The hell? Maddy stared in horror as Liam Tirro rose to his feet. On his face was a sheepish look, like he’d been caught in a bad act. It was eerily similar to the way her daughter looked when she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been.“I know what it looks like, but I promise you there’s an explanation.”Maddy didn’t give any reaction that showed that she heard his words, instead she was thinking about how this was straight out of her recurring nightmare. Just earlier, she comforted herself that Liam Tirro could never show up at her parents’ house, but what was the explanation when he was right in front of her in flesh and blood?“What are you doing her
“Jonathan?”It was the nudge from someone on his left that made Jonathan snap out of his trailing thoughts and return to the present. The present being in the middle of a company meeting. Allowing his thoughts roam during a meeting was very unlike Jonathan, but ever since Lacey appeared in his life, it had occurred more times than he liked.All good things had a drawback. That was nature. And the drawback of Jonathan finding a woman that he liked was that she occupied his mind. Like a lot.Looking to his left, he found a staff member nudging her head towards the front of the room. Jonathan turned his head only to find Riley looking at him with an expectant expression, like she was waiting for him to speak. “W
The letters on the script were dancing around before Lacey’s eyes. It really wasn’t the right time to be distracted, but she couldn’t help it. Not after her mother revealed that she’d been aware that her father was trying to get into her life.Since Lacey was young, she’d always felt comfortable talking to her mother about random and also important things. It wasn’t possible to tell her everything, but Lacey tried not to hide things from her, so having her mother be a part of the plan with her father felt like a betrayal.And honestly, she was done with the people closest to her lying to her. It sucked. How was she supposed to trust new people when those she’d known for years found it easy to lie to her?“You make me feel
“Jonathan!”Lacey hadn’t pegged Jonathan as a rash person. Rather, he seemed like someone who acted rationally, so how was it that someone like him jumped in front of her car? Bringing the car to an abrupt stop, it was reflex as her mouth fell open.Through the windscreen, Jonathan still stood in front of her vehicle with his arms in a wide open stance.The sight could only be described as something straight out of a drama. Who in their right mind would jump in front of a moving car? First of all, Lacey hadn’t expected that he would be waiting out here for her when she came out, and for him to now jump in front of her moving car? What was this?It took a couple moments, but Lacey
“I’m sorry. This is so out of the blue.”The jazzy music playing in the background of the café did nothing to calm Lacey’s nerves. On her lap, her hands wrung around each other just as her eyes roamed around the other tables, which turned out to be mostly empty save for a few people, before returning to the woman with the nervous smile in front of her.Selma hadn’t come alone either. The young girl Lacey met on the day of the wedding was also there. Selma and Mark’s daughter, Lacey’s half-sister. Lacey watched the movement of her straw as she sipped her orange juice.“This is Ruby, my daughter. She wanted to meet you.” Noticing Lacey’s gaze, Selma made introductions. She seemed apologetic.
When the elevator reached the Penthouse and stopped, the doors opening immediately revealed Jonathan standing there.Lacey knew that if she delayed, she would lose that little bit of bravery that she was still hanging on to, so as she stepped into the room fully, she walked into Jonathan’s arms. For the first few seconds, it brought her contentment to just hug him.There was just something about leaning on the person you liked. If the circumstances had been any different, she wouldn’t feel so nervous about this, but in order to get Jonathan out of her system, it had to be done.“I thought you wouldn’t let me in.” With her cheeks still pressed into his clothes, Lacey sighed in satisfaction.
