TristinI stare at the people sitting around the conference table, all waiting for me to start talking or to give them a chance to talk.But I can’t do anything.I stare at the screen of my phone.It’s been three days—three days since I failed to protect Grace and she disappeared.One more failure. Another person I care about is gone. I know who did it, but I have been sitting here like a fool, instead of turning the world upside down to find her and bring her back to my side. Panic threatens to bubble in my throat but I push it down, hide it behind the facade of indifference. People stare at me, trying to gauge my emotions, but all they meet is ice. Yet, my heart is…Burning.Every second that passes brings me closer to losing my grip on my sanity.I tell myself that I just need a little time. And it sounds similar again. The phone on the table starts ringing, and my cold hand reaches for it. I pick it up and place it against my ear.Heavy breathing sounds from the speaker. My mu
GraceIn life…I always found myself surprised by little things.Any truth, any secret, any incident could make me go still or start panicking and shock would take over.But as the call disconnects and Carlos’ laughter filters through the speaker of the other phone…I struggle to feel surprised. It’s love, he said. He can’t forget about me because…He loves me.I should have been shocked and in denial at the confession that came so suddenly. But I am not. Instead, my heart is pounding inside my chest, trying to break out of my ribcages. It’s like I knew he loved me but couldn’t believe it before and now I do. Because he says he loves me. The masked men leave us to our state, and retreat into the corner, sitting on a table, playing poker.Tristin said he would come soon. And I believe him. That’s why…I sit still and watch Celine. The cold, damp air of the warehouse gnaws at my skin, making the sting of the cuts and bruises on my arms even worse. Tristin’s words have acted like a
GraceTristin’s arms tighten around me, pulling me close, his breath warm against my ear.I try to see what has happened, who was shot, but Tristin doesn’t let me. “ Stay still. ” He whispers. “ Just stay like this. ” I breathe in his masculine cologne and feel his heart beating in sync with mine. It feels like the chaos has ended. I am safe now. Nothing more will happen. I pant against his chest and close my eyes. The pain in my body is slowly starting to register in my head and…It hurts like hell. Running footsteps sound around me. I open my eyes and forcefully pull my head out of Tristin’s chest.The masked man is limping towards the other side of the warehouse, and Ethan is after him, his gun raised to aim for the man’s back.My heart drowns, as another gunshot sounds. The bullet lodges into the man’s back and he drops to the ground, blood pooling around his dead body.In a moment when Tristin has chosen to reach for me, Ethan decided that taking his anger out on that man an
Grace—5 Days Later…Alma didn’t come inside that day. She left after hearing what I said and it satisfied her—I just knew it. Tristin, however, went silent. He didn’t say anything to me, but he didn’t leave me alone either.The doctors said that I had to stay for a week in the hospital and during that time, Tristin refused to spend any night at home. He would go to his office, get the work done, sometimes Luca would even bring his clothes and files to the hospital room and he would work from here. I was annoyed at him most of the time, but I didn’t break the silence between us.I told him all that and he didn’t say anything at all. His silence felt like a challenge that stated ‘Get me away from you if you can’ and it made me frustrated. At night, Tristin slept on the couch and haunted me all the time. I didn’t know how to get him off my back anymore. “ How are you doing today, Grace? ” The doctor enters the room and breaks me out of the trance. “ As usual, Doctor. ” I whisper, t
GraceAnticipation makes me restless. The tension wraps around us, holding us together in this strange, charged moment. Tristin’s arms are tight around me, making sure that I feel every crevice of his hard muscle in my soft curves. His warmth seeps into me, making it impossible to ignore the growing desire simmering just beneath the surface.For a while, we just lie there, drowning in the heavy silence. The night we spent together plays in my mind like a haunting reel. The way his hands traced my skin. Passionate, intense, wild.The intensity in his eyes. Smoldering, hot, electric.The overwhelming, silent connection between us. It felt like our bodies fit together, and I was pulled under the surface, forgetting about everything in the world but him.I had never felt something like that before—sensations so intoxicating they steal your breath and leave you wanting for more. I shift slightly in his hold. The small movement feels like a wrong move, but I am burning.Tristin’s grip t
GraceThe intensity of his voice leaves me breathless. What am I going to do with him? I open my mouth and just breathe, his breath mingling with mine.His hand sneaks down, slipping inside my hospital trousers and his fingers rub my folds—so wet and warm for him already.“ Tell me you are wet because you want a quick fuck and not because you desperately want me inside you. ” Two fingers slide between my entrance and his thumb rubs small circles on my clit, his eyes still staring into my soul, watching as my lips part and I moan at the sensation.I still have a chance. I need to pull those fingers out of me, and replace them with his— No. I reach up, touching his face, feeling the warmth of his skin. Yes.“ Tristin… ” I whisper, pleasure hitting my body, making me shudder again.He cuts me off with another kiss, this one softer, more tender.Our clothes feel like a barrier, a separation that needs to be gone. Before I can register what I am doing, my hands are already working on
Grace“ I am going to make you feel good. Hm? ” Tristin’s voice whispers in my ear, seeking the consent he always does, his hands lingering on my hips gently.“ Hmm. ” I hum and breathe heavily. I moan, as his fingers move between my folds, drawing small circles on my clit. His rough fingers press into my core gently and slowly lead me toward an orgasm.I gasp, my body curling into his front as I struggle to pry my eyes open.“ What…what are you doing so early in the morning, Tristin? ” I murmur, snuggling into the crook of his neck.This feels so good. I gasp, as he pinches my clit and sends me over the edge. The slow, lazy pleasure has me writhing and clinging to his body as he continues to rub teasing circles between my folds.“ I am giving you a demo of what your mornings will be like with me. ” Tristin hums, kissing the top of my head.Heat spreads in my cheeks. I sigh, fighting the smile threatening to pull at my lips.“ I prefer tasting you though, but I don’t want to do that
