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Mark waited until the elevator doors slid shut before he started to talk excitedly. “Girl! Did you see the boss and his girlfriend in the throes of passion? She’s so damn sexy, I'm not surprised that he can’t resist taking her on the corridor, right outside the conference room! ” Mark bobbed up and down like a monkey. Amaliah merely smiled and said nothing. She was famished and had forgotten the lunch box that Sheila had packed for her. If it weren’t for that singular reason, she wouldn’t be going out for lunch with Mark, and she wouldn’t have seen that embarrassing scene between Caesar and his girlfriend. No doubt, Anastasia Knight was a goddess. She looked even better in person and her skin looked flawless. Amaliah had never encountered her in person, but she supposed it was going to be a normal thing to come across celebrities while she worked at Skyline Corp. “Come on! This is juicy news. Those product ladies will be so interested. I must give them the details during lunch. Th
Caesar sat in the living room and watched himself on TV as he shook the hands of well-wishers and smiled at everyone that came forward to congratulate him. He stared intently at Anastasia's beautiful face on the TV, raised a wineglass to his lips and drank deeply. He hoped he had not just made the biggest mistake of his life. Bryan and his two other best friends —Jacob (Jake) Kingsley, Everett (Evie) Rosenberg — had disappointed looks on their faces, but they congratulated him and smiled at him all the same. He wasn't sure why he did it. He still didn't know what had prompted him to get down on one knee to propose to Anastasia with the ring she had picked out herself. He could see the scene in his mind's eye even as it was being replayed on the entertainment news on TV. Apart from the pressure from his mother and hers, he and Anastasia had gotten along exceptionally well for the past two weeks since they got back together. She spent most of her time with him, and they had not had a
“Amaliah,” Sarah Lang smiled from the doorway of Amaliah’’s office. “The boss needs you." “Oh. Ms. Rodriguez just left here a short while ago. Thank you, I’ll be with her shortly.” Amaliah smiled back at Sarah and turned back to her computer. It was almost time to go home. “Not Ms. Rodriguez, silly. The boss-boss, Mr. Masterson,” Mark laughed and looked at Sarah for confirmation with a gleam in his eye. His interest had been piqued. Sarah nodded. “Thanks. Mark, right?” Mark bobbed his head up and down and stood up hurriedly from his seat. He extended his hand to Sarah for a shake. “Mark Robes, ma’am. A pleasure to meet you.” “Likewise, Mark. Please be there in five, Amaliah. He’s in the conference room down this hall.” Sarah said, and turned on her heel and left. “Omg, do you even know who that is?” Mark gushed, moving his chair close to Amaliah’s. Amaliah rolled her eyes. “She’s the boss’s secretary. And I'm not in for any gossip right now. Please, mark.” “Come on, you’ll l
The marketing department's office gossip, almost thirty-year-old Mark Robes, was ruthless in his pursuit of personal details. Amaliah often felt that the CIA had missed out by not signing Mark up for something. He might not have been able to speak Russian, or Iraqi, or even basic English — come to that — but his intelligence-gathering skills were second to none. Amaliah often wondered how he got into Skyline Corp, but she quickly found out from Mark himself that Miranda owed his mother a favour and the only way his mother wanted her to repay was by bringing Mark into Skyline Corp. He couldn’t create a single sales copy without hitting the computer spell check at least four times to see if he’d spelled everything right, but if you wanted to know why the new girl in accounts kept coming in with red eyes every morning, Mark Robes was the only man for the job. Except that Amaliah never wanted to know the gossip. It wasn’t her scene. Being raised by parents who disliked gossip instille
Amaliah let herself into the house. The hall was in darkness. Good. Sheila wasn’t home yet. She’d mentioned that she might go for a drink with Sarah after work. They'd invited her, but she declined. The twins were with her parents, and their absence gave her a chance to go to bed without talking to anyone, because she really didn't feel like talking. And if Sheila came in after a few drinks, she wouldn’t be intuitive enough to notice her downcast eyes. Amaliah left the hall light on and went upstairs to bed. She got as far as taking off her blouse when the wave of utter hopelessness hit her and she had to sit down on the edge of the bed and weep. Great gusts of sobs came from her, her chest heaved with each breath and she cried until her face was red and raw. Would she ever get over the pain of Rafael's death? All she wanted was for the pain of wanting to abate somewhat, so she could cope. Tears flowed down her face as she wept with grief. She’d been kidding herself during her the
"Wait, what? How? When? What did he say?" Sheila was as confused as Amaliah was. "I don't know. He simply said my loan has been paid off." Sheila grabbed Amaliah's phone and called the number back but the call didn't go through. "This is bonkers. Are you sure he's not just playing with you? Maybe he wants you to lose guard so they'll hurt you." "I don't think so. He sounded cheerful, sincere. I think the loan has really been paid off. I'm stunned." "Wow. But . . ." "I know what you're thinking. Who could've paid it off? Why did they pay it off? Do you think it was one of our friends?" "I'm sorry, Amaliah, our friends love you but that's quite a sum." Sheila rubbed her friend's shoulder. "Yeah, I thought so too. I'm torn in between celebrating and being wary. What if that person paid it off because he or she has bad intentions? Like you said, that's quite a sum, no matter how much a person has." "I agree. We need some information, although I don't think Ted Williams will be kee
