Caroline pov“Jenna?” I breathed. Surprised to see her.Her smile was soft, and innocent but I know better than to trust her. Especially when I didn’t know if she was the enemy or not. I suddenly became on guard.“I thought you’d be here,” she said simply.My spine stiffened.“What are you doing here?” I asked, suddenly unsure if I was still breathing properly. “You weren’t invited to the party.”“Was I not?” she asked, taking a slow step forward while flaunting her gold invitation card like a trophy. “Funny. Because I got a personal invitation.”My fingers curled tighter against the sink. “Stay back, you are the enemy and I don't trust you for a second.”I could see her smile falter. “You think I am an enemy. After helping you escape the company…”“Why did you do it.” I finally asked what had always been in my mind. “pardon me but before I was arrested we have not been best of buddies. Why now…what have changed?”The air between us became tensed. too tense. Like a guitar string pulle
Caroline povThe party passed by like a breeze. I had managed to survive sitting at the same table as Emelda. Even though she did try to provoke me so many times. But so many things running in my mind saved me from having to deal with her troubles.Like what had happened in the restroom earlier on.The ghost of xaviers lips on mine.The feel of his body caging me against the wall. I felt suddenly hot as I remember the intoxicating feeling I had felt with him.The way I didn't fight him at first. I had let him again.I strengthened my stiff joints from sitting in the leather seats of the limousine. Ever since the restroom incident. Xavier had not looked at me, or talk to me. Only staring out the window without saying anything.I stared out the window, city lights flashing like ghosts across my vision, but all I could think about was that kiss. Not just the kiss itself, but the way it felt. Real. Raw. And that's the problem. Cause my heart came shattering down when he said it was a
Caroline’s POVI woke up to strings of sunlight that brightened the room. Bringing with it warmth and something else. Last night was a rollercoaster of emotions. Xavier had opened up about his mother and the real reason for our contract. Xavier’s quiet admission, the soft look in his eyes when he spoke about his mother, it had made me believe something had shifted. Maybe, just maybe, we were beginning to peel away the layers of tension and rivalry between us. Maybe he was seeing me as a real human being rather than a vessel to actualize his plans.I should have known better.Because a soft cough caught my attention, I turned my attention to see Xavier already up, but there was something about his expression. It was different from the man from last night.He stood at the edge of the bed wearing a crisp suit, with his expression carved like stone. Eyes unreadable. Lips pressed in a flat line.“Good…”“You’re going to see your mother today,” he cut short my greetings. Not a question. A
Caroline povThe Nightmare started with whispers of My name echoing through thick fog. Caroline… Caroline…Then, I found myself in the hospital. In the same room that my mother was in a few hours ago. But now there was a difference. The machines were blaring, and my mother’s bed was empty.Before I could ask around, a shadow loomed behind me. I turned.Xavier.He was standing behind me. But something was wrong. This version of him was all sharp edges and fury. His eyes glowed an unnatural gold. His face was twisted in contempt and scrutinization.“You let her die,” he whispered coldly. “You let your only mother die.”“What..what are you saying”I backed away, heart thundering at my ribcage, but my feet wouldn’t move. It was like I was glued to the floor.“You killed her, selfish daughter” he repeated, his face becoming uglier. “You didn't want the contract. Because of that, she died.”“Noo, leave me alone” I screamed in terror, turning back to run away.The floor cracked behind m
Caroline pov Feeling of satisfaction washed over me, warm and consuming. For the first time in a long while, I felt… fulfilled. Desired. Wanted. I stayed on the comfortable bed for a moment, wrapped in the remnants of everything that happened, the scent of his cologne on the sheets, the warmth his body left behind, the tingling reminder of everything we shared just hours ago. I reached out uncounciosly, expecting to feel the solid presence of him beside me. But… I touched air. Nothing. The bed was cold. Empty. My eyes flew open. He was gone. The sudden emptiness in the room hit me like a dirty slap. My heart plummeted, plunging into a pool of silence and confusion. The soft beautiful hlow of the morning only served as a reminder that i was alone. I pulled the sheets around me, sat up slowly, and stared at the empty space where he had been. A thousand thoughts clouded my mind. Did he regret it? Did I cross a line? Was it a mistake? The unmistakable fear I had felt last night
Caroline POVTwo days later…The room was filled with laughter and excitement of the maids as they fluttered around me like butterflies, fluffing fabrics, adjusting pins, and dabbing powders onto my skin with brushes that smelled like roses and luxury.“There! Hold still, Miss Caroline,” one of them giggled, adjusting the neckline of the deep crimson silk dress that fit like sin. “You look like a fire fairy dream. No, like trouble.”They all laughed again, and I tried my best to join their giggling group. I really tried, but no.I couldn’t.Bianca sat beside the window, pretending to read a fashion magazine, but her eyes darted to me every few seconds. She was trying in her own way. I knew it. She was trying to keep things light and keep my mind away from all the weight of attending this damn party. And the fact that Xavier hadn’t returned for two whole days.No call. No message. Not even a damn note. He had just disappeared after the night we had.It gnawed at me like acid every tim
