Sorry everyone. Like I said November is a rollercoaster for me every year. Love Billie
April woke to the sound of the shower running. The rhythmic patter of water came from the direction of the bathroom. She had used to clean up last night.The events of the night before replayed in her mind like a vivid dream. Noah’s hands exploring her body, his lips devouring hers, the way he had taken her not once, but twice more after their initial coupling. Her cheeks flushed as she remembered the intensity of each encounter, the raw passion that had consumed them both. He had used a condom the other times as well, with no issue. Both of them did not want to risk it.She shifted on the bed, her limbs heavy with satisfaction. She was stiff, but in a good way. Wow, last night. When she had thought Noah wanted her to leave, it had just been the beginning, not the end. Who knew men liked it more than once a night? Her friends didn’t talk about sex. They all had a past, some best forgotten.Thinking about the sex didn’t stop the gnawing anxiety twisting in her chest. She had been lucky,
As the lift doors opened to the lobby. April put her hand over the door’s edge to make sure it didn’t close just yet. Putting her head out, she scanned the lobby, making sure Noah hadn’t somehow got down here first. Not that she thought he would have. She had just been an easy lay for him. Her cheeks heated as she thought about how easy she had been.April didn’t see Noah, so she stepped out of the lift and raced across the lobby of the hotel, not looking at anyone. Relieved there weren’t too many people about at this early hour. It was a total walk of shame.April didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone. She knew she didn’t have anything to feel ashamed about. She had just had sex with her husband. The problem was, he didn’t know she was his wife.It was a relief as she pushed through the front, not giving the door man time to do it for her.“Taxi, Miss?” He called after her as she rushed down the steps.April didn’t look back. Keeping her head down, she called over her shoulder.
Noah left the meeting with the manager at Twister. Dan had promised Noah that the drinks menu would have something for everyone, with affordable options for students and higher priced drinks and wines for the more affluent clientele.Noah had warned his manager he would be keeping an eye on it. His team would be doing spot checks. Having profit share setup with staff sometimes can be a good thing or a bad thing it depended on the person. All his team were profit share. If the company did well, they all got bonuses. But Dan had taken it too far.Noah had a manager last year, that had kept staff levels so low that the hotel team had been exhausted. If someone hated their job, it didn’t matter how much you paid them, they wouldn’t stay. Happy staff was the key.Pay them well and keep them happy. Noah now had a staff satisfaction officer that was responsible for maintaining the engagement levels of his staff. If staff turnover was high, it added another level of cost. Training new staff wa
Noah lifted the glass to his lips as he watched Ryan and Tally on their wedding day. Noah was happy for his friend and Tally was a lovely woman.It made a change for his friend to have to pursue anyone. Usually the women were chasing him. But in Tally’s case, Ryan had had the hots for her long before she had realized her feelings for him. Noah had listened to his friend talk about Tally for the last year. Like she walked on water or something.Ryan had struggled on how he was going to break it to Tally about her cheating ex, but in the end, that had worked itself out. Ryan hadn’t had to do a thing. Tally had walked in on her ex fiance, doing the deed with his boss’s wife. He hadn’t been an ex at the time, but after that he soon had been.Noah had worried that Ryan could be a rebound for her. But looking at her now as she gazed up into Ryan’s eyes. Noah knew there was love there on both sides. He worried that his friend might just have issues keeping his hands to himself at the office.
