“You heard me,” Rina retorted. “Are you done talking?”Finn stepped back a few paces, looking at Kayla for help. It made Rina remember the number of times during their marriage, how Finn expected her to do the things he was supposed to do, relying on the same image and power that he had helped Kayla ruin. Finn had always been that kind of mine, attaching himself to people just because he knew they had a certain level of influence in the country, knowing fully well that it would help his business and affiliations.She sure helped him while they were together, as his software enterprise grew remarkably. Everyone in the industry knew to go to him when they needed his services, and they’d introduced him to foreign clients. But now that Kayla was with him, he might just go even farther, playing the depressed husband who hadn’t had a clue that his wife had been cheating on him.Rina was angry with herself that she hadn’t seen through the façade and gone right ahead to marry him. She never w
Rina willed for the car to turn around and leave as fast as possible, but with every second that passed, it seemed to edge closer, oblivious to her plight and the situation she had been plunged into. Her pulse raced as the car stopped right at her entrance, and the lights turned off. “Hmmm,” Kayla murmured, angling her head. “I wonder who that is. One of the producers, perhaps? Do you now allow them access into your home?”“If he has any dignity in him, he would turn back right this instant.” Finn’s tone held a certain edge to it, almost like the thought and scene were getting him angry. If Rina didn’t know any better, she just might have believed that. Rina stared harshly at them, an overwhelming feeling overtaking her to effect an equal level of harm to the one they had made her go through. She wanted to wipe that cocky look off Kayla’s face with all her might, replacing it with the hurt that Kayla seemed to easily dish out. Rina remembered the baby she’d lost, and her anger seeme
Kayla and Finn had already been gone for a few minutes, but Rina still stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Her plans of coming up in the industry were getting stronger, with the brand spreading further than she had imagined. They had gotten a lot of calls for collaborative shoots, and Joel had ensured to communicate her reservation, that she would only partake in it if her identity remained a secret. That meant none of the other party could be in the studio during the shoot and she would only do it with the media team she was used to. Surprisingly, they followed through with it, only wanting the sensation that the media had gone crazy over. Sometimes, Rina tried to gauge what their reaction would be the minute they discovered Rina Powers had been the one behind the image all the while. They sang her praises now, but would they do the same the minute the anonymity cloak got ripped off?But Rina felt a sense of urgency, now more than ever. Kayla’s threat wasn’t going to fall
Rina was at the fashion house with the new models Joel had brought in to work with her. They needed to put out more content out there and she couldn't do it all alone. With the International Fashion Show in the plans, they had to get the models ready to walk the runway. Rina was going to sit this one out since she wasn't exactly sure she wanted to reveal her face just yet. For some reason, she enjoyed the peace and sanity of being anonymous. She loved reading the comments on Instagram about her being a sensation. The uncertainty of what would happen the moment the world knew her weighed down on her.“Your back is too stiff,” she gently corrected one of the models walking the runway they had created on the fourth floor. It was a large space meant for only the training of the models. Rina still hadn't been able to get over the surprise that had been etched into their features when they walked into the room and met her sitting with her legs crossed, waiting for them.“Oh my God!” The fi
“Hey,” he called softly, his eyes caressing her as she sauntered over. “You look exhausted. After we're done here, do you want to see a movie?”Rina chuckled lightly. “Maybe some other time. I'm just so exhausted that I need to drop into my bed the minute I leave here.”“What about the weekend? You said the girls don't have to come in then since they've worked hard this week. Should we see the movie then? I can book the tickets beforehand, or better still, we can stay back at my house and just catch your favorite series. What do you say?”“Er…”“You don't have to give me an answer now,” he was quick to point out, hearing the impending rejection in her voice. “The weekend is still two days away so you can think about it all you want.”“Joel, the movie sounds nice but…”“I can't take a no from you.” Although, he said it lightly, there was no disputing the fact that he meant it. She didn't want to be rude, but Rina thought there had to be a way out of this. It wasn't because she couldn'
Rina walked back onto the runway with her phone clutched in her palms and her eyes stuck between excitement and anxiety. She sat beside Joel as he rounded up his address with the girls, then appreciated them for their hard work one last time.“We will meet again tomorrow for the last time this week,” she announced to the girls when Joel was done talking. “Rest up. You don’t have to come in early, but I expect us all to be here by 6 pm. Are we fine with that?”“Yes, Powers.”“I understand that this arrangement might be keeping us from a lot of things, and I apologize for that, but the moment we have this fashion show behind us, we can take a week's break to recharge before resuming back at the fashion house. So, let’s give this our best shot for O.S.N fashion house.”The models were fine with that arrangement, ecstatic even. Their debut with the O.S.N fashion house had brought more to them than they could ever have gotten with their infrequent freelance deals and because of that, they
“What are we going to do?” Rina said, with panic in her tone. A smile played on Zayn’s lips as he interestingly watched her close her eyes and take a deep breath. She opened them a second later, set in grim determination. She’d done that thing she always did when she needed to get out a fix, employing her acting skills, which Zayn was greatly relying upon to get them through the next five years of their fake marriage.But it was way too early for her to use it, as far as Zayn was concerned, and he wasn’t going to let her go out of her way to cover up something that honestly, he was getting tired of keeping away from the world.The smile on Zayn’s face grew wider as Joel got closer. He’d already noticed Zayn’s car and was approaching them, probably to confirm if Rina was fine. Zayn counted the seconds, and Rina put her hands on the car lock. He knew she was going to pull it open when Joel came around, offering some explanation she already thought of in her head.But Zayn had a better s
Zayn didn’t go into the cottage like he always did. He leaned over to click off the seatbelt from Rina’s body, feeling her take a sharp deep breath. When he leaned away, her cheeks had turned red, and there was a sudden silence in the air.“You aren’t coming in?” Rina asked quietly when she realized he hadn’t unbuckled his belt too.“No,” he answered, shaking his head. “There’s something I have to do tonight. I’ll call you when I get home.”“Something?” She was being clingy and Rina recognized that fact. But she was unable to help it, and honestly, she wasn’t even trying not to sound or feel clingy. She was just too exhausted from either trying too hard or trying too little.But at the same time, she was certain that it was all going to be over the moment she walked into the cottage. Rina just needed to be out of Zayn’s presence to think straight. There was something about being in his presence that made every other thing melt away. She tended to forget the reason why she needed to pu