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Chapter 10
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Cornelius
I awoke to the light that hit my eyes without warning.Who drew the curtains?Lifting my head slightly, I felt a sharp pain pierce my head. Great! A freaking hangover. I barely remember what happened yesterday and normally when I drink too much there's always a naked woman lying beside me. Turning around and sitting up, I tried to take in my surroundings.Purple sheets? A vanity table? Closet? Woolen rag? A familiar scent of lavender? Where was I? I turned to the nightstand, a picture frame greeting me. Was that? Lydia Hayden and her dog?I didn't. No. Calmly standing up, I moved around searching for things like my phone. I slept on her bed? With my clothes on? Then where did she sleep? Seeing my Italian loafers on the farthest corner of her room, I put them on taking my wallet on the nightstand.One word for this morning. I was confused. I had left Lydia's place two hours ago, went to my penthouse took a long shower and now? I was at work trying to focus on the papers infront of me but I couldn't. Accompanied with the migraine were flashes from yesterday. Drinking at the bar, the bartender helping me to a taxi, me giving him some address and from there... nothing.Not a clue of what happened at Lydia Hayden's house. Question was, what really happened yesterday?"Man I have some serious documents that need signing!" Jay barged right in, his voice pissing me off."Jesus Jay! Can you please lower your voice!" I muttered.Slamming the documents intentionally on my desk, he grinned,"Oh man I didn't know you had a hangover. Is this loud enough for you?"He shouted and I gritted my teeth"You imbecile. Get the hell out!"Laughing timidly, he winked angering me further by telling me to 'get a life!'I leaned my back against my swivel chair enjoying the sound of complete and utter silence. God! I so needed to get a life. And just when I thought I could enjoy the peace and tranquility, my phone buzzed against my desk..."Hallelujah, he picked up!""What do you want? Don't tell me she called you to make me go back home, cousin""Who called me? Ok maybe she did maybe she didn't. But I missed you. So I was wondering..."Here we go again."Mmh-hmm""I want to invite you to one of my shows in Paris"Paris?"Nik, you know very well how I get bored at your fashion shows. Sorry to say this but I'm not going. Tell Cain to go"After all Cain was her brother not me."I had a feeling you would say that but tell you what. You come to Paris with a plus one and I'll get mom off your back. Deal?""No""Nel you do know that mom is planning to say with you in LA, don't you?"Really? Hell no!"Mmh...why do you want me to come so bad?""I love you but other than that I want to impress some fashion critic who has an insanely huge crush on you. So? Are you in?""Fine""Remember the plus one""Yeah whatever""Thursday and don't be late"And she hung up way before I could ask whether the critic was hot or not.Again my phone buzzed and without looking at the caller ID, I picked it up. Maria Nicole was one stubborn woman and when it came to things like designing clothes, damn she would literally drag you by the ear just to see her 'masterpieces'. Which was no surprise why she called again... probably to remind me to wear something nice...learn some french while I was at it."Yeah...yeah I'll learn some few french words, Niks" I spoke first and what followed was some uneasy breathing."Justin? Remember me, it's Fiona" Which Fiona? Fiona. Fiona? Oooh Fiona! Lydia's mother,"you probably must be at work but something happened to Dia. Can you please come check on her? She's in a rough state"And the call ended. Lydia Hayden in a rough state? What? She had a bad hair day? She lost some killer news that would probably bring down some business tycoon in LA?Lydia Hayden never in a million times looked like someone who'd be brought down by anything or anyone. One of the qualities that made her outshine the rest of the female population I'd slept with. Still?What was this new feeling? The feeling of somehow wanting to see why she was in 'a rough state'? Had I said something last night that upset her? The thought of me doing something to her last night scared the shit out of me? As soon as the thought of me physically manhandling her last night came to mind, I was quick to take my car keys rushing over to her place.xXxXxXxXTwenty minutes later, I was outside her door. Should I knock? God! Why was I so nervous?Filling my lungs with much needed air, I knocked twice.The blonde from the other day, Jessie if I was not wrong opened the door her face concorted with what I would call sadness."Justin,"Fiona was the first to welcome me with a hug,"she's in her room. She won't talk to us. Maybe you'd give it a try"What was going on? The anxiety was killing me so bad? A thin sweat ran down my spine. Had I really done something bad to Lydia? Lydia's dad sat afar off on her bean bag unpertubed by anything.Swallowing a huge gulp of saliva and like a meek sheep, I knocked on her bedroom door. The same door that I had casually walked out in the morning."Lydia""Lydia""It's Justin. Open the door""Lydia?"I turned my head towards the two women wide eyed staring at me. Did they really think I would convince Lydia to open the door? Me of all people? She hated me! She detested me!Surprisingly the door creaked open, and I stepped inside.Related chapters
