Luke’s POVOne thing about me was that I never miscalculated. After the nonsense Rebecca spewed, of which she thought she said something that made sense, I studied her securities and saw that each of them was carried away looking at another angle, careful not to let any unwanted encroachment near the restaurant.And so with this, I knew that if I pulled my trigger at this instance, I could get my aim done and then fight my way out of this restaurant. At least, I was not using my real face; I was wearing a realistic mask, and I could get away pretty easily.“You don’t want to do that. Trust me!” Rebecca said to me with a firm and confident voice.Was she insane?When a gun was pointed even at the bravest person on earth, such a person should blink a type of fear because their life was in the hands of the person pointing the gun at them.But for Rebecca?How was she able to stay confident in the face of death?“I will fucking blow your head off,” I said, pushing the gun closer to her hea
Gabriel’s POVI saw the signboard “Goodbye Mandena” up above. And I just smirked like a victorious soldier who had conquered wars and was returning home.Seeing the above signboard, I knew that I had already escaped being arrested in Mandena.Mandena was a city in the large country of Manderin. But after Mandena was another country because Mandena was at the end of Manderin and we were bordered by the country of Philadelphia.Philadelphia was a country whereby people running from the government in Mandena could escape because of their lawlessness and, at the same time, rigid constitution to external pressure.They believed any government interference from an outside country was already encroaching on their national security, and as for this, they always failed to cooperate unless, of course, the external country wanted war.This was why Manderin and Philadelphia did not always see eye to eye, even as we were neighboring countries to one another.Seeing Philadelphia just a little mile
Gabriel’s POVIt was as if the Judge already had a private meeting with the police or with Rebecca herself. He didn’t even allow my attorney to say much before he canceled everything he said and was to say.“Gabriel Moretti, you are sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor!” he declared, and immediately, the police grabbed me and tossed me into the prison van.The prison was a long journey away from Mandena. I didn’t know where we were, but I knew we passed through the desert somewhat, passed through many deserted roads and many valleys and hills.The prison was so far away that any prisoner who tried to escape, either by luck or by strategy, would not be able to make it alive back into the city. It was from this instance, I knew I was dead.Arriving at the prison, “Move it, everybody!” the jailer who sat in the van with us shouted at the top of his voice.He held a bludgeon stick in his hand. It was made of metal such that when he hit it on any erring prisoner, such a prisoner m
Gabriel’s POVThe prisoner fell to the floor, helplessly nursing his wounds. Yet, no one cared.I saw their eyes widen. All they cared about was staring at me—getting a closer look at me.To this effect, the muscular one began to unbutton his jumpsuit while licking his lips and chuckling wickedly.The rest behind him were the same. “Come!” each of them murmured, their voices low like mocking whispers.“Let the president taste you first, then you can go around for the rest of us.”Just then, I saw the muscular one pull out his penis. It was already hard, veins protruding from the top.My heart pounded. It felt like the floor should open up and swallow me whole. My breathing quickened as I took backward steps until my back hit the metal door of the cell.“You can’t run, pussy. Get over here. It’s been a while since we’ve had anyone to fuck,” the muscular one said. Then, suddenly, he grabbed me and shoved me against the wall.“Yes!” The other prisoners in the cell began cheering him on l
Gabriel’s POVWithout much delay, I was moved to a solitary cell. This cell was far from the one they had taken me to earlier. It was isolated in its own corridor and so small that if I stretched my arms while standing at the center, my fingers would touch both walls.The heat inside was unbearable, as if I was boiling my own skin just by being here. But, of course, it was still better than getting raped.I sank my head onto my knees in the corner of the cell. There was a bed, but I couldn't bring myself to sleep on it.I had seen bedbugs crawling on the mattress. And from what I knew about those tiny bloodsuckers, they were like vampires—feeding on me until morning. Sleeping curled up in a corner was the better option.The Next Morning“Hey! Seen the motherfucker who got saved last night?!”A muscular prisoner taunted me, poking at me the moment we stepped into the yard.I didn’t know what this yard was for, but the moment the bell rang, the cell doors automatically unlocked. Then, a
