Sapphire's POVI got home late after an extremely exhausting day at work. My back ached and my stomach wouldn't stop growling. I hastily took a cold shower and managed to fix up noodles which I downed with a bottle of chilled Coca-Cola. At last, l felt somewhat alive.I glanced over my phone, there was still no calls or texts from my boyfriend, Austin which was odd because he always returned my calls. I'd been calling since this morning and still, nothing from him.It was his birthday today. I had intended to take the day off and spend quality time with him but something came up at the office and that hindered my plans.Nevertheless, I'd ordered a mouthwatering vanilla butter cake - his favourite and a bottle of champagne. I would go to his house and celebrate this special day with him. I kept on calling, texting and leaving voice messages, so many that one would think he's got my kidneys or that I'm nuts. Perhaps he was angry at me for bailing out on our plans today but it didn't ma
Eric's POV"I heard you sold your app, Tinzel and recently acquired the D'Writers company, is it true?" Elizabeth asked as she took a sip of her wine, batting her fake eyelashes at me.She had her legs crossed as she sat right across me. She wore a skimpy black dress that outlined her firm boobs and left her nipples protruding. Rumour had it that she'd spent a fortune getting boob implants and a whole lot of other plastic surgeries.We were having dinner at some fancy restaurant mother dearest booked for us. And trust me, I'd rather be anywhere else than there. My mother practically forced me to go on a date with our business partner's daughter, Elizabeth.Did I say force? Oh no, I meant blackmail. She was blackmailing me to go on these stupid dates, hoping that I'd agree to marry one of these billionaire's pompous daughters.Not that I had anything against them, no. Marriage just wasn't my thing, it wasn't for me. I mean, what's the point of getting married if you're going to divorce
Sapphire's POV"Give me more!" I yelled through the deafening music as I demanded for more beer. I'd already had like what, two or three bottles? But I wanted more and more!"Girl slow down," Gwen said inaudibly. She was just as drunk as I was.Jamila and I had arrived at the nightclub half an hour ago. She'd then texted her roommate Gwen to come join us. We were having the night of our lives, partying like there was no tomorrow. Except that there was actually a tomorrow - a tomorrow where I had to go to work and early too if I didn't want to lose my job.Not to mention, our new CEO would be coming to the office for the first time tomorrow. The bastard couldn't wait till Monday. The news of his sudden arrival had thrown the office into a frenzy. Everything had to be perfect and that meant more work.Thanks to him I couldn't take the day off and celebrate Austin's... Oh that's right. Austin that two-timing son of a bitch was the reason I was drowning in alcohol. He was the reason I'd b
Sapphire's POVHis face was just a few inches away from mine and I could feel his hot breath on me. It was practically making my insides melt and his burning gaze not only sent cold shivers down my spine but also caused me to feel weak in the knees. Who was this man and why was he such an enthraller? How could this stranger have the power to leave me hopelessly spellbound?I didn't know if it was the alcohol taking control of my emotions or if it was this drop-dead gorgeous man casting a spell on me. But whatever it was, I wanted it to carry on and I wished it wouldn't stop, not for any reason. I wanted to feel my cold hands on his bare chest and run my fingers down his perfectly sculpted torso.I wanted to feel his body colliding against mine and wrap my legs tightly around him. I wanted his tongue tasting the sweetness of my skin and his hands exploring every part of my body. Call me crazy but I wanted nothing more than to be his tonight, only his.I took a bold step forward, put my
Eric's POVI woke up extremely late the next morning. Not even the blaring sound of my alarm clock could awaken me. I turned to my left where the curly-haired beauty from last night had dozed off and tried to reach for her but she was gone. I rubbed the blurriness off my eyes and sat up on my bed.I scanned the bedroom and noticed that her leather jacket that'd been lying on the floor beside my bed was no longer there. I got out of bed and put on a pair of black joggers. I strode to the guestroom in hopes that she was still lingering around but no, she wasn't. She was gone, probably long gone before I even woke up.It was true that I was such a heavy sleeper. I slept like dead man - my dad used to always say to me back then. One time when I was 8, our house caught fire at midnight. While everyone panicked and tried to get me out, I slept soundly in my room, completely unaware of the flames that'd engulfed the place. So I wasn't surprised that I didn't even hear the Tigress leave.I wa
Sapphire's POV June 9th 2022 – the worst day of my entire life. Well, the second worst day actually. It was nothing compared to the day my family, my world was shattered. At any rate, it was still a day I'd rue for as long as I lived or so I thought.How could I have been so stupid? How? How did I even let myself get so wasted to the point where I was completely dazzled by alcohol so much so that I had sex with a stranger? Like it wasn't enough that Austin, that bastard, cheated on me, that same night, I went on to sleep with a man I knew nothing of, a total stranger. Just thinking about it made me gag. I was enraged, disgusted and hurt. All I wanted to do was drink and forget about my problem, not add to it. But I did!I remember waking up with a hangover, naked in the arms of a man I'd never seen before. His arms went around my waist and my head was resting on his chiseled chest. The moment I opened my eyes, I screamed and fell so hard on the floor. I w