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LydiaYesterday. Yesterday was a whole new shit I hadn't thought I would do. I kissed him and I...I liked the kiss!Since he collapsed on my couch it had taken a whole lot of energy to get him on my bed. What? As much as I sort of hated him I wouldn't let him on sleep on my couch. His whole body would have been sore come the next morning. I looked over my bed seeing him calmly sleeping, his hair all over his face. Man he looked good when he was asleep but as fast as that thought came to mind I crashed it. Yesterday's kiss wasn't supposed to happen. I let myself get carried away and from that moment on I hadn't slept a wink. After taking a shower, I wore my leggings together with a light tee paired up with black sneakers. I needed a run, possibly to escape before he awoke and remembered the so awkward kiss we shared last night.Five minutes later, I was out my apartment running down the street with my mind so occupied. Seeing the traffic light tur
All's Fair in love and hate Chapter 12
CorneliusI was terrible at showing my emotions. Heck I was terrible at consoling anyone. The last time I consoled someone we ended up getting arrested after a fist fight in some bar down town. And the guy being consoled who was Jay by the way couldn't help but get pissed the more.Now she. She clutched my shirt in her fists gripping my whole body for support. At first I hesitated, things with Lydia had become weird. Things with Lydia were becoming strange by the day.Resting my hand on her back, I pulled her closer to me feeling her tears penetrate my shirt. The dog sure meant alot to her, huh? Abruptly pulling away from me, she sniffed wiping her face with the back of her hands."I-i'm sorry. I didn't mean to entertain you"And the old Lydia Hayden was back. The one that thought I was a mere scoundrel who deserves something worser than death."Lydia"I purred her name ever so softly and for the first time I couldn
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LydiaI snuck glances at him while he drove his Jaguar all around the streets. I don't know what had possessed me to accept his offer but right now all I knew was my heart seemed contented with him even if deep down I knew he was a bad guy.But bad guys had backstories right? Bad guys were often misunderstood and misjudged right?I had misjudged Cornelius Powers for so long maybe it was time to give him a chance. Time to discover what lay behind the handsome face of Cornelius Powers.Handsome? Had I just said Cornelius was handsome. I mean sure I had always known he was handsome but not until today, had I acknowledged it.We came to a pit stop outside his enormous gothic gates with the initials Powers Manor. Taking a little remote from the dashboard, he pressed a button thingy and the doors automatically opened. The small road led to an underground driveway and once the car stopped, he stepped out opening the door for me like a perfect gentleman.I was underdre
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Cornelius"This is Lydia Hayden reporting live from downtown Los Angeles"I watched the blondie from the tv in my office. She was one hell of a firecracker if she managed to go to work despite her condition."Hey Connor!" Chance barged into my office in time to see me stare at Lydia on the news channel."Is this gonna be a thing now? You. Her?"He said with an irritating smug that pissed me off."We don't have a thing, Chance. Remember, that woman could ruin our lives as we know it""Well I'm holding my end of the bargain by keeping your aunt on a leash and on the other hand you seem to be going all in for her"All in? What did that even mean?"What do you mean by that?""I'm just saying man. Just like you said, the woman's the death of us so be careful, don't do anything stupid,"he left the documents on top of my desk passing me the same look he gave me this morning.Seeing her in a s
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Lydia"I know you've been dealing with everything on your own but ghosting us was not okay,"Jessica started looming over me with her hands on her hips, putting aside the photos taken from the burglary downtown Los Angeles, I stared at her."I was worried sick...your parents were worried sick well not until Cornelius called them to say you were staying at his place""He called them?" I questioned.Why did I feel fuzzy all over sudden knowing that he took the liberty to inform my parents of my whereabouts? That was ... actually pretty considerate of him."Mmh so out of what I said you only heard that part?""Look I'm sorry, I didn't have time to text you. I'm reeally sorry,"I put on my sad eyes knowing very well she would forgive me."You two huh?" She furrowed her yes in a creepy way and I had to dodge the looks she gave me."God no! We didn't...I didn't! I couldn't,"I defended myself.I mean sure I was cau
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LydiaI stood up only to feel the grip of two hands on my shoulder,"Are you okay?"What the hell was he doing here?"Get me a napkin," he instructed the dumb founded waiter."What- what are you doing here?" I asked Cornelius the moment he started dabbing the white napkin on my blouse and skirt."I had a meeting here, babe. What are you doing here? And how could this happen? How incompetent are these people really?"Tell me about it. It all felt like a dream more of a little nightmare. My ex telling me he still loved me and my...I didn't even know what to call him...showing up at the exact place I was and in time to save me from the utter embarrassment of getting humiliated by being drenched in red wine.Robert, who had also stood up after the waiter tripped on our table, tightened the button on his suit and scoffed."I believe we haven't been properly introduced. I'm Robert, we met the other day and you must be?"He extended a hand to Connor to
