Hello, my dear, beautiful readers. Thank you sooo much for reading this far!! I’d really appreciate if you dropped your views concerning the characters or the story itself. Do you like Amani’s character? What do you make of Bhyron? A special shout-out to Ozlem and all the others for being here since day one. May your skin always stay moisturized and your coffee, hot. Love and light!!
AMANIOur financial situation has been horrible for the past few days. I can barely keep up with my rent and I have to save up just to afford food everyday.Why am I saying this?I’ve been so broke that I wasn’t able to afford a proper headstone for my son’s grave. I already planned to have a beautiful headstone installed for him next month when I had enough money. Right now, I stare at that same grave that was just a heap of sand the day before, my mouth half open in shock.“Who did this?” I whisper in disbelief.It’s beautiful.Someone built a tombstone for my son overnight. It’s in the shape of his favourite cartoon character, Lightning Macqueen. Yes, the tomb is shaped like a toy car. It even has headlights, and there’s a small rectangular opening in the middle for his casket.I’ve never seen anything like it in my entire life.When my shock finally abates, I cannot help the smile of pure happiness that curves my lips. I'm sure Little Dave is probably giggling and clapping his ha
AMANIDIVORCE AGREEMENT…My fingers are still trembling as I look up to meet Bhyron’s confident gaze.“You got him to sign it.” I whisper in disbelief. “How? Why?”He steeples his long fingers, his eyes gleaming wickedly.“Look at the edge of the paper.”My eyes fall to the edge of the paper and my stomach tightens when I find it soaked with red liquid.My head snaps upwards and for the first time, I notice the tiny red spots on Bhyron’s collar.“Wait… is that blood?”The confidence in Bhyron’s eyes does not waver when he says;“Sure it is. But it’s not mine.”The atmosphere seems to drop by a few hundred degrees. My heart is currently pounding wildly against my ribcage;“Did you kill him?” He shrugs; “I almost did. But in the end, I decided to leave him with a couple of broken limbs, a broken nose and one swollen eye. He might end up having to crawl all the way his car, and his nose might never look the same again, but that’s okay. He’ll survive.”A strange mixture of shock and horr
AMANIAunt Ophelia hurriedly wipes her eyes and forces a smile;“It’s nothing, sweetie. Just something in my eyes.”I know she’s lying, and I want to ask again. Then it occurs to me that she might not actually feel comfortable talking about her problem when Bhyron and Jay are in the room. So I turn to him and lift my chin;“Uh… thanks for dropping me off. You can leave now.”His jaw is set at a stubborn angle and I know he wants to argue with me. So I add; “just leave, Bhyron. I’ll give you a call later.”His jaw eases. Then he leans forward and growls very, very softly; “I’m looking forward to that call. If I don’t see it by midnight, I’ll come to you in person to find out why.”On a normal day, I’d brush off his threat. But after getting to know the new Bhyron, I’ve realized that this man is capable of anything. And he’s unpredictable as hell. So I just nod.“Of course.”He opens his mouth to say something else but closes it a second later and stalks out of the room without looking
AMANII’m still struggling to pick my jaw off the floor but Aunt Ophelia is not done speaking.“I really thought he liked me. I didn’t know he worked with the Gunam brothers.”I stare at her wide-eyed.“You really thought he liked you? Aunt, you’re a married woman. Do you realize that you’ve been cheating on your husband?”She keeps her face lowered to the ground.“Thorn and I are not currently the best of friends.”“What do you mean?”When she looks up, her eyes are clouded with sadness. “Thorn’s mother isn’t actually sick. He just went over there because our marriage has really been… strained lately. We’ve been fighting a lot. We barely see eye to eye. Everything is falling apart.” Another sniff.“The main reason I cheated years ago was because I…” a deep breath. “I caught Thorn kissing his Personal Assistant when I paid him a surprise visit once. I was so upset that that same night, I ended up in the strip club where I met Desmond.”My brain is currently whirling with shock. Images
AMANIZuri Bentham is someone you would call a wild woman. I’ve never met a more beautiful combination of nerd and total slut in my entire life.I met her in the second week of college. I mistakenly drove my bicycle into her ex-boyfriend, Scott, and the next day, a strange number called me, thanking me profusely for causing harm to the “bat-eyed dork” and asking if I wanted ice cream for compensation.Yes, I was shocked as hell. Thankfully, her ex did not press charges. Weirdly, she kept calling and kept offering to take me on a date. At one point, I thought she was a psycho homosexual who was addicted to the sound of my voice or something.Finally, one sunny afternoon, when I had nothing going on with my life and therefore no excuses, I finally agreed to go out with her.I was not expecting a voluptuous, doe-eyed young lady with a head full of long blue hair and a mouth sharper than a brand new razor. It was love at first sight. Ever since that day, we’ve been inseparable.Zuri is