Xavier’s POVThe car sped down the highway, the light of the bubbling capital city streaming through from the window. People were gathered at each side of the road, screaming and yelling on top of their voices, causing chaos everywhere. “How had they know that I would be passing through this road today”I didn't know I had asked it aloud out until my p.a answered me.“Sir we tried as much as possible to be discreet…, but”“Never-mind” I snapped, feeling sudden irritation. That was how I grew up. Under people's gawking eyes like hawks, as if they are there waiting for you to as much as mistep so they can swoop in. the lights of the city blurring past the tinted windows. But my head wasn't in the car. It was still back there, with her.Caroline.She was seated in the other escort cars.I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through my hair, trying to steady the violent storm that had stirred inside me just by being in close proximity with her. She looked like a walking demoness. fire wrap
Caroline povA rough shove against my shoulder jolted me out of my thoughts.“Hey, bitch. Time to see the world,” the officer sneered.I glared at him but held my tongue. Normally, I would have fired back with some sharp remark, but today…I just wasn’t feeling it.Call it ungratefulness or mood swings, but for a person that was being released today after staying in the four walls jail for almost a year. I could have balled out my eyes out in tears of joy, but noo.The officer noticed, as he had to make sure I heard his words well, this time roughly shoving me out of the small cell that has been my home for the past one year. “Get up you lucky bitch, I hope you come here again”I raised my middle finger at him, before taking my dress from the counter. Not after the woman officer gave me a look of disgust.“Arrogant rich idiots, they always come back” she muttered under her breath.“Just wait until my husband finds out how you guys treated me…”I threatened them, having the little sat
Xavier’s POVThe car sped down the highway, the light of the bubbling capital city streaming through from the window. People were gathered at each side of the road, screaming and yelling on top of their voices, causing chaos everywhere. “How had they know that I would be passing through this road today”I didn't know I had asked it aloud out until my p.a answered me.“Sir we tried as much as possible to be discreet…, but”“Never-mind” I snapped, feeling sudden irritation. That was how I grew up. Under people's gawking eyes like hawks, as if they are there waiting for you to as much as mistep so they can swoop in. the lights of the city blurring past the tinted windows. But my head wasn't in the car. It was still back there, with her.Caroline.She was seated in the other escort cars.I exhaled sharply, dragging a hand through my hair, trying to steady the violent storm that had stirred inside me just by being in close proximity with her. She looked like a walking demoness. fire wrap
Caroline POVTwo days later…The room was filled with laughter and excitement of the maids as they fluttered around me like butterflies, fluffing fabrics, adjusting pins, and dabbing powders onto my skin with brushes that smelled like roses and luxury.“There! Hold still, Miss Caroline,” one of them giggled, adjusting the neckline of the deep crimson silk dress that fit like sin. “You look like a fire fairy dream. No, like trouble.”They all laughed again, and I tried my best to join their giggling group. I really tried, but no.I couldn’t.Bianca sat beside the window, pretending to read a fashion magazine, but her eyes darted to me every few seconds. She was trying in her own way. I knew it. She was trying to keep things light and keep my mind away from all the weight of attending this damn party. And the fact that Xavier hadn’t returned for two whole days.No call. No message. Not even a damn note. He had just disappeared after the night we had.It gnawed at me like acid every tim
Caroline pov Feeling of satisfaction washed over me, warm and consuming. For the first time in a long while, I felt… fulfilled. Desired. Wanted. I stayed on the comfortable bed for a moment, wrapped in the remnants of everything that happened, the scent of his cologne on the sheets, the warmth his body left behind, the tingling reminder of everything we shared just hours ago. I reached out uncounciosly, expecting to feel the solid presence of him beside me. But… I touched air. Nothing. The bed was cold. Empty. My eyes flew open. He was gone. The sudden emptiness in the room hit me like a dirty slap. My heart plummeted, plunging into a pool of silence and confusion. The soft beautiful hlow of the morning only served as a reminder that i was alone. I pulled the sheets around me, sat up slowly, and stared at the empty space where he had been. A thousand thoughts clouded my mind. Did he regret it? Did I cross a line? Was it a mistake? The unmistakable fear I had felt last night