Rebecca’s POVEver since Gabriel had been arrested, I felt better within myself. Mandena was no place for a criminal. Such a criminal who had the mind to hire to kill not one person but persons just so that he wanted them gone?I was pleased to watch the news, to watch as he was being moved to prison in the large bus down the isolated road and forever be gone being punished for his crime.It was at this moment, I knew my revenge was over. Now I needed to move on with my life.I was married to Gabriel, he divorced me and attempted to kill me. I lost my mother, I vouched for revenge. And now that he has been moved away? It was time to give love a second chance.So many others would say I was a damaged woman. A woman who had gone through mindset pollution. A woman who could, because of a revenge against her ex-husband, create business entities to strike him. Such a woman might be avoided by men.But what if I made them understand it was not all what it seemed? And that I was a good person
Gabriel’s POVAfter we filed in from the queue, the door leading into the yard was locked, and we were all in the prison building.Not knowing where the mess hall was or what the mess hall was all about, I knew I must be there just as the system blared—or else? I didn’t want any problem for myself.I followed behind some prisoners who seemed not to have my time towards something that looked like a large room.All prisoners were going inside the room. They were all grabbing their seats. Each of them with their crew sat together.Stepping through the door to this large room, I saw that the mess hall was indeed a dining hall. It was a place all prisoners must gather in large numbers to eat.Hence, there were many wooden tables and benches in this room. One table had two benches by its sides, and each table was filled with prisoners, except one table at the last edge, which had no one sitting on it.I lowered my head, my heart racing from what Gomelo told me earlier. I knew since I steppe
Gabriel POV“You owe me double now!” Luke leaned at me the instant Gomelo walked away and had his seat. His voice was firm. And his face showed that he was not joking around.He turned from me and went to sit at the table he was before. Just then, the bell rang and the system voice blared.“To the bath hall now!”As the voice blared, I hadn’t even eaten any spoon of the food served when the jailers moved into the mess hall and snatched our plates from us.I looked around, it seemed I was the only one who didn’t have the time to eat.“Looks like you would starve the entire day, Pumpkin!” Gomelo snarled as one of the jailers snatched my plate from my table. And I immediately got up on my feet.“Move it!” the jailer ordered, and I simply obeyed.As I walked on to join the queue, Gomelo smirked boldly, and his crew were also in the same way.While we walked out of the mess hall, each one of us went directly to the bath hall. Though I didn’t know which way it was, I followed right behind t
Cassian’s POV Immediately our lips touched, and that I saw her lean back like we had done something we shouldn’t out of the blue, out of the emotions that poured out of our discussion, I felt a wave of uncertainty. “I am sorry,” I quickly said. I didn’t want to lose her. Even when I wanted to pursue a relationship with her, I wanted it to start up slowly, making sure she fully accepted me before I properly asked her out so that I wouldn’t receive the same "No" of an answer I got back in college. “It’s okay,” she said the instant I apologized. Then I saw her hold my hands again. She looked at my lips and leaned slowly closer. “The truth is,” she whispered as she was coming closer, “We would have been a perfect match,” she said in a whisper. Hence, she kissed me right on the lips. This was like a prayer answered for me. It was like I had just hit a jackpot. And how could the most beautiful woman on earth kiss me and I wouldn’t kiss her in return? I kissed her back, burying my hand
Rebecca’s POV Cassian just asked me the question that sent me back to my past. The question rang a bell. I didn’t know why it did, but it did anyway.Could it be because the question was asked by someone whom I rejected because of this very Gabriel?It shot me to the day we had our wedding—how we read our vows and promised each other never to be separated until death did us part.This same question shot me to our wedding night—how we had made love and kissed each other until morning.The memories clung to me, but I forced myself back to the present. I blinked, shaking off the thoughts.“I don’t want to talk about it, please,” I said to him, and I saw the way he nodded his head gently.He looked as if he understood where my pain was coming from, as if he could relate so well—so well that it meant he had also gone through the same fate.I felt somehow that I rejected him an explanation for his harmless question, especially because he understood it just as much as I wanted to avoid it.