Eric's POVMonday arrived rather quickly. Too quick, if you ask me. I got out of bed very early and got dressed for work. I was decked in a grey Kiton K-50 suit with the first two upper buttons undone and a pair of Testoni's alligator skin, Moro monk-strap shoe. It would be my first day at D'Writers and I couldn't wait to get it over with.I sat down in the dining room for a quick breakfast of Greek salad omelette and coffee that'd been prepared by Nana Belinda, the cook and head maid. She was a 57-year-old woman, kindhearted and caring. She was more of a mother to me than my sorry excuse of a mother. I guess it's because she practically raised me as a child while my mother was too busy to care. "How was your night, Eric?" She asked me with a warm smile on her face as she poured me my coffee. "It was great, Nana." "Did you sleep well?" "Of course, I did," I replied, taking a slice of the omelette. "But not as much a
Sapphire's POV "You have got to be fucking kidding me!" That was the first thing I screamed inside of my head when I saw who sat before me. The very same man with whom I had a one night stand, the strange man that I slept with in a drunken state, that man was none other than my new CEO? He was New York's most talked-about billionaire, Mr Donovan? Creator of Tinzel? Who would've thought? I wasn't expecting to see the man so soon and worse, here of all places! The universe really played a trick on me, a wicked one at that. There he was, seated, wearing a million dollar suit I suppose, with his stupid jet-black hair stylishly combed and an idiotic smirk plastered on his face. What the hell was he smirking at anyway? I wished I could walk over there and wipe it off his ugly face. Okay, well that was a blatant lie. He was a thousand miles far from ugly. As a matter of fact, he was devilishly handsome just sitting there. But it didn't matter. Handsome or not, I was still irked by the me
Sapphire’s POV“I’ll never be yours,” I spoke defiantly, hiding every hint of fear in my voice. “Never.”“Oh but you already are,” Ethan responded, sniffling on my hair and twisting the gun against my head like it was about to bore a hole inside. “Whether you like it or not, you belong to me now. Eric can’t do anything about it. Isn’t that right, Eric?”Eric snarled, moving forward, “Ethan—”“Careful, bro. I thought I made it clear that if you try anything stupid, your tigress will pay for it. You wouldn’t want me to paint the walls with her blood now, would you?”Eric stood still but the fury in his eyes was unmatched by anything I’d ever seen before. He knew he was trapped, forced to play by Ethan's rules to keep me safe. Ethan was relishing in his power, revelling in the control he had over both of us. The son of a bitch held all the cards right now to his sick game.“Hang in there, tigress,” Eric told me in a softer voice, “I promise we’ll both walk out of here together. I’m takin
Sapphire’s POV “Going somewhere?” I looked up at Eric who was getting ready to head out. “Yeah,” he answered, peering into the mirror and fixing his shirt. He was wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of black pants. His hair was wet from the shower he had not quite long ago. He grabbed his leather jacket from the back of the chair and shrugged into it, zipping it halfway. The material creaked softly as he moved and his rich cologne filled the room. “Where are you off to?” I asked, sitting up on the bed and watching him. “Just going to meet with some contacts,” Eric replied, flashing me a quick smile. “I’ve got some important stuff to take care of.” “By this time? It’s almost 10.” “I won’t be long, I promise.” “Be careful,” I mumbled. Eric turned to me and shot me a warm smile. “Always am, tigress,” he cooed, crossing the room to plant a kiss on my forehead. I watched him as he grabbed his keys and wallet from the dresser, tucking them into his pocket before heading towards the
Sapphire’s POVI struggled so hard underneath the monster, trying to get him off me but all my efforts were futile. He was a whole lot stronger than me, pressing his body harder on mine, his lips grazing neck. I screamed and squirmed, flashes of that night he violated me whelming my brain.Ethan didn’t relent. He groaned in my ear, kissing my neck hungrily and rubbing his erection against my core. His breath washed my body whole with filth and disgust and I wanted to throw up at that point. The bitter, foggy memories of that night were replaying in my head as Ethan tried to have his way with me again.“Let me go!” I cried, struggling still, hoping and praying that someone out there would hear and come to my rescue.Where are those stupid bodyguards when you need them? Where’s Eric when you need him?I had to do something to get myself out of this. I had to break free and run away. I couldn’t let him do it all over again. I would never look at myself the same way ever again if I didn’t
