Plan ExecutionALEXANDER POV“What are you talking about?” I asked Lucas.He simply shrugged, the smirk still lurking on his face. So many thoughts ran through my head as I watched him leave. He walked leisurely, as though he was giving me the time to process what I’d just heard.“Are you threatening me?” I called out to Lucas.Lucas turned very slowly to look at him. “Threat? Do you feel threatened by my presence, is there something else?”I said nothing. In all honestly, my mind was blank. When he left, I forced my brain to think about the recent events about the reason why Lucas would come into my office and give me a creepy look, like he knew my secrets and couldn’t wait to unlock them.I bit my lips as I subconsciously started to pace about. Was he and Isabella having an affair and he’d just recently found out that I was with her too? I shook my head at the thought. He and Isabella couldn’t be having an affair. It was just impossible; which means there was just about something el
ALEXANDER POVI watched as she quietly sat down beside me. Her smile twisted into something unsettling, a far cry from the pleading expression I had expected. Instead, she simply looked at me with a glint of mischief in her eyes. I would have given anything to know what Madison was thinking at that moment.Still smiling, she poured wine into the two glasses she held and extended one to me. When I didn’t take it, she shrugged, downed her glass, and then raised the other in a toast.“Cheers to our new partnership,” she said, her voice dripping with irony, before drinking it down as well.I stared in bewilderment. She seemed completely unfazed by the phone or the threat I had supposedly issued. It was as if none of it mattered to her at all. When she was done, she took off the robe she had put on earlier when going down to get the wine.“So Alex, shall we get down to it?”I flew up from the bed and held out a hand to her, my head spinning with so many questions. “What are you doing, Madi
ISABELLA POVI tossed and turned in bed, uncomfortable, upset, and unable to find peace. At some point, I almost pushed Edward to the floor, and he snapped at me so hard, I wondered where he even found the energy from in the middle of the night.“Just get out and let me be if you can’t sleep,” he snapped.That was a good idea, I decided. It was hard to sleep and it was even better to take a walk on the streets with slippers, rumpled hair, and my nightdress than sleeping beside a man I never loved.There were things I wished to attain, things that I wanted, people know that I loved. Now I was being controlled to do the bidding of one man just because he held a significant power over me. As if that wasn’t enough, a stupid girl called Madison had deemed it godly of her to ruin my life.A deep sigh escaped my lips, and just as immediately a sigh escaped someone else’s lips. I turned slowly and saw Alexander sitting on the porch, smoking a cigarette. He was in one of those chairs that coul
ISABELLA POVI didn’t know what to say, so I immediately went into defensive mode. ‘Edward, you don’t understand—”He stepped away from arm’s reach just when I was edging towards him. “I don’t understand. I just heard you on the phone with your lover right now, telling him how much my love haunts you.”“It was her.”“Oh, it’s a female, even? That doesn’t make it any different, Isabella.”“No, you don’t understand. Edward, if you just sit still and let me explain to you?”“No!”He sulked and went to the living room to sulk even more. I sighed and rubbed my forehead. Dealing with Edward sometimes could feel like dealing with a child. He was an absolute darling when he wanted to be and an absolute nightmare if he wanted as well. I dried my hands on a kitchen towel and then went out to meet him. He was looking away, as though the sight of me could hurt him even more.“Edward, it isn’t what you think.” I bent on my knees in front of him and touched his kneecap. “Edward, are you listening t
ALEXANDER POVEverything around me felt slow and dull. My hands were slack, tied by so many things—responsibilities, Madison, the company. The little ray of sunshine I had left had been snuffed out. This little dinner my father was putting together would not help matters, especially since I would see Isabella there. It didn’t matter if I had been sinning with her for the longest time. It didn’t matter if she was never mine to begin with and I had taken what was not meant for me. It didn’t matter if she hated me now and never wanted to look at my face. All I thought of was how much my heart ached at her absence.I heard Lucas laughing and I went towards the sound, eager to find something else to distract me. I stopped halfway when I saw him leaning over Isabella in the space between the kitchen and the corridor. He was smirking and muttering some words to her. Her face was upturned to his attentively. Even though I couldn’t completely see her face, I knew that she was listening intentl
ALEXANDER POVI felt my blood boiling. I wanted to do something, but there was nothing else to do other than hold the scarf in my hand and seethe in anger. There was a red handprint on her face, so glaring and so visible. It only had to have happened today.Isabella grabbed the scarf off my hands with a sigh. “Don’t do that,” she said, wrapping it around her face once more.“You’re being abused,” I said smoothly. “Dad, you’re abusing her?”“I’m not abusing her,” he said sharply“He’s not abusing me,” Isabella said just at the same time as well.They glanced at each other at their words, then quickly looked away. There was something that passed between them that I couldn’t understand, a silent message. The anger started to boil so fast, I could see steam coming out of my ears.“You’re abusing her!” I accused, slamming my hand hard on the table and causing my father to jerk. “Why are you doing this to her, huh? When has she ever wronged you?!”The businessmen shifted in their seats, uns
ISABELLA POVThere was a helicopter waiting for me at Edward’s request in the morning. I gasped when I saw it, jumping out of bed and rushing to the window to gawk at it. He came up behind me with a wide grin on his face.“You’re going to Miami,” he whispered as he wrapped his arms around.As usual, I was tempted to maneuver out of his embrace because it did not feel like home to me, but I held back that feeling. He was not Alexander and will never be, so it was better for me to look past all those feelings now and move on with my life just as Alex had.“I can’t believe this,” I gushed, truly happy at the sight. “When you mentioned mini vacation I really thought you were bluffing.”“I would never bluff at something like that. I really did mean it.” He squeezed me a little harder in his embrace. “There is just something I need you to do for me.”I was tense. “What?”He seemed to notice my tension because he patted my forearms in comfort. “It’s nothing serious, darling. There’s a docume
ALEXANDER POVI watched her walk past me without an atom of emotion in her hers. She had averted her gaze when we had locked eyes earlier on, her purpose now solely to leave and get away from my presence as fast as possible. Each time she did this, I couldn’t help but think about how much she must despise me to want to leave my sight as soon as she saw me.Lucas gazed at me as I walked past him, a knowing smirk on his lips. I hated it. I hated it so much that I wanted to reach for him and punch that smile into his face. I hated that he was hanging around Isabella a little too much. I hated that he looked like he held a sort of secret above me while he was the criminal stealing from our father’s company. I hated that he called me little bro just to undermine me in that very sentence as if he was any better than me. I hated him. I hated myself for hating him. I hated life.I suddenly stopped in the hallway, Madison still latched on to my arms. She was so into me that she barely noticed