Cassian’s POV I walked into the classroom in the hope of teaching my newly admitted student and going back out of there just the way I have always done in the past. Lecturing was fun, yeah right? But at the same time, it was tiring. And most tiring when you have to teach three classes in a day.I heaved out a sigh as I walked through the class entrance door. Then I lifted my head, gazing to the front of the class, the podium, and all of the students' heads. As I was moving my gaze back onto my feet, my eyes stopped as they landed on this particular lady’s head, or should I say hair? The hair color, the crispness to which the head stood on the neck, the way the gentle, beautiful fingers touched gently on her cheeks like the beautiful princess of Persia—it all reminded me of one lady. Rebecca.Back in college, she was everything I wanted to be with. And why this? Her gentle voice when she talked, her beautiful, attractive physique, the way her waist moved when she walked like she was t
Rebecca’s POVCassian was a man I met back in college. He was the top boy whom all the ladies on campus wanted back then—except me, because, of course, I was with Gabriel. He was fucking handsome, and girls flocked around him every now and then, wanting to be his girl. But how ironic—he didn’t want any of them. He only wanted me.We weren’t in the same department back then, but that didn’t stop him. He would come from his department, which was the Department of Project Management, just to watch us and stare at me from a distance. It was something I noticed often, but I never truly acknowledged it until he finally expressed his feelings for me.Back then, I loved Gabriel too much to even consider anyone else. When Cassian confessed, I told him I was with someone else and that it couldn’t work between us. And being a man who valued his self-respect, he backed off. He stopped talking to me ever since, merely waving from afar anytime we crossed paths.At first, I felt offended by his sudd
Rebecca’s POVIt’s been three months since Micah’s sentencing, yet the knowledge still feels fresh, as if the verdict was just announced yesterday. Michel has also been struggling with PTSD. Anytime she is in the kitchen and hears one of the male employees enter—whether to pick something up or deliver a message—she immediately tenses. Her first reaction is always to grab a knife, pointing it instinctively at whoever stands before her.No one blames her. We all understand that healing takes time. According to the doctor, this is the moment when she needs the most support, and I’m determined to be there for her every step of the way.Despite everything, life moves forward. This morning, I decided to arrive at my first lecture early, feeling a sense of renewal as I embarked on this next chapter.A month ago, I applied to further my studies. I realized that returning to school would not only help me heal but also increase my value. In a world dominated by men, I understood that as one of
Micah’s POVWhen Attorney Langford was asked if he had evidence to support his claims, my heart raced even further.Attorney Langford was actually making a lot of sense, enough to prompt the judge into giving me a lesser punishment. But now that she had asked for evidence? I knew Attorney Langford was all mouth and no proof, yet he should have known that words alone wouldn’t work in court—especially not in the Supreme Court of Mandena.I turned to look at Attorney Langford. At the mention of providing evidence, sweat broke out on his forehead. He was clearly trapped. Across from him, Attorney David smirked, and when I passed my gaze toward Rebecca, she smirked too. But she wasn’t even looking at me.It was evident that Attorney Langford had walked straight into a dead end on this case.“Huh… humm…” he stammered, attempting to form a response regarding the evidence.Right there, I dropped my gaze to the floor inside the dock. My hands were trembling now. I could practically see myself
Judge Hilar’s POV“Who is representing the defendant?” Judge Lisa asked as she took her seat. Just then, the courtroom door barged open, and Attorney Victor Langford stepped in.Every attorney in the city knew who Langford was. He was an opportunist attorney, the kind who seized cases others wouldn’t touch. No one hired him because they believed he was too young and inexperienced to handle or win any case. So, he made himself available for any defendant who had no legal representation.If he won, he would demand his payment later. But unfortunately, he was a lawyer who kept proving the public right. He had never won a case since he was called to the bar.My heart froze the moment I saw him enter the courtroom. If by “defendant” attorney, it meant he was the one who would represent me too, then Micah and I were doomed. My pulse quickened at the thought.“My name is Victor Langford, representing the defendant.” I watched as Langford rose to his feet and bowed to the judge, introducing
**Micah’s POV** It didn’t matter how long I waited for the head of the community service to arrive so that I could complete my service for the day and ensure I wouldn’t land in trouble with the government—he never came. Hours passed, yet there was no sign of him. Frustration gnawed at me, but knowing full well that I couldn’t leave the house, I stayed put and waited until the next morning, hoping for clarity. Morning arrived faster than I had anticipated, the sun barely peeking over the horizon when a sudden, resounding knock echoed through my home. My heart froze. The forceful banging sent a chill down my spine, instantly reminding me of the letter I had received the day before. Yesterday had been the 18th. Today was the 19th—the day I was supposed to appear before the Supreme Court of Manderin. My pulse quickened as my mind scrambled for a solution. **"How do I..."****BAM! BAM! BAM!** Another heavy knock jolted me out of my thoughts. Without wasting another second, I rushed to
Micah’s POVThe moment I stepped out of the office, the court officials grabbed me immediately, escorting me straight to the van before tossing me inside.Just as they were about to close the door, I caught sight of Judge Hilar stepping out of his office. He stood by the entrance, his gaze locked onto mine. His eyes were red and swollen as if he had been crying before coming outside.Even as the police vehicle took off, my eyes remained fixed on him until his figure faded into the distance.His words still haunted me, echoing in my mind as if he were standing right next to me, speaking them all over again.Two hours later, we arrived at my home—the same home I had abandoned when I left to be with Rebecca. The officers dragged me out of the van and led me inside. Without hesitation, they fastened a device to my leg, and the moment it snapped into place, a sharp beeping sound filled the air.I knew exactly what this device was. I had seen it in movies countless times—a tracking monitor