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CHAPTER 21
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A vow of hate CHAPTER 22
It was a Saturday, and I had recently started working out in Christian’s home gym, and I was just rounding up a session. I took a big chug from my water bottle and went up the stairs with my sweat soaked towel in hand. My phone rang just as I closed the door to my room behind me. It was Olivia.“Hey.” I greeted.“Are you pregnant?”“Huh? Did you just ask if I’m pregnant?”“Yes. Are you?” She inquired again.“No, Olivia, I’m not pregnant. Now what is this about?” I asked, tiredly reaching to sit down on the floor.“You don’t know,” Olivia’s voice cracks. “You really have no idea.”I’m suddenly alert. “What’s going on Liv? What are you talking about?”“There’s… there’s stories coming out about you.”“Huh?”“Yeah, about you and Christian.”My stomach dropped to my feet, and now I knew that the shaking of my knees wasn’t just from the intense workout routine I had just done. “Send them to me.”“Hazel, I think it’s better if you don’t see them.” Olivia says slowly.Shit. I ignored her and
A vow of hate CHAPTER 23
CHRISTIANI had decided to take the day after the fundraising event off, much to the surprise of everyone at the office since I barely took any time off. And I should have known that was a mistake. I had decided to disconnect from the world and just relax in the house with Valerie, and somehow, two hours passed without me checking my phone. That single act came back to bite me in the ass.‘This is what happens when you take breaks’ I thought to myself.Someone had leaked a story to gossip magazines claiming that my marriage to Hazel was staged, and immediately, I knew it was the work of my father. It wasn’t rocket science, anyone could see that he was responsible for this damage.I had to give him credit. He was thorough, making sure to include a set of fake documents showing the agreement of a contract marriage, complete with forged signatures of Hazel and I. The whole thing was stupid, we weren’t even in a contract marriage, it didn’t make any sense. It portrayed me as the exact mon
A vow of hate CHAPTER 24
CHRISTIAN“You’re handing over the company to me?” I asked in bewilderment, taking the phone off my ear for a second to cross check the number again. But everything was as it should be. I really was talking to my grandfather and not an imposter.“I am.” “But why?” I asked again, still confused. “And in the midst of all this drama too. I expected you to pull everything out from under me.”“Exactly.” Grandfather’s gruff voice responded. “I’ve been disappointed one too many times. And if your father was the least bit dependable, the company might have been his ages ago. I’m getting too old to do this for much longer. This is your last chance, you're under probation. Fix this mess and make it disappear and you'll be inaugurated as chairman at the next board meeting.” “Aren’t you going to ask if any of it is true?” I asked him.There was a slight pause before he spoke, “does it matter? The only thing that matters is that you have a wife and a daughter now, and from what I’ve seen and hea
A vow of hate CHAPTER 25
HAZELI could feel my nerves grow stronger as we neared the hospital. I kept bouncing my knees up and down the whole way until Christian literally snapped at me to stop. I knew that he hated the fact that he had to do this with me, he never stopped reminding me that he’d rather do anything else in the world than have to endure my presence. I had half expected him to react a certain way when I punched his father, but he had done the exact opposite, and even though he obviously hated the fact that he was stuck here with me right now, at least he was doing it. That was all that mattered. When we got to the hospital, a nurse handed me a clipboard that needed to be filled with all my information, but I was struggling to hold the pen with my injured hand.“Give it here, I'll do it,” Christian offered, looking a bit annoyed.“No, it's fine. I’ve got it.” I protested.“This really isn’t the time to be stubborn, Hazel.” he grabbed both the pen and clipboard out of my hands. “Just tell me the a
A vow of hate CHAPTER 26
It was officially day one of our ‘rebrand’ mission, as I had so graciously named it. Christian and I were getting ready for our first real date, and just to put it out there, there was nothing normal about this. Aside from the obvious elephant in the room being that I was going on a date with a man that would waste no time lodging a knife in my neck if given the opportunity, I was also going on a date with a man who was super meticulous and obsessed over every tiny little detail. Which is why I was currently getting ready with the help of a team of hairstylists, makeup artists and a wardrobe stylist. I’d been on dates before, and I usually just picked out whatever decent looking dress I could find in my stuffy wardrobe, applied lipgloss and mascara, and I would be on my way. I wasn’t used to such insanity. But when I tried to protest, I was reminded that I was a Walker now, and nothing about being a Walker was ordinary. That shut me right up.They were finally done now, and I had to a
A vow of hate CHAPTER 27
Christian led me into the restaurant with his hand on the small of my back. My back which was completely bare by the way! The restaurant was Italian, it was over the top, and everyone was dressed like they had some high end fashion show to be at after dinner. The hostess ushered us in without checking for our names on their computer, and I had to admit, the restaurant was beautiful. It had tall arched windows adorned with flowing curtains which she knew would look absolutely gorgeous in the daytime with the sunlight streaming through. The ceiling soared overhead with intricate frescoes depicting scenes from Italian history and mythology, while chandeliers hung like jewels, casting a soft ambient light throughout the room. And the tables were draped in crisp white linens and set with gleaming silverware and sparkling crystal glassware. You just knew it was the kind of place that served miniature portions of food for thousands of dollars. We were led to the back of the room, which meant