“Is it okay if I take a sick day off tomorrow?” Maddy spoke into the phone with a low voice, then coughed twice. “I don’t want the kids to contact what I have.”“Oh, Maddy. That’s fine. Take the day off.”Hanging up, Maddy sighed deeply. The sound seemed to fill her entire apartment. The sickness bit to take a day off from school wasn’t exactly a lie, but it wasn’t totally the truth either. There was a pain…Except, it was inside her heart.6:20 a.m. It was the early hours Sunday morning, meaning Lea was still sleeping soundly, but for Maddy, she’d been up most of the night. And it was all thanks to Liam Tirro.“This time,
The whole world continued to move on while Liam’s whole life seemed to have turned upside down. Hours passed by like in a daze. The last time Liam had experienced something like that was when his parents passed away, but even then, he knew he had to snap out of it for Maria’s sake.But now, there was nothing that could bring him back.“I’m a father,” Liam whispered to himself in the comfort of his room. The words seemed to echo back. It was a miracle how he managed to finish up at the event and get himself home. Liam didn’t even remember the drive home. He didn’t even remember entering the house.One second, he’d been in the parking lot, then the next, he was laying on his bed, staring at the plain ceiling.&nb
Two whole months had passed since the day Eliza left, and so far, Lacey had heard nothing from her. Not from lack of trying though. She’d called the other woman numerous times, but there had only been silence from her end. With that, Lacey left things as they were. How was she supposed to help someone who didn’t want to be helped? The news about Thomas had also seemed to die down, although Lacey had stopped paying attention to that. At the current moment, she was out of a job, and unsure about how to move forward with her life. That was where Jamie came in. More than ever, Lacey appreciated the presence of the older woman in her life. And to think that their first meeting came about because of jealousy. With Lacey’s mind made up to leave the entertainment industry, she needed other options. Thanks to Jamie, who introduced her to online business courses, Lacey had started taking lessons. For someone who majored in acting, it was interesting to start learning about something so new a
“Jonathan?”The line was silent for a couple seconds before Jonathan’s familiar, deep voice came through. “You sound tired…Did I wake you?”Lacey pulled herself to an upright position so that her back was resting against her pillow. For some reason, hearing Jonathan’s concerned voice immediately bettered her mood. A full smile bloomed on her face. “Hearing your voice is better than sleeping.” It had been quite a day for Lacey. She thought about how she’d originally planned to call Jonathan to tell him she was free to meet and to apologize for how she acted yesterday. Then Eliza’s issue came up, and she’d pushed it out of her mind. An awkward cough was Jonathan’s response. “You sound like you’re doing okay.”“Hmm.” “I’m close to the apartment. I want to see you. Can I come over?”“Ye–” Lacey’s first reaction was to agree, then she caught herself as she remembered her visitor. For Eliza’s privacy, she couldn’t let Jonathan here. It went the other way around too. Eliza would surely r
After telling Eliza that she could stay for as long as she needed, Lacey showed her to the guest room, then gave her a change of clothes, which she now had on. Later, she started on lunch. Sandwiches, Eliza had agreed too. She was almost through with it when a noise from the living room came. “What is she doing?” After plating the meal, Lacey wiped her hand on a napkin, then carried them out. As she appeared in the doorway, the sound coming from Eliza’s phone suddenly stopped as the woman put her phone away quickly. When Lacey placed one plate in front of her and raised her head, Eliza’s attention was on something as she deliberately avoided Lacey’s eyes. “Did something happen? I heard you shout earlier.” Lacey initiated. “Thomas, did he contact you? I hope you didn’t tell him where you are.”“Lacey.” Embarrassment and shame were visible on Eliza’s face when she finally met Lacey’s gaze. “Thomas released an apology video. That’s what it’s titled, but he doesn’t so much as apologiz
Jade Reign was one of the most interesting people Jonathan had ever met. Every action of hers wasn’t without meaning, no matter how confusing it might seem to others. They had finished breakfast long ago and were now in the middle of a discussion. Except they weren’t at Liam Tirro’s restaurant, Maria, anymore. With Jada’s direction, the two of them had walked over thirty minutes to the other side of the city, a place Jonathan rarely had cause to visit, to a place Jada called ‘Her Little Paradise.’ It was the first time in a while Jonathan had walked for that distance. But he wasn’t complaining. The weather was nice out and was just the right amount of cool, so by the time they reached their destination, he wasn’t a sweaty mess. Jada’s Little Paradise turned out to be the top of a bed and breakfast, a quaint home that gave off a wealthy air. The owner appeared to be familiar with her because she didn’t bat an eyelid when Jada and Jonathan walked past her with a simple greeting. T