Three weeks and four days later. Caesar lay on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling, trying to think. Anastasia had changed within a few weeks. She was a lot more considerate, even if she still tried to drag him along with her to her late night parties that exhausted him to no end. She was a lot more polite to his friends and staff, tried her best to be with him as often as possible, had stopped throwing tantrums when she didn't get what she wanted, had stopped trying to gaslight him every chance she got. But Caesar concluded that he couldn't go through with the wedding. He didn't want to. Anastasia might've changed, but he wasn't sure he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, living a mundane life that only consisted of parties, sex and glamour. He loved kids and wanted one as soon as possible but she had told him that she never wanted kids—at least not from her own body—and if he wanted kids, he could adopt a grown kid and hire several nannies. She hated things like nap
"You're not mad?" She asked tentatively. Alarm bells went off in Caesar's head. He was hurt, but not angry. He had known deep down that even if Anastasia did change her ways, it would take years, not three weeks. Infact, he was actually quite glad. Instead of breaking up with her and having to go through her tantrums and meltdown, she had made it easier for him. He would not be the one to be tainted all over the media either—not that he planned to make their break-up public—incase Anastasia took it to the tabloids. But if he acted like he was not angry, she would sense that he had wanted to end the relationship before. Anastasia had an uncanny ability for sniffing out the truth, even if she was a pathological liar and an expert manipulator. She would then turn everything around and blame him for making her cheat. He could just imagine her saying, "I knew you were trying to break up with me, which is why I wanted to sleep with him to hurt you." Anastasia was known for blaming every
Amaliah’s unease deepened as the car wound its way through the increasingly narrow and secluded roads. Something felt off. Too isolated. Too far from the resort. They’d been driving for hours, and there was still no sign of the helipad Marco had claimed they were heading toward.“Marco?” she called out, her voice tight, laced with suspicion. “Where exactly is this helipad?”Silence.Her heart kicked up a notch. She glanced at the girls beside her—both lightly dozing—and reached for her phone again.No signal. Still nothing.“Marco, stop the car,” she said, this time with more urgency. “Right now.”He didn’t respond.She leaned forward, gently nudging the girls awake, her instincts screaming.Then she caught it—his eyes in the rearview mirror. Cold. Distant. Unfamiliar.“Stop the damn car!” she snapped, panic lacing her voice.When he still didn’t, she unbuckled her seatbelt, lunged forward, and yanked the gear out of drive.The vehicle jolted violently, skidding to a halt.“Out—get ou
Caesar lay stretched out on the living room couch, cradling a sleepy Amaliah against his chest as soft jazz filled the quiet space. The girls had already gone to bed after giggling their way through a movie, leaving the night to wind down in a rare, peaceful stillness.“You look tense,” Amaliah murmured, sensing the weight in his silence.He hesitated for a moment before responding. “I ran into Anastasia earlier. She seemed… unsettled. But someone like her doesn’t back down easily.”Amaliah sat up slightly, concern flickering in her eyes as her brows drew together. “Do you think she’ll try something?”“I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice low. “But I’m not taking any chances. When we leave tomorrow, I want you and the girls with me—in the same car. No splitting up.”She nodded, resting her hand gently over his. “Okay. I trust you.”His voice was low, steady. “I’ll keep you safe, Amaliah. No matter what.”Later that night, when the house had gone still and the world outside lay quiet
“Are you okay?” Bryan murmured softly beside her.“No,” she said on a soft breath, a faint laugh escaping her lips. “But it felt damn good.”From the stage, Caesar’s eyes never wavered from Amaliah. His smile shifted—no longer playful, but reverent, awestruck. He looked at her like a man who had just been handed the moon.As he stepped down and began walking toward her table, the crowd instinctively made way. He moved with purpose, never hesitating. When he reached her, he leaned in, took her hand gently, and pressed a lingering kiss to her knuckles.“I didn’t know you had that in you,” he said, voice low, just for her ears.“Neither did I,” she whispered back. “But there was no way I was letting her win.”Their eyes locked. Then, without warning, he pulled her into a kiss—brief but breath-stealing, bold and unapologetic in front of everyone.“I’ll pay you back,” he teased, his smile wicked and warm.“You better,” she replied with a smirk.Across the room, Anastasia stood frozen, her