All's Fair in love and hate Chapter 17
Cornelius Her hands entwined behind my neck, freeing one of her hand she patted my shoulder lovingly and I enjoyed every single minute of it. Talking about how I felt about my mom, my dad's death was the one thing that made me avoid my aunt Vicky and yet for some reason talking about it with Lydia made me feel at ease.Being with Lydia right now made my evening perfect. It was just so easy to talk to her because at the end of the day she was always honest with me and I admired that.Parting from the embrace that had brought warmth to my body, she cupped my cheeks looked at me dead in the eyes and said,"Cornelius Powers you are good enough. You are perfect! Screw anyone who can't see that"And the timing was just right, the way her eyes dug into mine, the way her thin fingers cupped my cheek, the way her lips looked so captivating, so inviting. Maybe it was the rush of emotions taking a toll on me but right now right here my heart pounde
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LydiaIn all my life as a reporter, I never tried risks. Risks were inevitable but they were also avoidable which is why I had applied that to my life too.Whatever happened yesterday, thrice infact, was a risk I could have well avoided but it felt so right being showered with kisses, tenderness, caresses and...Oh God! What on earth had he awoken in me?But I suppose that's why I avoided risks, because at the end of the day they were things bound to make you feel more or less a sore loser.And trust me, I was a loser because I imagined yesterday to be special. The day my cherry was popped. I was a big fool to imagine that when I woke up he would be right beneath me begging for another round, begging me not to leave and he'd make breakfast but sadly I was mistaken. The space beside was empty almost like no one was there.Almost like whatever happened last night was a figment of my imagination.Shallow. That's one way to put how far I'd
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ZADE"Wait, wait, wait. The woman you've been seeing has amnesia, a kid, a boyfriend and now she has miraculously gotten her memories back? Forgive me for laughing but you were never cut out for love. Wait and dad disowned you? Seems like you have yourself caught up in a jam bro", Sawyer's voice came from the other end of the line as I carried my duffle bag into my truck looking at the mansion one more time.I sure as hell wasn't going to miss this place in the least bit.I hit the road and with Sawyer at the end of the line maybe the way to the airport wouldn't be that bad.I needed someone asshole talking to me about my mistakes so that they could dim out everything I felt at the moment.The fire station was going to be constructed under the supervision of Falcon, a man I had no doubts was more than capable especially after I had ensured everything was in order before I left.While I was going back to San Francisco a couple million dollars poorer well I had done what needed to be do
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CLAIREZade was back and he was standing in my living room gazing at me as well as the other pairs of eyes that did.A ginger haired woman with two kids stood by the corner with her husband who still couldn't drop that look of I think I've seen a ghost.There was another blonde woman with the same same look...then another woman...then Zade, my parents and then him and everything didn't make sense.I opened my mouth to say something but the words wouldn't force themselves out as I looked at the man who stared at me the way Zade did.Like I was his entire world.Like I meant a lot more than I knew. And I especially couldn't breathe when I realized he looked exactly like Axel.Axel's father.But why was he staring at me like this was his first time doing so? Like he couldn't believe I was standing in front of him and Axel either.I didn't want to cry.Axel was in his room if he had heard any noise he would start making a ruckus and God knew I wasn't in the right mind to calm him down be
All's Fair in love and hate Chapter 75
CORNELIUSFreedom.I never yearned for it. I never even wanted in the first place and here I was a two week free man.My family had really done it pulled all their connections enough to make sure I would only spend two years and some months in prison and not more.And when I had left prison with quite a nickname, my operations didn't stop.My life was rotting away anyway the least I could have done was taking a job that befit me as who I truly was.And I must admit taking down gangs while in prison was no easy feat. It had started as some sort of thing between me and Javi.I had saved him. Against my butter judgement I had saved him from the Gatos earning a week in solitary. A cold place that I rightfully earned and from then on I was fighting criminal gangs in prison killing a few just so I could end up in solitary alone like the monster I was.One year past and suddenly I was some hero to the inmates only they didn't know I did what I did because I wanted to punish myself because I
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ZADEWhen I saw her the only thing i had thought about was how much fun I would have taking off that dress of her body and kissing every inch of her skin till I had enough of her.And when I had gifted the kid a saber plastic sword and he had hugged me I had wanted him to be part of my life too.I wanted both of them to be in my life and yet funny how life was a bitch waiting for the right moment to strike.The Smith sisters and other women getting too clingy for me to bear, I had gone upstairs.I loved attention. Attention from women but the only attention I needed at the moment was from the woman who's heart had swelled the minute her son cut the cake and took a fist of the cake before anyone could get a slice.On my way to Claire's room, I had almost stumbled to Vienna Smith which prompted me to hide in the next room.The next room didn't get any better when I heard the footsteps coming my way with so much urgency I had to hide.An unfortunately for me the only hide-able place arou
