AMANIIt’s safe to say I now understand why Miley Cyrus screamed at the top of her lungs when she sang “I came in like a wrecking ball!!!”Despite my fear and utter confusion, it still registers in my brain that there’s really no difference between Duke in motion and a flying wrecking ball as he waves both his guns in the air like a damn trophy.Bang!! Bang!!Within seconds, a single bullet whizzes past my head and Mario’s tight grip around my shoulders loosen immediately. His yelp of pain is almost eerie. I turn just in time to watch him crumple to the ground in a messy, bloody heap.The bullet pierced perfectly through his forehead. My throat tightens with dismay as I watch thick, coagulated blood spurt from the finger sized hole.I don’t know if I should be dismayed at the fact that Duke handles guns like an experienced gang leader and he seems to be interested in my best friend.It is scientifically proven that I might be crazy sometimes, but not crazy enough to wish a relationshi
AMANIIf anyone had told me that Mr. Ayutthaya would one day slap his own grandson because he hurt me, I would’ve laughed in their face. For a moment, the room is as quiet as a graveyard. Everyone is too stunned to speak. I’m pretty sure Bhyron’s bodyguards have gone into epileptic shock. “Let this be the first and last time you ever lay your hands on Amani violently. Do you understand?” Grandpa growls. “And another thing. The wedding is off. There will be no wedding until Amani decides on her own that she wants to marry you, or you tender a heartfelt apology to her.”My heart freezes in my chest. Are my ears suddenly malfunctioning or did grandpa just call off our wedding?This night has been nothing short of one crazy disaster after the other. I can feel Bhyron’s eyes on me. I can tell that he’s murderous after the cancellation of our wedding, but I keep my eyes firmly lowered to the ground, choosing to avoid his gaze while struggling to process everything that’s happened.I thi
AMANI“Amani, come quickly. Bhyron has refused to let a doctor check on his wound. He said he’d only listen to you. Please, come out! His condition is critical and he won’t let anyone into his room…!”I hate Bhyron Macaulay. I swear I do. But the second those words fall from Duke’s lips, I open my door faster than Flash himself. I should be ashamed of my weak self-will but there’s no time.Panic engulfs my thudding heart as I step into the hallway. Duke is still dressed in his rumpled three piece suit, but his entire expression is twisted with worry. I look down, noticing a bunch of keys in his grip.“Duke? What happened? Where’s Zuri?”“Zuri is absolutely fine. She’s asleep in my room. But Bhyron is an entirely different case. He was responding to us until ten minutes ago. I don’t want to be negative, but I really think he’s not okay. He was bleeding profusely. If he continues like this, he’ll die.”He’ll die. Those words should bring me immense satisfaction. Instead, a strange, pa
AMANIDuke appears beside me in a flash, stretching his hand towards Bhyron, his face twisted with worry;“Bhyron, let’s get you to a hospital. You need to treat your injury. If it gets infected…”Bhyron staggers backwards, his face firmly lowered to the ground. My heart tightens painfully. At that moment, he looks nothing like New York’s most eligible bachelor or the dark, gorgeous anime character that I’ve come to know. He looks nothing like the confident, fearless Bhyron Macaulay. Instead, he looks small… defeated.He finally lifts his eyes to mine and the wounded expression in his eyes ignites the guilt already festering in my chest. He stretches his injured hand to me and my gaze falls on his blood soaked shirt. His suit is nowhere to be seen. His once sparkling white shirt is ruined with bloody, crimson spots. Finally, I make up my mind. I turn to Duke and say as bravely as I can; “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”I hear Bhyron’s hiss of relief and it only adds to the bu
AMANITHE NEXT MORNING“Amani!! My daughter’s home!” Those are the first words I hear when I walk down the grand stairs at exactly ten AM in the morning, and it comes from Mrs. Alice Ayutthaya. Bhyron’s grandmother.My heart tugs with happiness at the sight of her. Grandma Alice is a sixty year old tall glass of beauty. I kid you not, at the age of sixty, her hair is long, healthy and lustrous, her skin is shining, her green eyes sparkling brighter than a glass held up to sunlight and her face is devoid of wrinkles.Grandpa Ayuttahaya calls her his jewel, and he prides himself in how well he takes care of her. “Grandma.” I whisper as I quicken my pace towards her.I pause in front of her, unsure of what to do. After Bhyron ghosted me, I disappeared for six years and cut off contact with everyone related to him. I was too heartbroken to check in on his grandparents. I don’t know if Grandma Alice is genuinely happy to see me again. But all my confusion is sorted when her eyes soft
AMANI The tension that hovers over the dining room is so thick, it can be sliced through with a blunt knife. I feel like I’ve been thrust into a soap opera with infuriating, never ending drama… and I’m the main actor, of course. Standing beside Bhyron is Sharon, and her sister Sheila. Sheila is Sharon’s carbon copy. Same dark hair and intense gray eyes, same slim model-like figure, same radiating beauty. But she’s older. She’s three years older than her sister, and the fact that she’s a class A bitch makes this entire situation even more interesting. If Sharon is a bitch, then Sheila is the grandmother of all bitches. She’s a bossy snob and has a penchant for looking down her nose at people whom she considers “not up to her class.” “Good morning, everyone.” Bhyron’s deep voice shatters the silent atmosphere once again. “I’m sure you all know Sheila and Sharon Armstrong. They’re my special guests and will be staying here until the wedding is over.” Zuri grabs my arm and m