“Girls, look!” Amaliah pointed out the window as their car wound through the rolling hills of Tuscany. The late afternoon sun bathed the landscape in hues of gold and green, with vineyards stretching endlessly across the countryside.“Wow,” Amaliah breathed, her eyes wide as a picturesque resort came into view, its vines sprawling across the distant hills.Madisyn and Micaela pressed their faces to the windows, captivated.“Mommy, it looks like a castle!” Madisyn gasped. “Is this where we’re staying?”“With princess gardens! It’s like a fairy tale,” Micaela added in awe.Caesar glanced at them through the rearview mirror, a smile tugging at his lips. “That’s right. This is where you’ll be pretending to be royalty for the next few days.”Micaela giggled. “Can we have pizza for dinner?”“Only if you ask in Italian,” Caesar teased, casting a playful glance at Amaliah, who sat beside him, her hand gently resting on her slightly rounded belly.She chuckled softly. “You’re enjoying this, ar
Caesar stood by the office window, the phone pressed tightly to his ear. His jaw tensed with each unanswered ring. This was the fifth call. He’d already tried four times, but Sofia hadn’t picked up once. She’d made it painfully clear she was upset—still, he couldn’t stop trying.“Come on, Sofia,” he muttered under his breath. “Just pick up.”Finally, the call connected.“Sofia,” he breathed, relief softening his voice.There was a long pause before her cold response cut through the line. “What do you want, Caesar?”“I’ve been trying to reach you. Can we talk? Please.”“What’s there to talk about?” Her voice was sharp. “Are you still seeing Amaliah?”The directness of her question knocked the wind out of him. He hesitated, but only for a second. “Yes… I am.”“Then we have nothing to talk about.”“Sofia, wait—please,” he pleaded, voice gentler now. “You’re my sister. I know you don’t approve, but Amaliah isn’t the villain in this story. She’s not who you think—”“You made your choice,”
Amaliah had no clue how Francine had managed to persuade Caesar to bring in a new hire for the digital marketing team. But when she returned to work on Monday—following the mandatory day off Caesar had insisted she take on Friday—she was startled to find a woman occupying Mark’s former desk.The newcomer’s high ponytail bounced with every movement as she swayed to the rhythm of whatever music played through her headphones, completely lost in her own world.Curious but not eager to engage, Amaliah held back, choosing to observe for now. She could only hope this new hire knew how to mind her own business. Just as she reached for her phone to text Caesar—wanting to avoid dealing with Francine as well—a high-pitched voice nearly made her jump."Hello!" The woman greeted her with an infectious enthusiasm. "I'm Minerva. Just joined the company today."Amaliah forced a polite smile. "Nice to meet you, Minerva. I'm—""I know who you are," Minerva interrupted before she could finish. "You're A
A week later Amaliah nestled into a quiet corner of the Chinese restaurant, absently tracing the menu’s edge with her fingers as she browsed the options. She rarely dined alone, but with Caesar tied up in meetings, she was left to fend for herself for lunch.The restaurant was warm and inviting, filled with the rich aromas of stir-fried vegetables, soy sauce, and freshly steamed dumplings. Around her, the soft hum of conversation mingled with the rhythmic clinking of chopsticks and ceramic bowls, forming an atmosphere that should have been comforting.Yet, something felt off.She had just settled on ordering kung pao chicken with a side of vegetable spring rolls when, on impulse, she glanced toward the window.Her breath caught.Across the street, near the curb, stood a man—partially obscured by passing cars, his dark hair slightly tousled, his posture hauntingly familiar. Even from this distance, the resemblance was striking.Rafael Rivers.Her husband.Her dead husband.A sharp jol
Amaliah knew it was wrong. Her husband hadn’t even been dead a year, yet here she was, locked in a kiss with his greatest rival. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t summon the will to stop.When Caesar’s arms slid around her waist, drawing her closer, she didn’t resist. When he grazed her bottom lip with his teeth, asking for more, she yielded, parting her lips for him. Their tongues met in a slow, intoxicating dance, each stroke deepening the hunger between them. Her fingers wove through his hair, holding him to her as if letting go would shatter the moment.Caesar finally pulled away, his breaths ragged, as though he’d just run a marathon. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. For weeks, he had imagined this—fantasized about it—but the reality was beyond anything his mind had conjured. He wanted to speak, to say something, anything, but the kiss had left his mind utterly blank.Just when she thought it was over, Caesar tilted his head and captured her lips once more
Caesar sat at his desk, his fingers drumming impatiently against the polished wood. His sharp gaze flicked to his secretary, Sarah, who stood by the door, iPad in hand."Get Nathan from IT here. Now," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.Without hesitation, Sarah nodded. "Right away, Mr. Masterson."Within ten minutes, Nathan entered, adjusting his glasses as he took in Caesar’s serious expression."You wanted to see me, sir?" he asked.Caesar gestured to the chair across from him. "Have you identified who sabotaged Amaliah’s report?"Nathan exhaled, setting a folder on the desk. "Yes. It was Mark from the digital marketing department. But he didn’t act alone. Someone from IT helped him override system restrictions." Nathan responded.Caesar’s jaw clenched. "Who?""A junior technician named Alex," Nathan replied. "We reviewed the system logs and traced unauthorized modifications back to his credentials. He and Mark worked together to alter Amaliah’s data before the deadl