All's Fair in love and hate Chapter 73
CLAIRE "Your skin is glowing", Riley commented, I hid behind the comment by trying to seem busy with the ingredients laid in front of me."Must be the new serum you got from the market the other day", Vienna Smith added taking another balloon in her hand.I preferred to remain silent for lack of a better lie to come up with. I couldn't just tell them that he you guys know what? I've been sleeping with Zade Cutler since last week and I've been fucking enjoy it.We've fucked in my own shop at the old observatory that's near completion, in his car and ooh did I mention he has a cabin just for us?If the that didn't shock them, then definitely telling them that I had been reckless enough with Zade not to use protection definitely would.Plus I wanted Zade and I to be a secret. If anyone got news of our relationship then people would talk and even if I wasn't majorly dependent on what people said for me to exist, I still didn't want the town to pressure me into something I didn't want.I
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ZADEShe regretted it. If the empty space next to me didn't say so then I didn't know what did.Part of me still mad that she had gone without as much as leaving a note, the other part of me was still reliving what happened last night over and over again like it was all a dream I had woken up from.I fucked women ofcourse I had fucked them but what Claire and I had was way beyond fucking.Her moans, me grunting, her pussy against my dick and the feel of it. Damn it was like a vise grip holding me tight rendering me weak until using protection flew out my mind the minute I kissed her.Some part of me know she might have regretted it, the part that had decided to call it to a halt when I realized we might have gone too far but leave it to my dick, the one thing that had led me where I was at that moment to make a rash decision.But I didn't regret it. I would never regret it because it might have been the best might of my life and I was not joking when I said that.Come to think of it,
All's Fair in love and hate Chapter 71
CLAIRESober or not, I enjoyed this.I could feel him everywhere, I could feel each and every thrust hut my hilt till the only coherent thing that came out of my mouth was his name.We could have gotten caught but I was too high on my orgasm and a little too drunk to care.His hand in my hair pulling at it till my scalp stung, I bucked my hips against his dick feeling it fill me to the absolute brim and his lips?He was kissing me, he sucking me, he was doing something with his fingers that had me on chokehold that had me squirming and dancing in delirium.When he finally came inside of me and I felt ropes and ropes of his seed inside me, I only took one large gulp of breathe before my whole body folded into his.And for a few minutes all I could do was feel his breath on my shoulder, feel his cock warm my insides and at the same time listen to the sound of his heart beat as it did with mine.I made an attempt to stand up not really sure what had happened but very sure I wanted more a
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ZADE CUTLER"Okay, if the mayor loses and that's a good if, we'll go to Falcon's after this, you'll pick a guy any guy and go with him at his place with no protests"I had spotted them the minute they stepped foot on this God forsaken contest. On my way to atleast pass them a greeting or two, the brunette carrying Axel had uttered those words and I had slowly retreated to the back of the crown bumping into the one woman I didn't want to talk to in the first place.Courtney Neal. An ex who had suffocated me since Sunday.I was a piece of scum for dumping her the way I did but that was decades ago. While I'm not going to lie that she had matured into one gorgeous woman I was about as uninterested in her as I was with a soap dish.And all night she'd done one thing and one thing only.She had hovered over me like a pesky mosquito and while I tried my best to keep my pretences, laugh at her jokes once in a while, compliment her on her looks, my eyes still found someway into the crowd and
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CLAIRE"Should we perhaps add sesame seeds?""Good God, Frida the pie is already baked", my father grunted taking his coat from the rack."Pie! Pie!" Axel clapped, I laughed.Running five minutes late, my mother was jittery. Last minute jitters my father called it.And my dearest father had stood watch over the pie like a sentinel. He was trying to ensure an incident like last time didn't happen.An incident where mom got nervous added a whole lot of cinnamon to the pie last minute that had made my dad hundred percent sure they would have won had she not done that.Not trying to raise their hopes up but this year's pie was a sure win. You could taste the pumpkin right in there, the texture of the pie itself was crusty and smooth but not like the monstrosity of last year.I would be cheering on if I didn't know for a fact that the Cutlers had this in the bag.Genevieve to this day was still the best pie maker, something I was suspicious about but decided to let it roll down my back.If