This was way out of Lacey’s league. Stunned, she stared at the bruises on the woman in front of her. The choking marks around Eliza’s neck was just like what Thomas did to her also. Subconsciously, her hand rose to her neck. “Thomas did this?” Lacey's tone rose with incredulity. She shouldn't have been so surprised having experienced firsthand what Thomas could do when he was pissed off. But seeing the abuse signs on Eliza was an eye-opener. It wasn’t just something he did to only her like Lacey wanted to believe. Just who exactly had Thomas become? But more importantly, what was she supposed to do in a situation like this? Call the police? Call someone? Do nothing? While in thoughts, Eliza put on her mask again, hiding under the sunglasses and scarf. “You should go to the police,” Lacey heard herself saying. After running through several options in her head, that was her conclusion. “Report him for domestic abuse.”Before she even finished giving the advice, Eliza was already shak
It must have been due to a lapse of judgment, Lacey concluded. Or else why would she agree to meet up with Eliza? In any case, she was meeting her replacement in less than two hours. Over the phone, Eliza’s voice held something that sounded a lot like distraught, which was the only reason Lacey was moved. When it came to Thomas and feeling distraught, she knew the feeling all too well. Although, if Eliza’s fears turned out to be true, she was in a much better position than Lacey had been in. For one, she wasn’t married to Thomas yet. And two, she held as much, maybe even more fame than Thomas, so if he somehow decided to pull what he did in the past and call for a press conference, Eliza would be better positioned to defend herself. “What to wear?” Lacey pondered out loud as she changed out of her indoor clothes. Something simple. The weather today was much warmer than the day before, so she settled on a light dress. At Eliza’s request, their meeting place was an art gallery. This
{This is Eliza. Thomas’ girlfriend. Let’s meet.}It was after breakfast, around noon time, when the message came in on Lacey’s phone. In the comfort of her room, Lacey stared at the device with blank eyes. Last she heard from Adi, Eliza and Thomas were still in a relationship. Not too long ago, Lacey learned from Adi that Eliza and Thomas had possibly gotten engaged. Did that have to do with why she wanted to meet? Since they were still together, did Eliza feel she had some sort of bone to pick with Lacey? And it wasn’t a request either. It read more like a command. Speaking of Adi, he and Maddy had left earlier. The two lovebirds, Sangah and Holly, were still around, but before Lacey entered her room, they seemed like they were about to be on their way out too. For a brief second, Lacey let herself read Eliza’s message again. Eliza. A total stranger other than that time when Thomas brought her over along with the divorce papers. Ever since then, there’d been no contact. Grante
Leaving her two guests in the living room, Lacey disappeared into her room to dry her hair and change out of her wet clothes. That only took about ten minutes, but the next time she came out, there were now four people in her living room. Maddy and Adi had arrived. Adi was mid-conversation with Holly when he spotted Lacey. Immediately excusing himself, he walked over to her, stretching out his arms even before he reached where she stood. With a welcoming smile, Lacey let Adi hug her. Even before she was out of Adi’s hold, Maddy was already waiting to the side, and the moment Adi moved away, she took over the hug. “Are you okay?” Maddy asked as she gently swiped the palm of her hand up and down Lacey’s freshly-washed hair. “Silly question, but me and Ads saw the post you made. A lot of people are on your side.”It was that comment that reminded Lacey that she was yet to put on her phone after turning it off earlier. Somewhere between her getting back to her apartment, washing her hai
Even though Jonathan didn’t get the chance to talk to Lacey, he wasn’t too bummed out by it after seeing that she wasn’t mad at him. She was back home safe, plus she had a friend to stay with her; those were enough for him. Upon getting back to his Penthouse, the first thing he did was go through his mails. Tomorrow, he was meeting with Director Jada Reign, and he wanted to make sure that she hadn’t sent an email canceling after the news his company was embroiled. Thankfully, there was no mail of cancellation, which meant they were still on for tomorrow. Jada had picked their meeting location; a newly opened fine dining restaurant Jonathan had never been to before called Maria. According to her, while she was in Italy, she had food made by the chef, and wanted to check out his new place. Jonathan didn’t protest. Jonathan found it a little weird that she wanted to go to a fine dining restaurant in the morning, but he kept that to himself.There were also a couple messages from his pa