BHYRON“What did you say?” Duke growls down the line, his voice oozing with serious intensity.“You heard me. Zuri Bentham is back in New York.”A shuffle comes over the line and a corner of my lips tip in a grin when I realize that he’s pacing. Between both of us, Duke is always the calm one. While I believe in loud, fiery destruction, my best friend is a fan of cold, underground action.I have only ever seen him aggravated once — the first day he set his eyes on Zuri Bentham. The woman is barely five feet tall but she almost made my six foot four giant of a best friend lose his ever loving mind.“Where is she?” His voice is dark. My smile grows wider.“I’ve got no idea. You tell me.”“Hold on.”The line goes dead and I lean against my car and take a deep breath, waiting for Duke’s call.Duke is a computer wizard. The last time they met, he put a tracker on Zuri’s cellphone so he could always know her location, even while she was in London.She doesn’t know about this, of course. O
BHYRONSage and Spencer Sullivan are my biological cousins from my mother’s side. Seeing that I hate my mother’s guts, I grew to dislike every single member of her family, too. Well, most of them. I don’t hate my grandmother and Uncle Scott.Why do I hate them? The Sullivan twins have been in a silent competition with me for as long as I can remember. Both brothers are always watching my every step and copying my business moves ninety percent of the time.When I decided to go into construction, Sullivan Technology went into construction. When I expanded to pharmaceuticals, they followed suit. Same with fashion and design. The Sullivan brothers have succeeded in stepping on my toes for the past ten years, and I’ve always ignored them. But not anymore. Not today. Especially not when they’re in there with my woman.Sage and Spencer know about Amani. They know our story. I can only imagine the evil they might want to perpetrate against me, using her. I step forward and the guard draws
AMANI“Zuri? Come on, we have to go.” My brain is still spinning in shock as I watch Duke lift Zuri into his arms. I finally swing to action when he starts walking towards the exit. I shove to my feet and block his path. “Where the hell do you think you’re going with my best friend? Release her. Now.”I silently register that I’ve never seen Duke this angry. I can glimpse darkness in his eyes as he stares at me;“Get out of the way, Amani.”I’m shaking like a leaf inside, but I fold my arms and lift my chin, trying to appear brave.“No way. There’s no way in hell that I’m letting you leave with her. That’s kidnapping. You could hurt her.”Bhyron walks to Duke’s side, equally staring at me like I’m a nuisance; “Duke would cut off his left arm before hurting Zuri. She’s in safe hands.”My eyes narrow in confusion.“Do you know her? What’s your relationship with her?” My question is directed at Duke.I don’t miss the fierce gleam in Duke’s eyes as his gaze falls to Zuri’s face;“It’s
BHYRONAmani left with grandpa a few minutes ago but I’m still seated behind my desk, staring at the CCTV footage on my computer and watching the bags I bought go up in smoke.My intention was to apologize to her. I guess that failed, woefully.I don’t give a shit about the amount of money I spent. I can make that back in seconds. What matters is the look of pure hatred I saw in Amani’s eyes. That will haunt me forever.I bury my face in my palms and take a deep breath. Amani looked angry. Enraged. How she knew I was watching her through the CCTV, I’d never know. But for a moment, it felt like she was looking straight into my eyes, like she knew I was there. I get to my feet and pace the room. My wedding is set to happen in the next thirty minutes. I’m already dressed up and waiting to be notified to come downstairs for the ceremony. My long term goal of marrying the one woman who has the power to set me ablaze with just one look is finally about to be fulfilled, but I’m restless.Dr
AMANIJay flinches at my harsh tone but stands his ground. “Miss Amani, I assure you that the boss does not consider you a whore. These are just wedding presents and he’d be pleased if you accept them.”I tilt my head to the side, struggling to rein in my temper. That’s the thing — I never, ever want to partake in any activity that pleases Bhyron Macaulay. I still regret my little mistake from a few hours ago.I wanted to please him and it backfired right in my face.I look up and my eyes coincidentally lands on the CCTV camera positioned high up on the west wall. My fingers twitch with annoyance as a devious thought suddenly crawls into my mind.“Your boss is watching us right now, isn’t he?” I ask Jay, not bothering to take my eyes off the camera.Jay follows my line of vision and lets out a small curse when he realizes I’ve seen the camera. His tone suddenly changes, becoming defensive;“Miss Amani, I…”I shoot him a look filled with annoyance and he clamps his mouth shut.“There’
AMANITHREE HOURS LATER…My wedding is set to hold in the next two hours and I’m an emotional wreck.I stare at my swollen eyes in the mirror, willing my mind to forget everything that happened in that room three hours ago.“Girl, we don’t have time for this. The makeup artist has been waiting for you for almost two hours. You haven’t even tried out your wedding dress. I’m not sure you’ve even taken a bath!” Zuri half-yells, pacing the room nervously.“At this pace, we’ll never be ready on time. Not that I want you to marry that sonofabitch, but grandpa will be upset…”I keep staring at the mirror, trying to figure out the hollow-eyed woman who stares back at me.Anger, bitterness and shame swirls in my guts when I remember the smugness in Bhyron’s eyes after he successfully fooled me. The bastard tricked me. Once again, he proved that I can never trust him.“…and you won't even tell me what happened! Where were you this morning? What happened to you?” Zuri babbles non stop, pacing r
