Rina slept through the day. It was almost 4 pm the next time she opened her eyes, and a bowl of hot pasta was already on the bedside table, waiting for her. She dove into it immediately, registering that her pangs of hunger was what had gotten her up from sleep in the first place.Full, Rina returned to bed after going through her phone for messages and missed calls. The only person who’d reached out to her was Joel, asking if she was still up for their movie date like she’d agreed to it in the first place. Trusting Zayn to handle that, she turned off her phone and went back to bed.The second time she opened her eyes, the curtains had been dropped over the windows and the bright lights in the room had been turned off, leaving only the night light on. Getting up with a start, Rina’s eyes fell on the clock on the bedside table, realizing with a start that it was almost 9 pm. She had slept the whole day without doing anything, and now Rina felt bad for it.So much for making a comeback.
She turned to search his face, looking for anything that might give away how the conversation had gone. There was nothing. Not even the regular residue of hatred he had for Joel, that he carried everywhere like a badge. He had an amused look instead, as he swirled his glass of wine in one hand. “Don’t tell me you went to see him yourself?” Rina asked, knowing that something beyond the ordinary must have occurred. “What did you tell him, Zayn?” “Nothing much, actually,” he answered, shrugging, still with that amused look. He seemed to be having a lot of fun with the situation and was making no attempt at hiding it. “I just had a business meeting with him. He seemed really okay with the conclusions we arrived at before we shook hands.” “Zayn,” Rina tried not to let the anxiety she felt seep through in her tone. “I’m sure one of the items for the meeting didn’t include informing Joel that he couldn’t go to see a movie with one of his models whose identity was supposed to stay anonym
Rina mulled about it all through the night, tossing and turning under the comfortable sheets. She had promised herself that the issue of being Zayn’s contract wife was only going to be a bother for her after the fashion show when she had the whole burden of getting the models ready for it out of her mind. But now that Zayn had brought it up, it was hard to shelf it back up in her mind.Rising from underneath the covers, Rina pranced barefoot through the room, then deciding she needed a glass of warm milk, walked down the stairs to get one from the kitchen. She walked into the darkness, forgoing the need to turn on the lights. The hum of the refrigerator was her anchor until she stopped in front of it, pulling the door open to get out the carton of milk.Grabbing a saucepan from its hook, Rina poured a healthy amount into it and turned on the stove, balancing the pan on it and leaning on the countertop, counting the seconds in her head. She tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting
Zayn raised his head just as William knocked on his slightly opened door. Motioning him in, he turned off the screen to his tablet and gave him his full attention. “Is she awake?”“No,” William answered. “But she was up late last night. I ran into her in the kitchen.”“What was she doing?”“I think she couldn’t sleep so she came down for a glass of warm milk but she wanted to know if I had discovered the identity of the men who had tried tailing us down here. I didn’t tell her Kayla was responsible, of course, but it doesn’t take magic to figure that out.”William dropped onto the chair in front of Zayn. They were still in the villa, so he didn’t need to be on his feet to address him.“I will tell her myself,” Zayn sighed. “What do you think about taking her out of the country this weekend to get some rest? She’s going to get so busy with the fashion show coming up, and I just need her to have all the energy needed for that. There’s going to be a lot happening after that, and she migh
“Hey,” Zayn’s face didn’t give anything away as he watched Rina walk further into the room. “We were just waiting for you before we took our leave. Are you ready? I have to get into the office as soon as possible.”“Yeah,” she nodded. “I just need to grab my purse and my shoes.”“Great. Meet us downstairs.”William got up first, then stepped aside to let Zayn through. He ruffled Rina’s hair on his way out, not bothering to answer her questions, before heading downstairs.“Are you leaving already,” Susan asked in the living room when she saw them coming down the stairs. She only came to the villa when Zayn told her to, and now that he was leaving, she could return to the mansion, where she lived with Zayn.“Yes, Su,” Zayn replied. “Please lock up on your way out. You know the drill.”They waited for Rina outside, before pulling out onto the road in two separate cars, Rina and Zayn in one, with William coming behind them.“I had a relaxing weekend,” Rina smiled up at Zayn. “Thank you fo
Zayn got back to the office in a foul mood, and Mia recognized it at once. She backed out of his way as he walked briskly into his office, ordering that no one disturbed him until he gave her further instructions. By then, it was too late to tell him Nathan, his brother, was already inside his office.Mia imagined the million number of ways Zayn could possibly fire her as she dropped back into her seat, her pixie cut bouncing along with her. She should have mentioned it the minute he stepped in. Or maybe she should have sent William a quick message the instant Nathan appeared. Mia knew of the strained relationship between the brothers so why on earth had she allowed that to happen under her watch?Oblivious to the wreck his secretary was going through, Zayn walked into his office and closed the door behind him, intent on burying himself in work while thinking of how he could make Joel understand that no one dared take anything from him, without risking his identity in Rina’s life. He