Caroline povThe Nightmare started with whispers of My name echoing through thick fog. Caroline… Caroline…Then, I found myself in the hospital. In the same room that my mother was in a few hours ago. But now there was a difference. The machines were blaring, and my mother’s bed was empty.Before I could ask around, a shadow loomed behind me. I turned.Xavier.He was standing behind me. But something was wrong. This version of him was all sharp edges and fury. His eyes glowed an unnatural gold. His face was twisted in contempt and scrutinization.“You let her die,” he whispered coldly. “You let your only mother die.”“What..what are you saying”I backed away, heart thundering at my ribcage, but my feet wouldn’t move. It was like I was glued to the floor.“You killed her, selfish daughter” he repeated, his face becoming uglier. “You didn't want the contract. Because of that, she died.”“Noo, leave me alone” I screamed in terror, turning back to run away.The floor cracked behind m
Caroline’s POVI woke up to strings of sunlight that brightened the room. Bringing with it warmth and something else. Last night was a rollercoaster of emotions. Xavier had opened up about his mother and the real reason for our contract. Xavier’s quiet admission, the soft look in his eyes when he spoke about his mother, it had made me believe something had shifted. Maybe, just maybe, we were beginning to peel away the layers of tension and rivalry between us. Maybe he was seeing me as a real human being rather than a vessel to actualize his plans.I should have known better.Because a soft cough caught my attention, I turned my attention to see Xavier already up, but there was something about his expression. It was different from the man from last night.He stood at the edge of the bed wearing a crisp suit, with his expression carved like stone. Eyes unreadable. Lips pressed in a flat line.“Good…”“You’re going to see your mother today,” he cut short my greetings. Not a question. A
Caroline povThe party passed by like a breeze. I had managed to survive sitting at the same table as Emelda. Even though she did try to provoke me so many times. But so many things running in my mind saved me from having to deal with her troubles.Like what had happened in the restroom earlier on.The ghost of xaviers lips on mine.The feel of his body caging me against the wall. I felt suddenly hot as I remember the intoxicating feeling I had felt with him.The way I didn't fight him at first. I had let him again.I strengthened my stiff joints from sitting in the leather seats of the limousine. Ever since the restroom incident. Xavier had not looked at me, or talk to me. Only staring out the window without saying anything.I stared out the window, city lights flashing like ghosts across my vision, but all I could think about was that kiss. Not just the kiss itself, but the way it felt. Real. Raw. And that's the problem. Cause my heart came shattering down when he said it was a
Caroline pov“Jenna?” I breathed. Surprised to see her.Her smile was soft, and innocent but I know better than to trust her. Especially when I didn’t know if she was the enemy or not. I suddenly became on guard.“I thought you’d be here,” she said simply.My spine stiffened.“What are you doing here?” I asked, suddenly unsure if I was still breathing properly. “You weren’t invited to the party.”“Was I not?” she asked, taking a slow step forward while flaunting her gold invitation card like a trophy. “Funny. Because I got a personal invitation.”My fingers curled tighter against the sink. “Stay back, you are the enemy and I don't trust you for a second.”I could see her smile falter. “You think I am an enemy. After helping you escape the company…”“Why did you do it.” I finally asked what had always been in my mind. “pardon me but before I was arrested we have not been best of buddies. Why now…what have changed?”The air between us became tensed. too tense. Like a guitar string pulle
Chapter 18: Jenna Caroline’s POV The applause that followed thundered through the room as the MC’s voice echoed again. "Let’s welcome the youngest CEO in town. The heir to Johnson's empire… Mr. and Mrs. Xavier Johnsons!" Flashbulbs popped, camera lens clicking drumed in my ears. I forced out a smile, chin raised, spine straight. But inside, my heart continued to pound against my ribcage like I was being led to the gallows. The entire room shifted toward us like we were royalty…or wolves entering a den of lions. But in all their happy and praising faces, I could see the hidden scorn and the fake smiles behind all the smiles. The attention was suffocating, and I almost tripped on my gown in my nervousness. Xavier kept a straight face, while his hand rested firmly on my lower back. None of the attention or the noise bothered him. I clutched his hand tightly, my body filled with nervousness. but if he noticed he didn't say anything. He guided me forward to a specially decora
chapter 17: Going for the partyCaroline povOne week laterThey say a week isn’t long enough for anything to change.But they don’t live in Xaviers villa.And they certainly aren’t married to the same Xavier.Every day since that night after the board meeting felt like walking through a fog, one made of silk sheets, awkward silences, stolen glances, and unspent tensions and questions that was suspended in the air around us. refusing to leave me alone.He hadn’t kissed me.He hadn’t touched me.And he hardly comes home, unless late at night, when I would feel the side of his bed ruffle. We hardly see each other in the morning, But each time we jam, he looks at me like he wants to say or do something, but he would never say it out aloud. And I hated itEach morning I woke to the sound of heels echoing through the empty house. my own, as I wandered through Xavier's polished world of control. I didn't know what was worse: the moments he was absent or the ones he was near.Because Xavi