BHYRONI don’t know how much longer I can keep this up and I think it’s high time I told myself the truth.Hurting Amani’s feelings is not as satisfying as I thought it would be. Taking my revenge does not fill my heart with joy like I thought it would.The hurt and confusion in her eyes breaks me every single time. This was supposed to be easy, goddamnit! I was never supposed to feel anything for her. My job would’ve been goddamn easier if those bright, chocolate eyes didn’t appeal to my dark soul every single time.My goal was to take revenge for all the pain that Amani and her family caused me, but I barely stopped myself from pulling her into my arms just five seconds ago. All I wanted to do was clean her up, hold her and make sure she got a few hours of sleep before the wedding. And that was not the bloody plan!I slam the door behind me and lean against it, trying to calm my pounding heart.Anger, raw and venomous stirs in my veins. I’m angry at myself for hurting her and furiou
AMANI“…suck my dick, Amani. If you’re able to make me cum, I’ll let you wear the dress.” Shock, mixed with violent arousal explodes in my belly, leaving me weak and temporarily unable to think properly.My arms around Bhyron’s neck slips but he catches me at the last minute, cupping my lower back and pulling me against his chest in a half-embrace. I’m completely enveloped in his intoxicating heat and my heart is a large, melted puddle of goo. If not for his support, I’d have fallen flat on my face a long time ago.I should slap his face and stomp out of the room, but my brain is already conjuring images of his thick, swollen cock deep inside the walls of my throat. I gulp helplessly.It’s settled. I’m fucked.“What’s it going to be, little caramel?” He whispers huskily, trailing his fingers across my heated cheeks. “Will you suck my cock or do you want to live without my forgiveness? I can already feel your wetness on my thigh. If I touch you down there, my fingers will come back d
AMANI“You can forget about the dress. It’s not for you. You don’t have to wear it…”I never wanted to wear Bhyron’s dress. I never wanted a dress that was made specially for some strange woman whom he’s obsessed with. But those harsh words coupled with his cold expression hits me like a goddamn punch in the gut.He’s clearly saying I’m not worthy enough to wear the same dress as the woman of his dreams. Jealousy burns like a fever in my throat. I’ve never wanted to beat up an imaginary woman so badly in my entire life. I’m almost ashamed of myself. Almost.I stiffen against him, holding his gaze while trying not to burst into stupid tears. I wouldn’t even know why I’m crying in the first place. So what if Bhyron is in love with some unnamed dancing bride? I don’t like him. I shouldn’t be bothered.The logical thing to do would be to step away from him and lick my wounds while I still can, but the last time Amani was logical, George Washington was still president.Instead of counting
AMANIBefore I can get my thoughts together, Aunt Ophelia hurries forward and grabs my arm, her eyes wide with a haunted expression that sends chills down my spine; “Amani, dear, you have to leave. You cannot be seen in here.”Now I’m more confused than ever and even more determined to find out what the hell is going on. I’m convinced that Aunt Ophelia knows something. She’s definitely hiding something from me.She tries to pull me towards the exit but I stubbornly dig my feet into the ground, refusing to move. Noting my hesitation, Aunt Ophelia looks over her shoulder and lifts one questioning brow; “Sweetie, what are you doing? We have to leave.”The forced cheer in her voice and the tiny, fake smile plastered on her lips makes me even more resolute to go nowhere.I pull my arm from her grip and fold them, looking her straight in the eyes;“Okay, aunt. Spill. What are you hiding?”A flash of panic lightens her eyes before she’s able to hide it beneath a confused expression.“What
AMANII’m shocked to my bones. I’m in awe. I’m blown away.I move closer to get a better look. The closer I go, the grander it becomes.I barely have the words to describe it — It’s beautiful. It’s gorgeous. It’s definitely expensive… and also seems familiar as hell.I search my memory on a quest to figure out where I’ve seen it before. It’s very unique, very unlike anyone of its kind out there. A second later, it finally dawns on me, leaving a strong bitter taste at the back of my throat. I remain rooted to the spot, blinking rapidly in shock as the pieces slowly fall into place. The current object of my obsession is a wedding dress. It sits alone on a raised platform in the middle of the room, sparkling and shimmering like a rare creature in all its glory. The platform is made of black onyx stone and probably costs far more than what my parents’ entire company is worth.And the dress itself… I lack the words to describe it. It sparkles from top to bottom, and a closer inspection
AMANII can’t sleep. I tried to, but images of Grandma Alice crying her eyes out against Bhyron’s chest literally chased me around a rocky path in dreamland, armed with a sharp knife.I shoot awake some moments later, breathing like I just engaged in a sumo wrestling contest. Sweat pours down my face in torrents despite the cold AC that blows my heated skin.Looking around the dark room, goosebumps rise on my arms and my heart tightens with fear at all the shadows hanging around. I hate darkness with a passion that rivals Hades. I cannot sleep without the lights on and practically glaring. Zuri hates me for it, which is why we can never share a room.The only reason the lights are off is because Zuri opted to sleep with me tonight after I practically clung on to her when everyone left. My chest tightens painfully as I recall the strange feeling of abandonment that weighted my shoulders when I realized the entire family was upset with me, Aunt Ophelia inclusive.Memories of that sla