A vow of hate CHAPTER 28
I stared at the phone in my hands, rereading the line of text like the words would miraculously morph into something else. My anxiety was getting worse by the second and I was this close to hyperventilating. It was a text from Mark, and it simply said ‘have brunch with me. 1pm, The Lark cafe. Be there.’ Of course I could simply ignore it, but if I knew Mark very well, which I did, I knew that the text message wasn’t an invitation, there was a threat embedded somewhere in those words, between the lines. Mark was good at doing that— manipulating and gaslighting you into thinking you had a choice, but in reality, you didn’t. I knew there was no getting out of this brunch with him.“Haze?” I jumped at the sound of Valerie’s voice, and dropped my phone, which only made me jump again when it made a clattering sound as it fell on the counter. Christian stopped chewing his food and looked at me, expressionless. I’d been so focused on the text message that I had completely forgotten where I w
A vow of hate CHAPTER 29
The drive to the car was probably the most stressful activity I had done all week. On one hand, I was overthinking every possible outcome from meeting with my ex boyfriend in such an open place. And on the other hand, I couldn't stop my mind from drifting back to Christian. I was worried that he knew something. Way more than he was letting on. I just couldn’t quite place my finger on it. And then there was the issue of the car too. The man had just given me a Bentley! And all I could do was worry and be paranoid about whether or not there was a hidden tracking device or a camera of some sort somewhere in the car. What if Christian was sitting in his living room, comfortably watching me on his enormous TV and laughing at how stupid I was? I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. I was just paranoid and I had way bigger fish to fry right now. I would worry about Christian later. At exactly 1:05pm, I parked across the street from The Lark and walked over to the other side. I could se
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A vow of hate EPILOGUE
CHRISTIAN & HAZEL I chuckled as the doctor squirted the gel on Hazel’s tummy, making her squirm. Hazel always reacted to the cold. I kissed her and watched as the wand moved back and forth, and the image became clearer. “There’s your baby.” The doctor, Suzanne smiled, clicking and measuring. I held my breath as she turned on the sound, and I heard the heartbeat. The odd noise filled the room, the fast, steady sound like music to my ears. “You’re sure you want to know the sex?” “Yes!” Hazel and I exclaimed. “It’s a girl,” Suzanne announced. I laughed. “I’m surrounded. My own little harem.” Hazel’s eyes were focused on the screen. She tilted her head, looking confused. “It all looks good…” Suzanne’s voice trailed off. I frowned at the subtle change in the noise. It was faster, like an echo of itself, the strumming continuous. “Well, look who’s been hiding,” Suzanne mused and glanced over at us. She grinned and winked at me. “You did good, Christian.” She peered at the screen in
A vow of hate CHAPTER 169
HAZELI crawled into bed with Christian, snuggled into his side, and rested my head on his chest. He groaned as he shifted.“Are you all right?” I asked, worried that I had hurt him.He nodded. “Colin warned me that getting the sensation back in my legs was going to hurt. He’s fucking right.”Between rushing after Valerie, walking for everyone, moving around the house with his walker, and sitting on Valerie’s bed as he read to her for over an hour, I knew he was exhausted. But when I asked if he was ready to sleep, he said he wasn’t. I felt the same way too. Mentally, I was still wide awake. “Do you want some pain killers?”“No. As weird as it sounds, I want to feel it. I never thought I would get to this point, so aches and all, I’m going to go with it.”I laughed softly. “You’re right, Christian. You are weird.”He dragged her up his chest,causing a little gasp of surprise to escape me.“You wanna help me forget about the aches, Hazel?” he murmured in my ear, biting my lobe. “Make m
A vow of hate CHAPTER 168
The room around me buzzed with activity. Voices, people moving, talking to me, trying to get my attention. I held my breath, scared that if I even so much as breathed, I would miss something important.My focus was on one thing. The doctor examining Valerie. I had insisted, and finally Hazel relented, seeing how upset I was about her. My wife glanced up, smiling as she lifted Valerie to her shoulder. She tilted her chin, letting me know everything was okay. A fact that she was certain of, but I needed to be sure. She handed Valerie over to me and escorted the doctor out and I relaxed, pressing a kiss to my daughter’s head. She looked up, wrinkling her nose.“Hi, Daddy.” “Hey, baby girl.” She patted my hand. “Boo-boo better,” she cooed. “Good.” “Yeah, Daddy feels better.” I brushed a curl off her face. “How did you know?” She pushed on my cheek with her tiny finger. “You Daddy again. You smile.” I dropped my head, pressing kisses all over her sweet little fa
A vow of hate CHAPTER 167