AMANI “…no apology, no wedding!” Beside me, despite the uncomfortable tension in the room, Zuri guffaws. She loves dramatic moments like these. “Mrs. Alice, you look utterly delicious this morning. May I say something, please?” Zuri requests, tugging a strand of hair behind her ear and lifting her chin like a queen. Grandma Alice smiles. She loves Zuri; “of course, darling.” “Thank you.” The moment she focuses her attention on Bhyron, I already know she’s bringing the heat; “Mr. Macaulay, seeing that I passed out last night and you gave your best friend the permission to manhandle me however he liked, I believe you should render two apologies before us today. The first one to my best friend whose feelings you hurt and whom you also manhandled last night, and the second, to me.” Sharon gives Zuri a cold-eyed stare and I shake my head, stifling a sigh. She shouldn’t have done that. Just as I expected, Zuri’s ever sharp eyes notices the glare. She forgets about Bhyron com
My dear, beautiful readers;I’m deliberately keeping the chapters short to make it more affordable for all of you. Please bear with me.Also, all grammatical and spelling errors in the previous chapter has been corrected.Thank you for reading. I don’t take any of you for granted.***AMANILook, we all know I would never be able to reject Bhyron’s apology. The wedding between us will definitely hold because Aunt Ophelia and I are currently paupers who cannot boast of ten thousand dollars, talk more of repaying twenty million dollars. Big girls with empty bank accounts. Shameful, I know. But what can we do?The hosts of Angels have finally decided to smile upon this wonderful daughter of theirs and I’ll seize this opportunity to make sure Bhyron Macaulay suffers before the wedding.I can proudly say that the one thing I’ve learnt from Zuri is the extreme art of pettiness. And I’m about to display all my petty skills. I get to my feet, smooth down the fabric of my Chanel dress and g
BHYRONThere’s something very suspicious about this entire situation. After the disaster of our wedding, I went on a fucking rampage. I burned and destroyed every single last one of King Murder’s properties that came within my reach while he went into hiding. Thinking about it now, my blood heats with the fierce hint of violence.I have to give to him, he was wise enough to hide. Because only the devil would’ve been able to look at his body once I was done with him, if I’d gotten my hands on the bastard then. I hold Amani’s soft, smaller hand in mine, still amazed by her show of strength. Yes, I would rather she stayed back at the office and out of harm’s way, but there was something about the defiant spark on her eyes when she told me she’d like to confront King Murder that stirred my stony heart.I make sure to keep her behind me, shielded by my body as we make our way down the hall. I flick a glance at our joined hands and my heart beats a painful, comforting rhythm.She didn’t p
AMANII try to sit on my own, worried that my weight is a burden to Bhyron, but a low growl rumbles in his chest and he clamps his arms around my waist, keeping me locked against him. I look up and our eyes meet. I nearly melt from the heat in his gaze. He frowns at me, telling me exactly what he thinks about my attempt to escape. So I stay put. I wiggle against his chest, wrap my arms around his hard, solid belly and stay snuggled around my husband.“The guns in Grandpa’s house. The fierce-looking guards. The underground tunnel. Oh, and the tinted cars that kept taking you guys to God knows where at night.”His lips curl in a mysterious smile and he leans forward, running the tip of his nose across the shell of my ear.“How did you know about that? Were you watching me, little caramel?”I shiver in his embrace and lower my head, my cheeks reddening with awareness. “A little bit. You’re very interesting to watch.”To my surprise, Bhyron throws back his head and laughs. My head snaps
BHYRONLeft to me, I would never bother to relive those horrible memories. They’re with me day and night, haunting my nightmares and my waking moments.But it’s not left to me anymore. The moment Amani became involved, it was no longer in my hands. I need to say it out loud. I have to get it off my chest. Maybe, just maybe, doing this will silence the demons that haunt me till this day. So here goes;“When I was eight years old, I was kidnapped. It started out like a normal day, I’d gone to school as usual but on my way back, the unexpected happened.We were ambushed by three trucks filled with men all dressed in red. They killed my driver and two bodyguards. My bodyguards.” I pause for a moment, shivering as the worst of the memories come tumbling in.Amani presses closer against my back, silently lending her support. Believe it or not, that gives me the strength to go on.“The goons didn’t just shoot my guards, they tied them to a wooden stake and roasted all three of them alive wh