He already confirmed that Rina was headed towards her parents’ home, but it did nothing to dispel Zayn’s anger. It wasn’t even directed at Rina, because Zayn couldn’t bear to be upset at her. Instead, he wanted to look Joel in the eyes and ask him what he was thinking when he conceived the notion that he had a chance with Rina. It didn’t matter if their relationship was fake. No one took what belonged to Zayn. The whole country knew that. The only reason Zayn wasn’t doing anything to Joel yet was because the poor lad had no way of knowing Zayn was going to get married to Rina.But once it was out there if Zayn noticed that Joel or any man as much as batted an eyelid in Rina’s direction, he would have to answer to him. Still, Zayn couldn’t let it go just like that. He asked Mia to set up a meeting with Joel about the international fashion show. He was going to do that anyway since Joel had to meet him with the reports of the other fashion brands he’d sent him to visit outside the count
Rina wished she could have coffee at the coffee place across the street from the fashion house, but it only took one appearance to get people talking, she had to make do with preparing her coffee from home. Today, because the weather was hotter than normal, she made a tall glass of ice cappuccino and went through the hassle of taking it along with her in a taxi, because she still didn’t think it was time to take her car to work.The taxi driver was warm today, even attempting to smile as she got in. She had a pair of dark shades on as well as her regular vintage scarf that never ceased to tag along each time she stepped out of the cottage. But sometimes, people recognized her through the camouflage and constant change in hair color. This time, Rina wasn’t sure if the driver knew she was the one.She alighted a stone's throw from the back door of the fashion house and managed a thank you when the driver wished her a beautiful day. She was still reeling from how politely she had been tr
Zayn navigated through the traffic, drumming his finger on the steering at intervals. Returning to the country had been a spontaneous decision he had made the previous night, weighing the cons and pros in his head before calling the pilot to prepare the jet for take-off. Graham Conglomerates had already been launched over there, but there were a few things that were left before business could begin, but he’d decided to leave it to Mago to handle.“What are you thinking about?” Rina asked quietly. He had felt her eyes on him since they left the villa, but for the first time, Zayn wasn’t certain of what to say to her. He felt himself pulled under by some feelings he couldn’t decipher, and now, he felt his principles crumbling. Years, and even months ago, Zayn never believed in love. He saw it as the unnecessary release of chemicals, that only ended up doing more harm than good. But now, something had changed. It was… Zayn shook his head abruptly, refusing to accept it.“Nothing,” he mur
The next day, Rina got a forwarded mail from her manager while getting ready for work. She opened it once, her eyes reading the message in one glance. She heaved a sigh of relief, going through the details again. The phone vibrated in her hands, and she picked up the call at once.“George, I got the mail. What do you think?”“I received it late last night and had to research the production house first before sending it to you. They are legit, and the best news is you wouldn’t have to leave the country to work for them since they are a local production house. If it is something you want to do, I can reach out to them to schedule a meeting on your behalf.”“Yes,” Rina nodded. “I trust your judgment. Since you’ve done your research, I can go ahead with it. It will at least, keep me busy until something else comes along. And the longer I stay at O.S.N fashion house, the more I put Joel’s business on the line. He doesn’t want to admit it, but I know his sales are suffering because of me. P
The gallery suddenly seemed to be devoid of people, even if their chatter had gone up a notch. She drowned out the noise unconsciously, unnerved by the looks in their eyes. “Seen what?” Rina looked from Isaiah to George, wondering what that was about. It didn’t seem like something she would be ecstatic to find out, but then again, Rina knew there hadn’t been enough ecstasy in her life since the spread of the rumors started.“Didn’t you see the people gathered at the entrance of the gallery?”“The oil paintings lining the wall?” She angled her head, even if anxiety was eating away at her.George nodded, then sighed. “I think it's best you see it yourself. I must warn you though, there’s nothing joyous about it.”“There’s nothing joyous about what my anti-fans think of me,” Rina murmured, allowing George to lead the way while Isaiah came up at the rear. The small crowd that had gathered parted ways and whispers graced their lips as the trio approached the line of paintings. They stopped