I had never tried to comfort a person still caught between being a young man and a grown-ass adult. I had never reached out and been the role model.It was another lesson I was learning.Dennis was emotional. Filled with apologies. Begging for forgiveness. Once I broke through his stuttering words and barely held-back sobs, I set him straight.“What happened was not your fault. You didn’t put me in this wheelchair, Dennis. None of it is your doing. You need to stop blaming yourself.”“I can’t.”“You can. Get some help. I’ll ask Randy to take you on. He is an amazing person to help you sort things out and get your head straight.” I barked out a laugh. “If he can handle my shit, he can help you.”“But he’s here.”“Yes,” I agreed. “Which is where you need to be. You have a life waiting here for you, Dennis. A job you’re good at. Friends. Family.” I huffed out a breath. “Don’t let that day define you. Move past it.”“The guilt,” he said quietly. “It holds me hostage. That I’m walking arou
A vow of hate CHAPTER 166
I grabbed her hips, guiding her. Pushing her up and pulling her back down. She sobbed my name, her back arching as her release washed through her. I watched as she lost herself in the moment. I had forgotten how beautiful she was in her release. The way her entire frame shuddered. How she bit her lip and lowered her chin as if sinking into the feeling. The breathiness of my name falling from her lips. And how it felt when her muscles fluttered, tightened around me, taking all I had—giving me so much more.My body strained, the urge to thrust and grind against her eclipsing everything else. An orgasm hit me, obliterating everything in its path. I saw stars, the ecstasy was so great. I opened my mouth in a soundless scream, and somewhere, deep inside, I felt a flex, the pinching of muscles not used for so long now gripping, then vanishing as fast as they had engaged. A long, agonized sound escaped as my entire being surrendered. The pain, the pleasure, the sweet torture of it all.Hazel
A vow of hate CHAPTER 165
CHRISTIANThe taste and feel of my wife chased away the last lingering remnants of my dream. Hazel wasn’t walking away. She was right here, with me, in my arms.Right where she should be.I kissed her deeply, seeking out her tongue with mine, stroking hard and deep. Reclaiming her mouth. Reclaiming her. I yanked her tight to my chest, pulling off the towel she had draped around her body. I pushed down the blanket that covered me, needing to feel her. I dragged her over my lap, groaning at the feel of her weight pressing down on me. Still kissing her, I slid my hands over her silken thighs, parting them and settling her so she straddled me.She pulled back, gasping. “Is this okay?”“Fucking yes, it’s okay.” I pressed my mouth to her neck, licking up the damp, elegant column of her throat. “It’s fucking perfect.” I murmured. “You’re so perfect for me, Haze. And I’m such an idiot. Everything that has happened, it only made you stronger, but not me… I got weak.”She grabbed my face, holdi
A vow of hate CHAPTER 164
Valerie’s feet kicked in excitement as we turned down the street. I smiled at her in the rearview mirror.“Daddy waiting!” she crowed.I felt both excitement and trepidation as I pulled into the driveway. I wanted to come home so much, yet I was afraid of what was going to happen when we were alone. Would Christian continue moving forward, or would our presence once again cause him to slide backward? Once he got over the initial pleasure of seeing his child, would he again find her, and me, more of a bother? I wasn’t sure I could take it if that happened. I couldn’t watch the man I love disappear into the shell he used to be. But a small voice in my head kept telling me he wouldn’t. The gifts, the notes, the calls, and texts from him were all sent by the man I loved. He had made sure I knew how sorry he was feeling and how hard he was working to come back to us. He even opened up and expressed his worries, finally letting me know the depth of his fears. Finally letting me understand w
A vow of hate CHAPTER 163
HAZELChristian lifted his face from my neck, his eyes red, his cheeks damp. I had never witnessed him break down that way. The rare occasions when he cried, he still held himself in check, his pride unable to allow even me to fully see his pain. I grabbed the tissues Maddox had dropped beside us and wiped Christian’s face, cupping his cheeks. “Hey,” I whispered, looking up at him from where I crouched between his legs. “I guess I lost the last piece of my man card with that display,” he mumbled.“I doubt it. Maddox was openly weeping before you even finished walking, and Mia had to leave the room.” He frowned in confusion. “Why?” “They’re as proud of you as I am, Christian.” “Where are they?” “Maddox made sure you were back in your chair, and they left. I heard the car driving away, so I assumed they left to give us some privacy.” He looked down, surprised. “I have no recollection of being moved.” I softened my voice. “You were pretty emotional.”
A vow of hate CHAPTER 162
Hazel loved the spa. She sent pictures of them all enjoying the treatments, sipping champagne, even funny ones of Valerie getting a baby massage and having her toes done with the girls, holding up a glass of apple juice. They made me smile, even as my heart ached. I sent flowers to the hotel for Hazel. I added a box of her preferred chocolates. When she went back to mom and Grandpa’s, I sent a chef to make her favorite meal. A basket of bath products to indulge her love of soaking in the tub. I sent it with a stuffed bear, fluffy and cute with a card attached, reading: "Snuggle this until you’re home. I’ll take his place when you’re ready. All my love—Your Christian". One night, lying in our bed alone, I turned on some music. I shut my eyes and listened as the soothing voice of Neil Diamond played in the darkness. A song came on, and for some reason, the lyrics hit me as they never had before. “The Story of My Life” spoke of the depth of his love for the woman in his life
