Dave's POVI had been waiting for over an hour, sitting there, staring at the doors leading to the rooms, expecting Belle and Zane to finally step out. It wasn’t like them to hide this long, especially Zane. But instead of the two people I was dying to confront, what I got was the Perri family, practically groveling before me. Pathetic.The Perri patriarch, Mr. Perri, stood in front of me with a forced smile, his hands clasped in front of him as though in prayer. His wife hovered behind him, wringing her hands nervously. “Please, David,” her father began, his voice trembling. “We don’t want any trouble. Just… drop the lawsuit. We’ll leave quietly, I swear. We won’t cause any problems.”I couldn’t help the smirk that stretched across my face. They were so desperate, so weak. This was the kind of power I craved, watching them squirm, knowing I held all the cards. “You won’t cause any trouble?” I repeated, mocking his words as if they were a joke. “Oh, trust me, you wouldn’t be able
Belle's POVWalking into the living room wasn’t easy. My legs felt heavy, like I was dragging weights with each step. The air in the mansion was suffocating, thick with tension and unspoken fears. My heart raced, a wild, chaotic rhythm that matched the pounding of my thoughts. I could still hear my mother’s frantic voice behind me, begging, pleading for me to stay with them, to hide, to escape into the secret bunker.“Belle, you don’t have to do this!” she cried, reaching out as if she could physically hold me back. Her eyes were wide with fear, her voice trembling. “Come with us. We can hide. We can survive this.”I stopped, my hand resting on the doorframe, my back to her. I couldn’t turn around. I couldn’t let her see the turmoil etched on my face, the way my hands trembled from the weight of what I was about to do. My family was scared—terrified, really—but the idea of running, of leaving Zane behind to face this monster alone, felt like a betrayal I wasn’t willing to commit.“W
Zane's POVI stood there, fists clenched, staring Dave Scott down. Every fiber of my being wanted to lunge at him, to make him pay for everything he’d done. But I couldn’t—at least, not yet. The recorder in my pocket was still running, capturing every damning word that fell from his mouth. I could feel it, a tiny weight pressing against my ribs, reminding me that I had to play this smart. For Belle. For Kelly. For justice.Dave, on the other hand, was as smug as ever, leaning back with that infuriating smirk plastered across his face. He had no idea that his time was running out.“You think you can just waltz in here and act like you own the place?” Dave sneered, his voice dripping with arrogance. “You’re nothing, Zane. A nobody playing hero in a game that’s way beyond your league.”I bit back my anger, forcing myself to remain calm. His words didn’t matter. Not when I had the truth on my side. I took a deep breath, my fingers brushing against the stop button on the recorder hidden
Belle's POV The sun was warm on my skin, the breeze gentle and soothing as it drifted through the open patio where we all sat, the laughter of our loved ones filling the air. It was a picture-perfect moment—the kind of moment I used to dream about but never truly believed would come. We were all gathered around the long, sun-dappled table, the warmth of the day reflecting the joy that radiated from everyone’s faces. Zane was sitting beside me, his hand resting comfortably on my leg, our twins, Sean and Clara, gurgling happily in their bassinet close by. The twins were the center of attention today, as they were most days. Kamille’s kids, Reon, Torin, Tyris, Royer, and little Phoebe, were running around the patio, shrieking in delight as they chased each other. I glanced at Kamille and Zeke, who were sitting across from us, laughing and chatting while keeping a watchful eye on their children. Amanda, was helping prepare the meal, occasionally smiling in our direction as the kids d
Kamille Hell burned right before my eyes.And no, it was not some fiery hot pit. It was in the form of a towering, delicious man who my entire life revolved around, and the divorce papers in his hand. The deep blue of his eyes burned colder than artic glaciers, pinning me with an intensity more dangerous than hate, like I was nothing but filth in his path.“Sign them. Now.” He threw the papers across the bed and they fluttered in front of me, taunting me with words boldly spelled on them.Divorce.My blood had fizzled out, leaving my veins empty. A loud, repeated knell of doom reverberated from one ear to the other, but I was frozen stiff. I refused to believe this was happening. I had never filled myself with delusions of Ezekiel ever loving me, but I had truly believed we could both tolerate our obligations to each other.Perhaps I was just blinded by love.“You cannot just order me to end this marriage, Ezekiel.” I said in a trembling voice. “I am not one of your employees. I am
KamilleFather, and mother sat on one of the couches, with forlorn expressions on their faces. His arm was thrown around her shoulders, as she sobbed into her wad of tissue.From an outsider's perspective, this was just a normal grieving family. From my perspective, however, this was all a performance. Grandma's death meant nothing to them, if anything, they were glad. In silence, I moved to sit on the couch in the farthest corner of the room. Father's phone began to ring, and he raised it to his ear, “What?”There was a moment of more silence, before he got up from his seated position, hung up and threw the phone on the couch. “Honey, what's wrong?” Mother sniffed, standing.“Bad news. Why now, of all times?” He exclaimed, crossing his arms and tapping his feet in obvious agitation. “It's the lawyer! The call came from the hospital, claiming that he got into an accident on the way here. And he's currently having emergency surgery.”“He has no replacement to send here to get Gran
KamilleI woke up feeling nauseous.My entire head seemed to be spinning, while a splitting headache travelled from ear to ear. I let out a groan and turned to the side, bile filling my stomach. There was an incessant beeping noise somewhere above me, making my disoriention even worse.“Miss? Can you hear the sound of my voice?”The nausea subsided after a few deep breaths. I dragged myself back to my previous position, only to realize that my entire back ached liked I'd been laying on it for far too long. My eyelids felt so no heavy, it by took thrice to the effort to crack them open into a squint.A bright light hit me immediately. I winced.“She's responding to the light. Good.” A womanly voice said, “Get the doctor, she might want to speak directly to him.”I finally opened my eyes wide enough to take in my surroundings. It was white, sterile. A hospital room. I was on the bed, with my arm spread out on the mattress, with different tubes attached to it. There were two nurses in t
KamilleFour Years Later.The electric bell went off within the school building, just as I parked the car in the school driveway. Finishing up the last of my iced Americano, I pushed the door open and stepped out. Other parents were stepping out of their cars as well. Some housekeepers. Some nannies. Some chaffeurs. Assistants. It was a large variety of people in the school at this time.And that was normal, after all, this was a very excellent kindergarten where many of the parents who worked cooperate jobs were too busy to come pick up their children.I counted myself lucky, that I was able to give my kids all the time and attention they needed, and pay our bills as well. All thanks to working from home.Aross the driveway, kids were already milling out through the doors, all noisy and excited to be done with the day's work.My job as a weather content creator and article writer took off so suddenly, and so well that my bank account was overflowing in no time. I was heavily pregnan