It had been a few days since Rina’s confrontation with Regina at Scottsdale Entertainment and what she had been trying to avoid still happened. There were videos everywhere, circulating like wild fire.Almost every person in the country knew that she had been banned from stepping feet into that building, and it didn’t help that she had to go to work every day with certain people who entirely believed the rumors on the internet. Even if Joel had warned them not to do anything against her, it still didn’t stop the glares getting sent her way.Rina was taking the development remarkably well as she still went about her usual daily activities. She had brought some of her stuff at the cottage down to the villa, and no longer had to use the items she had met in the closet. It was one of her greatest reliefs as she hadn’t let go of the fact that even though Zayn told her no one else had been in there, there were traces that it had been a lie.Trying not to feel entitled or anything, she said
Her eyes widened as she took him in, drinking him from head to toe. She had to admit that although they hadn’t seen each other in almost three years, her brother looked exactly the same, his intense eyes waiting for her to make the first move, his powerful strides not faltering even though he was in a casino house – the one place Zayn would not be caught dead. And there was that gait that made everyone turn to look at him, whether they meant to or not.He was getting a lot of attention, and she knew that if she crossed the little space between them to meet him, everyone would be more interested in what Zayn Graham was doing there. No one knew her real identity in the casino, and she planned on keeping it that way. Using her slender finger to remove a card from her stack, she winked at the people playing with her on the table, and got up gingerly, her hips swaying as she sauntered into the back room. She had an image she had to keep up with, and Zayn just almost ruined it.Zayn waited
Zayn stared at the clock hanging above the door in the conference room. The meeting had spanned longer than he had planned for it to, yet there were still some important deliberations to be made. Usually, he would have asked his assistant to continue with the meeting while he caught some sleep, but the issue at hand was the opening of a branch of Graham Conglomerate in Hong Kong, and he needed to be there to see the different pieces form one huge picture.“The space isn’t ideal,” he murmured, bringing his gaze to the projected building on the screen. “It is too small, and I really do not like the windows.”“The windows?” One of the foreign investors repeated, his small eyes regarding Zayn like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d heard.“Yes, Mr. Stone. The windows.” He scooted to the edge of his seat at the head of the table and clasped his hands. “The windows are usually one thing that gets overlooked when picking out the perfect site for a company’s activities. But not me. On a ra
Joel didn’t want to stall anymore, especially since he could feel the distance Rina had been trying to put in place since the fashion show. He felt it in the smallest of things, like how she refrained from telling him where she lived now that her cottage was not in the best shape for habitation, or how he never took her home again since the first time.Although she still smiled at him each time they saw, their hugs were more formal, and never lasted long. It was as if she was deliberately trying to put up walls around herself. It was either that or her subtle way of saying goodbye. And Joel wanted neither.“Do you remember the first day we met?’ he started, as their table got cleared of the second course, and their dessert of ice cream and cake arrived. Rina took a spoonful of her preferred chocolate flavor and closed her eyes as it melted on her tongue. She loved the tinge of bitterness that hid in its taste, and how it remained at the back of her throat. Weird as it sounded, since R
By the time Rina arrived at the diner, it was almost 9 pm. Handing her keys over to a valet, she sauntered in, the clack of her red bottoms hitting the tiles. She hadn’t wanted to waste time on choosing another pair of heels, exacerbated by the fact that Rina still thought the clothes and shoes in that room belonged to one of Zayn’s numerous women. So, she opted for a simple white dress instead that fell to the middle of her thighs and clung to her body like a second skin, accentuating her curves. The halter neck, Rina’s favorite style, was the perfect touch to the shape of her shoulders and her hair was put up, with hastily curled ringlets flowing from the bun. Her face was scrubbed clean of every makeup, leaving only glossy lips.Rina’s outfit made her look so vulnerable that the moment Joel saw her approach, his heart did a little backflip. He had to clear his throat and get his lines right in his head as she navigated the tables, locating the booth he had picked for them at the en
George stepped out onto the foyer, accompanied by a scowling Rina. She hated that Scottsdale had treated her manager that way, knowing how hard she worked to get him access in there. But worse, she wasn’t comfortable with the fact that her drama had affected him and that he hadn’t let her speak up on his behalf. It almost felt like he’d been waiting for that moment, to get those words off his heart and walk out of the doors, never looking back. He did it with his shoulders squared and his head held high. Still, Rina couldn’t decipher whether it was bravado or plain stupidity.“You would still have your job if you’d just let me say something,” Rina muttered as they took the turning to the parking lot. “Now, Isaiah is going to have your head, and maybe blame me for your death as well.”“I spoke about this with him already,” George explained, his voice still on the usual wavelength, not dampened by what just happened in there. “We decided it was best I left rather than work in an environ