was located on the other end of town, on the first floor of the apartment building where he lived. But that morning, he decided to do it there, at the private sports complex where most stars visited. He had a pass since a friend worked the gate, and he didn’t look out of place since his face wasn’t an uncommon one in the industry.It took him back to the time at Scottsdale Entertainment when the actors and workers alike all seemed to have a bad opinion about Rina and he would walk past them, unable to do a thing about it. George smiled and nodded in silent greeting as we moved past the sweaty bodies, who had first halted when they saw him. But he heard the gossip the minute they thought he’d stepped out of a hearing distance. They all wondered what he was doing there,
Gasps went around the huddled group, a few of them placing their hands over their mouths. The dread was apparent in their eyes, and the judgments were hard to ignore. Regina played it perfectly, weaving the story with the right amount of suspense, waiting for them to ask leading questions before waltzing into it like a very slow choreographed dance. Her eyes shone in the heat of the moment, and her gait improved like one who had all the answers in her palms.“She must have hit rock bottom,” the premium bitch from the TV series whispered, as if scared anyone would pick up the topic of their conversation. But that was mere hypocrisy as she had the most fan base out of everyone standing there, and she wouldn’t even wait to get back home before tweeting about it, and putting a post up on Instagram. George was hoping she would do something more – perhaps, go on live and start a discussion about Rina Power. It would help the task he was about to embark on.“Or maybe she’s just going back to
Rina sat on the island stool in the kitchen, looking over the contract for the umpteenth time. It felt too good to be true, and she was worried that it would be taken away from her at the moment she least expected. Still, she knew the Pages of Claire couldn’t possibly be messing with her. They didn’t even have the time for that. Rina had followed the brand since she was a child, and knew almost everything about them, from the date of expansion to every member of Claire’s family. She had been obsessed at some point and remembered how her parents always chided her for focusing on her studies instead.She was glad she hadn’t listened to them.Appending her signature with her pen, she slid the iPad onto the island and downed the last bit of orange juice in her glass. Dropping from the stool, she sauntered over to the sink to rinse out the glass when the buzz of her phone drew her attention back to the island. Rina wiped her hands and grabbed her phone, reading the message from George in a
“You look good,” he murmured as his hands worked, linking the rope with the holes at the back of the dress. “I love the dress. It is sure a hustle to take off, but I don’t mind that seeing as I can go the easy route.”Rina took in a shaky breath, closing her eyes as she felt his fingers on her over and over again. It was hard to concentrate on the words he was saying, no matter how hard she tried focusing on that. The combination of his hands and his scent made her heady, so much so that she was considering turning around abruptly in his arms.“What?”He chuckled, the bass of his tone sending shivers down her spine. “The dress. It accentuates your curves. And the color. It is…Damn! It makes me think of a number of things I can do with and to you.”Rina’s body tensed up in his hands, and another chuckle escaped his lips. “Don’t worry. I told you before. I will not do anything you wouldn’t want me to. Trust me.”She nodded, even though there was no need for that, and held her breath the
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
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