Xemethistos
Greek, meaning Sober
“The prodigal son returns.” Jordan Gibson was peering from the top of the staircase, looking down as his older cousin walked inside the house.
Justin looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. His cousin had a smirk on his face and it almost took all of his strength not to climb the twenty-step staircase and break his nose. He was usually not a violent person. But he just spent the entire flight from New York to Chicago pushing his alcohol tolerance to its limit. Patience did not rank high on his virtue list right now. “Fuck off, Jord!” he muttered instead.
Jordan received a gentle punch on the shoulder from his other cousin, Gian. They watched as Justin walked straight to his father’s study on the ground floor of the twelve-bedroom mansion.
Just before Justin opened the door, Gian called out to him.
“Hey J!”
Justin turned back to Gian. He
StjåletNorwegian for Stolen.Adrienne walked beside Jin Starck into the lavish mansion he called his home. Yuan and Jill trailed behind them.“You still live with your parents?” Adrienne asked.“In this house, yes,” he replied. “But I have apartments of my own. This is a ten-bedroom house. It gets a little lonely for Mom sometimes so I make it a point to spend time here to keep her company. She doesn’t work for our hotels. She spends a lot of time in her study. Writing.”Jin was greeted by their butler in French. He gave instructions to take Yuan and Jill to one of the waiting rooms and serve them refreshments.Then he turned to Adrienne. “Follow me.”They ascended the stairs to the second level of the house. Adrienne couldn’t help admiring how elegant and luxurious the house appeared. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that somebody related to h
Novo življenjeSlovenian for New Life.Over the next days, Adrienne spent most of her time in the Starck mansion, getting to know her mother. It was like they both couldn’t get enough of talking to each other. As gently as she could, she told her how difficult it was, growing up with Marina Miller, the woman she thought was her Mom, who provided little comfort and constant negative comparisons to her stepsister.Yuan and Jill enjoyed Paris just as much. Jin took them around anywhere they wanted whenever Adrienne desired some alone time with her mother.“Do you have a boyfriend, Adrienne?” Her mother asked.Adrienne sighed. She was reminded again of the broken pieces of her heart. She hadn’t heard from Justin since the last time he told her she’d be going to Italy in forty days. She reckons he was still working on convincing his parents to let him go. She had no idea how he’s going to do it, but deep
Two days later, Yuan and Jill had to say goodbye to Adrienne. As much as they loved their week in Paris, they had to go back to reality. They still had jobs that required them to go back to New York.Adrienne decided to do what’s right. She sent Jada her resignation letter. She figured, she’d spent years working her ass off because she didn’t want to be a failure in her mother’s eyes. But she was never really her mother. She’s her stepmother. And her real mother would prefer she stayed in Paris, if not for good, then for a while longer.Although he partied like a kid at night time, Jin actually wore the Starck heir coat pretty well. He made a lot of progress managing their business. Little by little, her stepfather trusted him to take the reins of their empire.A week after Yuan and Jill left, Adrienne’s mother told her she would meet her at a coffee shop in one of their hotels and she will introduce her to some of her friends
JosnicRomanian for Despicable.“What?” Adrienne blinked back. The name still makes her heart beat a thousand times faster.“My name is Justin. I’m Christine’s son. My mother said I should meet her friend Ariana’s daughter, Andy. Are you the daughter? Because I know the Starcks. And…well…you don’t look half as posh as your brother.”Seriously? His name is also Justin? God, kill me now!Bile rose to Adrienne’s throat and she balled her hands in front of her. She would have hit the guy and she bet the waiter and the other patrons around them would love to help her gang up on this asshole. But she cannot embarrass her mother.“Okay. It’s nice to meet you, Justin, and now I must go.” She started to stand up.But she felt a hand on her wrist, grasping it tightly.“Sit down, will you?” he asked in a low firm voice that Adrienne
Chịu được.Tolerance in Vietnamese.Her mother was ecstatic when she got back. “So, how did it go?” Adrienne just smiled. She wanted to be honest, but she didn’t really want to quash her mother’s hopes. Yes, her stepmom still had that effect on her that she couldn’t help. She just couldn’t stop pleasing people.“It’s…interesting. I haven’t met a guy like Justin before.” She tried to sound enthusiastic. But it is true. That guy was one of a kind.Her mother’s eyes widened. “Oh, sweetheart, I know. He is adorable. His parents are so proud of him. Handsome lad, too. I take it you would be having a date tonight again?”“Mom, it’s not a date,” she said.“But he asked you?”
MaskaradëAlbanian for Masquerade.Adrienne kept herself busy by helping to organize her mother’s victory party, aka, ‘Adrienne’s Introduction to Society’. She didn’t like that bit, but her mother thought she deserved it. Her mother promised to do it subtly. No speeches, special mentions or any form of acknowledgement whatsoever.Adrienne insisted on taking care of the venue, the decorations, the catering and the program. Her mother’s assistant, Maryse took care of all the invitations and RSVPs. Most of the people on the guest list were French and Adrienne couldn’t speak French to save her life.Adrienne actually enjoyed what she did. For days, she was busy ensuring that every detail was in place, everything would be spotless and perfect.“I could actually make you Head of Banquet Reservations and Events,” her stepfather said to her, finding her in the ballroom, choosing diffe
Sufletul perecheRomanian for Soul MateAdrienne quickly spun around and found herself staring at a pair of crystal blue eyes. She blinked back at him, all the muscles and bones in her body froze, including her voice.He looked as handsome as ever, dressed in a black tux. His hair was still a little disheveled but it only added to the charm of his devilishly handsome face. His eyes though, weren’t dancing, like they used to. They had a shadow of circles under them, as if he hadn’t been sleeping properly in days.Adrienne realized that she hadn’t been breathing in a long time. She closed her eyes for a moment, thinking for sure that he would disappear once she opened her eyes. But when she did, he was still there, looking back at her curiously.“Justin…” she whispered.He didn’t speak. He looked as dumbfounded as she was. Then he took a deep breath and instead of uttering a word, he rea
Rhedeg i ffwrdd.Welsh for Running AwayTwo hours later, Adrienne was at the airport with Justin. She wasn’t thinking. She didn’t care. She knew it was wrong in some way. But she felt tired of doing everything that everybody around her expected of her. She lived with a stepmother who never saw anything good in what she did, a father who didn’t know how to stand up for her, and now she had a mother who mapped out her future without even telling her. Maybe the time had come for her to think about herself. Time to follow her heart and go after what she wanted. And that’s Justin.Jin walked in to the lobby of the airport, carrying a small bag with him. She texted him that she left the party and she needed him to bring some of her stuff to the airport.He looked at her with a sober expression on his face.“I hope you know what you’re doing, Adrienne,” he said to her.“I don’t,&rd