BHYRONAn hour and thirty minutes later, we’re all seated in Bhyron’s spacious, luxuriously decorated office. There are five of us — me, Zuri, Amanda, Bhyron and Duke.Amanda and Zuri were already waiting when we arrived. Zuri holds my hand, silently lending her support while Bhyron stands behind his desk, opposite us. There’s a strange look in his eyes, an interesting mixture of pain, sorrow and fear that tempts me to run across the room and hold him.Dread clings to the stiff atmosphere like the smell of petrichor on a dusty rainy day. Whatever Duke, Bhyron and Amanda are about to tell us will be horrible. I can already feel it. “Let’s go straight to the point and get it over with, shall we?” Duke begins. “But before we start, we’d like to show you a video, Amani.”My heartbeat accelerates painfully. Duke turns his laptop, giving me access to the video that’s already playing on the screen. My eyes are glued to the screen, scared that I’ll miss something if I even dare to blink.A
AMANIBhyron lunges across the room in a heartbeat and seconds later, I’m enveloped in the fierce heat of his arms, drowning in the comforting deliciousness of his scent.The moment my head touches his chest, all my worries instantly disappear but at the same time, my heart breaks all over again.I’m holding a man who was once a victim of my parents’ greed. Bhyron suffered so much… and somehow, I believe it’s all my fault. He didn’t deserve what they did to him. He was just a child!He pulls me closer, holding me like he’d never let go… like he never, ever wants to let go. I can feel the love and warmth that he’s pouring into me, and I feel giddy with joy at the thought that this powerful, overbearing man is my husband.“I’m so sorry.” I bring myself to whimper. “I’m so, so sorry. Please forgive me. Please…”Beneath me, Bhyron stiffens. I can hear his heartbeat quicken as he pulls me away from his chest.For long moments, those dark, hooded eyes simply appraise me. His gaze is so raw
BHYRONToday is the shittiest day of my entire life. The absolute worst.I left Duke back at the warehouse to handle business and now, I’m tearing down the freeway like a madman on steroids, heading back to the hospital.I should never have left her behind. I thought she was safe. What’s the worst that could happen? According to Duke, the chief medical practitioner walked in and spilled the news to Amani while she was still trying to recover from the shocking news of her parents’ deception.My grip around the steering wheel is so hard, my knuckles turn white. She wasn’t ready, goddamnit! She wasn’t ready for all of this shit.Less than fifteen minutes later, I arrive at the hospital thanks to my less-than-laudable driving skills. I storm out of the car and make my way to the private ward.I have no idea how Amani will receive me after finding out that she’s carrying our baby.Is she angry? Will she push me away, ask me to leave? I will never leave her. Not again. Even if she holds
BHYRON“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Duke growls, lunging for Axel.One moment, Axel is on his knees, giving me a death glare and the next, he lies sprawled on the floor, writhing, groaning and nursing his broken, bleeding nose.Believe it or not, Duke gave the fucker a sucker punch. “Why would you do that?!” He whines like a little girl.I always suspected that Axel was gay. He flirted with me every time we met for business, but since he never mentioned it, I was bent on believing he was just playing around.Betrayal and frustration churn in my throat, demanding release. My fingers itch to put a bullet in his brain. But suddenly, I’ve decided that I’m done. I’m done getting my hands dirty. I’m done killing and torturing people. Never again. I no longer wish to be involved in the dirty business of the underworld. A free life with Amani and our baby is all I need.“You’ve worked for me for five years, Anton.” I begin, instead of lashing out like I really want to. “How did yo
BHYRONThe sharp sound of the car door slamming as Duke storms out jolts me back to reality.For a moment, I sit still, running facts and memories over and over again in my mind, contemplating Duke’s words. It dawns on me with startling clarity that he’s right. My siblings and I used to be best friends when we were little. But after getting kidnapped by Amani’s parents and going through the most traumatic experiences of my entire life, our relationship never, ever remained the same. I was damaged for life. That one unfortunate incident created a permanent rift in my relationship with my family and everyone else. I locked up and pushed people away. The only people I’ve let close in the past years are Duke and my grandfather.With a twinge of guilt, I realize that my siblings have actively tried to keep in touch. They never gave up on me. Brielle sends me flowers on my birthday every year. She calls me every single day but I never answer, so she resorts to leaving voice mails which I
BHYRONI can’t breathe.My shirt collar isn’t too tight, but I pull it away from my neck all the same. I can swear there’s a noose around my throat and what’s worse? It keeps tightening as the seconds tick by.An hour ago, I paced the empty hallway of the hospital, impatiently waiting for Zuri to emerge so I could go back to sitting by Amani’s side and holding her hand.When she walked towards the door, I’d honestly thought she was ready to leave. I never once suspected that the devious little minx planned to lock me out. My fingers twitch by my sides and I take long, deep breaths, trying and failing miserably to stop the redness that crawls into my vision.Memories of the pure horror on Amani’s face when Zuri started speaking are permanently burned into my mind. She wasn’t ready, goddamnit! My baby had just woken up. She needed time!I pace the length of the driveway, trying to relieve myself of the demon that came upon me when Zuri locked that door. What happened to me at that mome