Noah dialed Hugo’s number. “She just sent me a text. Is there anyway to track it?”Noah heard Hugo sigh. “Boss, like I told you. The phone she is using isn’t registered. There's just no way to track an unregistered phone, regardless of whether it's a message or a phone call. I’m sorry.”“Right.” Total frustration hummed through every line of Noah's body. “I just don't understand why she would need a burner.”“They're easy to pick up at a grocery store or an electronic store. A lot of people just don't register them.” Hugo explained.“What’s our next move?” Why couldn’t they find her?Noah could understand on one hand why it was so hard. She wasn’t a criminal on the run.“Like I told you, they paid cash that night at Twister. They might have started to use a credit card that night had you not picked up the tab.”Noah had really shot himself in the foot on that one, but he hadn't realized that he might want a track May down after. “The university wasn’t any extra help?”“No boss, she gra
April let herself into her brownstone later that night. Exhausted, she dropped her keys into the bowl on the entry table. Then hung up her coat, putting her handbag on the chair. She then dragged her bone weary body into the kitchen.Opening the fridge to grab the open bottle of wine. April had just taken a glass down when the doorbell rang. She placed the glass on the countertop and went to answer the door.Looking through the peephole, April saw her friends. Quickly, she pulled the door open. She said in surprise, not expecting to see them tonight.Sophie, Trent, and Poppy stood on her stoop. “Hey guys.”They didn’t wait to be invited in, just stepped by her. All kissing her on the way past to the kitchen. April closed her front door and followed her friends. They were unpacking Chinese and pulling out plates from her cabinets. They knew their way around her kitchen. They had done this before. Sometimes an all night study session. Not like they would be having one of those again.Pop
‘Fate Decides Who Comes Into Your Life, Your Heart Decides Who Stays.’ Quote by Someone?April could see she didn’t have long with her father. He had stopped eating some of his favorite foods she often brought in for him. At least she had had this last Christmas. But she knew in her heart he would not make Easter. In the weeks since Christmas, he had gotten so much worse. She could see he was hanging on for her. April wanted to tell him to let go. Every time she tried to form the words, she just couldn’t.Her dad had fallen into another heavy sleep and she needed a coffee. So she decided to head to the hospital cafeteria. The coffee was terrible, and the food wasn’t much better. But it was at the hospital that was the main thing. She just didn’t have the energy to find somewhere to eat outside the grounds where the food and coffee would be better.Once April had grabbed what she wanted and paid, she looked around the seating area, seeing them mostly full.She was going to have to ask t
‘We all make mistakes in life. That’s true, some little, some big, some simple and some more complex, some mistakes we regret forever.’ Quote By Rashard Royster.It was only when she returned to her dad’s room that she realized Ryan might be in the same wing in the ICU. Given Ryan’s unstable condition and her father’s impending fate on death row, they were both in the ICU.April impulsively rose from her chair and cracked open the door to take a peek. She timed it perfectly, as Tally entered the ward with Noah by her side. April’s heart raced, and her skin felt flushed. She only saw him for a few moments before he disappeared into the room opposite.April stood there waiting for him to come out. Turning, she looked at her father, who was still asleep. If he woke up, she would leave her peeping and join him. April didn’t even want to think about why she was doing this. Time for thinking wasn’t now.Noah couldn’t believe it. It seemed so surreal, but it was happening. Looking at Ryan lay
April adjusted the cuffs of her blazer, smoothing the lapels as she stared at her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows of Harrington Enterprises’ top-floor boardroom. The city skyline stretched behind her, but she barely saw it. Today wasn’t just any meeting… it was war.She had been expecting resistance, but the more she uncovered, the more disgusted she became. Her uncle, David Harrington, had been scheming for years, waiting for the day her father would pass so he could claim what he saw as his rightful place. But William Harrington had left everything to April. The company. The shares. The legacy.And David was furious.April turned away from the window, her heart steady despite the storm brewing inside. Across the boardroom table sat the key players in today’s power struggle. Her former father’s right-hand man, Fred Coolman, the now-disgraced CFO, Mitchell Grant, and a handful of board members she knew had aligned with them. They just didn’t know it yet. They had no idea sh
The laughter still echoed through April’s brownstone as the night stretched on, the conversation growing more relaxed now that the big revelation was out in the open. April had expected more resistance, more anger, but after the initial shock, her friends had simply adjusted. It was strange…almost too easy, but maybe that was what real friendship was.They had known her for a few years now, after all. May Jones, April Harrington, like Tally had said, she was still the same person.Trent leaned back against the couch, swirling his wine. “You know, I keep thinking about something.”April sighed, already bracing herself. “Should I be worried?”Trent smirked. “You’re always worried. But no, it’s just… I remember reading some gossip piece a few years back about you. April Harrington… I mean, you.”April tensed, her fingers tightening around the stem of her glass. “Oh?”Poppy arched a brow. “Wait, I remember that too. Something about April Harrington getting married to some rich heir and the
April wiped her hands on a kitchen towel, glancing at the dining table one last time. Everything was perfect. The table was set; the wine was breathing, and the scent of roasted garlic and herbs filled the air.So why did she feel like she was about to walk into an ambush?“April, breathe,” Tally’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts.April turned to where Tally stood at the counter, slicing fresh bread with practiced ease. Unlike April, who had been running around the kitchen for the past ten minutes like a chicken with its head cut off, Tally looked completely relaxed.“I am breathing,” April muttered, running her hands over the front of her dress. “I just... I don’t know how they’re going to take this.”Tally had offered to be here tonight. A quiet pillar of support for what April was worried about what would be a difficult conversation. How did you explain to your friends that you’d been keeping your identity a secret? That the May Jones they had known for years was actually A