Sapphire’s POVEthan took a step forward, the usual calm and friendly look on his face completely gone. His eyes went dark and he pressed his lips into a grim thin line, his brows furrowing slightly.“It was you!” I screamed, angry tears spilling in a split second as I clutched my panties tighter and stepped backwards, heading for the door. “You…you..raped me!”He was quiet, deadly quiet and something like anger flashed in his eyes. He looked different, like a completely different person. The stare he gave me was frosty and sharp; the kind a psychotic criminal gave after being exposed.I didn’t wait for him to say another word and didn’t demand any explanation from him even though the whole thing was puzzling and mind-boggling. In a flash, I turned towards the door and raced for it. But Ethan beat me to it. He blocked my path and locked the door before shoving the keys in the back pocket of his sweatpants.“Leaving so soon?” He asked, a devilish smirk now imprinted on his face.“Open
Sapphire’s POVEric had still not come home yet. I was still up, waiting for him and it was already very late. My eyes darted at the huge clock in the living room, my hands gripping my phone tightly. It was a little over 9pm and I’d been calling him for that past one hour but couldn’t get through to him. Perhaps his phone was down. I wished he’d come home soon.He’d given me specific instructions to stay put and not go to the hospital to look for him. I was intent on listening to him this time. I didn’t want him getting all worked up again about how stubborn I was so I waited patiently, glancing at my phone occasionally and listening for the sound of his car driving in.I had been waiting all evening to hear the latest update regarding Patricia. I hadn’t got any information about her condition and what state she was in but from the looks of things, she might not make it. She’d lost a lot of blood when I’d gotten there the previous night and she had more than two stab wounds.I didn’t
Eric’s POVThese past few months had been fucked! I had never seen anything like it. It had been from one fucking problem to the other, day in, day out, with no breathers, no breaks and no end in sight. What the hell was going on? The universe must love playing horrible games with us.First, Sapphire and I split up for months after she found out about the accident which I believed all my life I was responsible for when in reality, my sick mother was behind it all. And up until now, we still had no idea who’d called Sapphire to feed her with all of that bullshit of me conniving with my mother to kill her siblings.Secondly, my wife got raped after we were back together and like that wasn’t terrible enough, she got knocked up in the process. The bastard who did it was still on the run. She made up her mind to keep the baby, another blow to my face. It almost broke us apart and then she lost the baby, thanks to Patricia. I felt like shit at first when we thought Sapphire had a miscarriag
Sapphire’s POVI glanced down at my body. I was covered in Patricia’s blood and the footsteps were getting closer. I swallowed, cold sweat dripping out of my pores. If anyone saw me here like this, they’d think I stabbed her. I had to get out of here and fast. I got up and headed quickly for the door but I stopped dead on my tracks when someone walked in.Oh no! I was too late.“Sapphire? What the…?”“Eric?” I was relieved for a moment. It was just Eric. Surely, he wouldn’t think that I had anything to do with this. Or would he?I went over to him, my hands trembling, my voice shaking and my breathing heavy. “Eric…I…I… P…P…Patricia.”Eric gave me a hard once-over, his eyes trailing over the blood on my clothes and then darting towards Patricia’s seemingly lifeless body lying on the cold marble floor. He had an unreadable expression but his gaze was fierce and hard that I feared the worst.I didn’t know what I was expecting exactly. Perhaps I thought he’d begin with the interrogation,
Sapphire’s POV“Mrs Donovan,I’m terribly sorry that you had to find out this way. I should at least have the guts to face you and say this but I don’t. And I’m even sorrier for what I did to you and for the pain I caused you. I never intended to do it. I was forced into it. As you know, the love a mother has for her child can be overwhelming and compelling; hence I did what I had to do.I’m not saying any of this to excuse my actions, for you to take pity on me or even consider forgiving me. I don’t deserve your forgiveness and I’ll carry the burden of what I did to you for the rest of my life. A week ago, I had told you and the others that my little boy was very ill and so I took a leave. But that was a lie.My son was kidnapped and they told me the only way to get him back was if I did the unthinkable-kill your baby. I didn’t want to do it but I had no choice. They threatened to kill my son. The day before I left, I laced your tea with an undetectable poison the kidnappers gave me
Sapphire’s POV“I’m sorry but she lost the baby.”The doctor’s words replayed in my ear every single minute since the day I lost my child. The day he had broken the news to us, I was distraught and words couldn’t even express how shattered and hopeless I felt. I felt like dying along with my baby. All of a sudden, my life stopped making sense.How did I get here? How did I get to this point? When did my life become such a never-ending pain-filled nightmare? It was always one problem or the other. Why couldn’t I just be happy and have peace for once? Why was I always a mess? Why was my life a mess?I thought back to how terrified and unsure I was to become a mother at first, given the traumatic circumstances. And then, how I grew to love the idea of having a child, of creating a life and nurturing it as the days passed. I had so many dreams for my baby. I was already coming up with names.But now, all those hopes and dreams lay shattered at my feet, broken beyond repair. They were brut