Noah pulled up in front of Ryan and Tally’s house for the second time in a week. But this time, his gut wasn’t twisting with dread. He wasn’t walking into a nightmare. No life-shattering news awaited him.And yet, he still sat in his car for a moment, gripping the wheel, exhaling slowly as if trying to steady himself.His mind was still reeling from what he had learned the last time he was here. He had fathered a child—a child he had never known about, never even had the chance to fight for. And now, he never would. That reality wasn’t something he could just shake off. It clung to him, burrowed deep into his chest like a wound that refused to close. The fact that he had been kept in the dark only made his hatred for Ashley even more raw.But he wasn’t here to drown in that grief today. He had drunk enough this past week to sink any ship. But it hadn’t helped. He needed to deal with it and move on. Like Ryan had. For years, his best friend had believed the baby was his.Then Ryan had t
Noah pulled up to Ryan and Tally’s house, cutting the engine. He sat there for a moment, gripping the steering wheel, his gut twisting. Something was off. He had heard it in Ryan’s voice when he called earlier today.“Come over for dinner,” Ryan had said. “There’s something we need to talk about. Something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you sooner.” And that was the problem.They were close, always had been. Ryan could tell him anything, and yet here Noah was, parked outside his friend’s house, gut churning with unease. It had been two days since William’s funeral. If Ryan had waited this long, it meant whatever he had to say wasn’t just important—it was something Noah wasn’t going to like.Exhaling sharply, Noah pushed open the car door.Before he could even knock, the front door swung open. Tally stood there, arms crossed, her expression too careful, too controlled.That was the second sign something was wrong.“Hey, Noah.” Her voice was soft, deliberate.His brows
April’s hands curled into fists at her sides, her nails digging into her palms as she stared at the man in front of her. The man who had been her husband for four years. The man who had humiliated her, ignored her, and lived his life as if she had never existed.“I can get a divorce if I want one, Noah. Nothing can stop me. You think this changes anything?” she asked, voice sharp. “You think just because you found out who I am, suddenly things are different?”Noah’s jaw tightened. “I think it changes everything.”April let out a bitter laugh. “Of course you do. Because now the joke isn’t on you anymore, right?” She took a step closer, anger and hurt burning inside her. “But let me ask you this, Noah. Would anything have changed if you had known back then? Would you have treated me differently? Or would you have still taken my father’s money and done exactly what you did?”His eyes flickered with frustration. “April—”“You did take the money, didn’t you?” she pressed, her voice shaking.
Noah stared at the woman in front of him.April.May.They were the same person.His chest tightened as he stared at her—the long black hair spilling over her shoulders, the striking sea-green eyes he could lose himself in. His mind reeled, scrambling to make sense of it, but the truth was already staring him in the face.The lighting in the club that night and later had been terrible. If he had seen her eyes in daylight, he would have known.He took a few more steps forward, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. No. It was plain as day now.Standing in front of him was the woman he had been trying to find for months.May Jones was April Harrington.He hadn’t slept with some stranger in a nightclub. He had slept with his wife.April’s expression shifted from surprise to guarded caution as she stood from the chaise lounge, her movements slow. She didn’t take her eyes off him. She didn’t speak right away, but he saw the tension in her frame, the way her fingers clenched at her sides.“Noa
April held her ground as David’s furious gaze bore into her, his entire body tense with barely contained rage. The night air felt charged, thick with the weight of unsaid threats.April arched a brow at his last words. She would not regret anything when it came to him, refusing to let him see even a flicker of fear. “Don’t worry, David. I’ve never needed your help before, and I certainly won’t start now.”His jaw tightened, his hands curling into fists, and for a brief second, she thought he might actually lose control. But before he could take another step toward her, Noah moved.Quick. Decisive.One second, he was standing beside Ryan, and the next, he was in front of her, blocking David’s path entirely. His voice was calm, but there was a lethal edge beneath it.“I suggest you walk away before you say something you’ll regret.”David let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “You think I’m afraid of you, boy?”Noah tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. “No. I think you should
The manor was filled with murmurs and the clinking of glasses as mourners settled into the grand halls and sitting rooms, drinking her father’s expensive whiskey and picking at the catered food. April moved through the crowd with a practiced ease, nodding politely when necessary but never stopping long enough for conversation. The years she had been away, she had learnt how to handle crowds. How to be polite during social gatherings. A funeral was no different.She had barely had a moment to breathe since the reading of the will. The weight of her father’s empire sat on her shoulders now, and she could already feel the vultures circling. Her uncle. His wife. Their spoiled daughter. Plus, she watched her father’s second in charge and CFO and their families.Let’s not forget the extended family that had only ever cared about William Harrington for what he could offer them. They were all here, their condolences empty, their eyes sharp with greed.Spotting Tally and Ryan near the grand fir