Grace“ Have I ever hurt you before, Grace? ”I sit up straight and just sigh again.Alma shakes her head and takes a seat in the chair Tristin vacated. She places the basket on the bedside table and turns to me.Her posture is rigid as she starts.“ I see that you didn’t follow through. ”“ What? ” I clench my hands into fists.I feel a sense of shame after coming across her and then there is a part of me struggling to not bring up the video and tell her that I feel bad.“ You didn’t fulfill your promise. I didn’t take you for one to go back on your word. ” Alma whispers quietly. My heart sinks. I broke my promise to her. The sense of shame and guilt grows some more. “ I am sorry for not keeping my promise, Alma. Trust me, I wanted to…I tried my best. And I didn’t mean to disrespect you. ” I admit truthfully, hoping that my words will soothe whatever anger she feels towards me.Alma’s eyes droop and the usual polite look displays in them. “ It’s not just about promises, Grace. Now y
Grace“ I don’t know what you are talking about, Mrs. Roberto. ” Luca says, bringing my attention back to him.“ Do you expect me to believe Tristin has abandoned his old ways completely just to appease me? Or do you think I am blind and deaf? Or maybe…do you think I don’t know about the people you and Tristin tortured in the past few days just to find Sebastian? ” I scoff, my eyes beginning to burn.Luca’s brows lift as he stares at me. I can see the wheels turning in his head.“ I will have to ask Boss before I— ”“ Make sure to tell him that I will go alone if he tries to come in my way. If he can’t even pretend to trust me a little, then he might as well not try to act as my husband again. He can stay with that secretary he likes these days. ” I snap, get to my feet again, and start walking away from him. “ when you are done with your usual thing, get that old man. I expect him here in a few hours. ”“ Boss is not with any secretary. He is cleaning up the mess you created, Mrs. Ro
GraceIt’s fine to see Tristin’s face, but what are those intense emotions?Ethan has moved on. Or that’s what he desperately wants me to believe. So why did he have that look in his eyes?I throw away the blankets and get out of bed. As I am passing by the mirror beside the door, I pause and look into it.There are scratches all over my neck—injuries I have caused myself. I brush my fingers against a long line before smiling at myself.A few weeks ago, when I cut my finger while trying to make apple pie, Tristin made a terrible fuss over it. He had stayed home for the whole day to look after a small cut—something I have found so extra on his part.But now that I am covered in scratches, he won’t come. I swallow as my gaze drifts higher to the bandage on my forehead. He knows…what Ethan has done to me. There is no way I can ever…sleep with Ethan in my right mind or anyone who is not Tristin, for a matter of fact.And yet, Tristin didn’t…give me the benefit of the doubt. Not even once
Grace“ There are no traces of drugs in your system. ” Doctor Yvonne Smith, who is a woman in her 30s, sighs as she hands me the results.They have done everything as fast as possible, but now the results have come out opposite of what I was expecting.I stare at the report, and another suspicion starts growing. What if Ethan has bribed these people, and I am being an idiot for believing this?“ And about the other thing, we can’t really be sure, Mrs. Roberto. You were taking a shower for so long, and there are no clear signs of penetration. It can be because you had gentle consensual intercourse, or it can be because you didn’t have any intercourse at all. There is no way to tell. ” She continues in her professional voice that’s tinged with a hint of sympathy. I stare at the paper in my hands, going over every line several times as if searching for something that will confirm my doubts and not go completely against it instead.When Mom and the servants found me in the bathroom, I fe
GraceHe wraps his arms around my knees and looks up at me, hoping for me to pick him up. He was gone for so long.I reach out with shaking hands and pick him up. He presses his face into my neck before I hear him sobbing against me. My knees give out from under me, making me drop in the middle of the lounge. His cries grow louder.I pat his back weakly, my eyes burning but no tears welling in them. He continues to cry for a long time—or maybe it feels like that for me because my arms have gone numb.“ Seb, don’t cry. Be a good boy. Don’t make your Mommy worry about you anymore. ” Mom steps closer and caresses the back of Seb’s head.He pulls his head out of my neck and stares at me with his wet, round eyes. It’s like someone has gripped my heart, refusing to let it go.“ Are you…worrying, Mommy? ” He murmurs, grabbing my cheeks in his small hands.I shake my head, like a robot who has no feelings but only knows how to respond. “ I am fine, Mommy. See. ” He shakes my cheeks as if tr
Grace“ He came out of nowhere and saved you? ” Now that he says it aloud, it sounds so weird. Even Ethan’s reasoning regarding that matter is making my head spin. “ Yes. ” I nod, the guilt tightening like a noose around my neck. “ I…ran out of the cabin while…they were busy fighting among themselves. A kidnapper chased me, and I ended up falling from a low cliff into the lake. ”“ And Ethan saved you again? ” He says before I can finish what I was trying to tell him.The noose tightens. I nod again. “ he did. ”“ What happened then? ” Luca asks calmly.I continue, knowing that Tristin might not listen to me, but if I can convince Luca to believe me, Tristin will listen to him. He trusts Luca, after all.“ I had no phone on me. And I was freezing. We were wandering in the woods when we came across the cabin and that old man. He offered to let us stay until the morning because there were dangerous animals in the woods at night. I didn’t want to stay—I swear…I didn’t. But…I had no opt
Grace“ It’s better if he doesn’t show up in front of Boss for a while. ” That’s what Luca said when I tried to take Ethan with me.Ethan agreed with what Luca was saying. I was desperate, but even in that desperation, I had realized what would happen if I asked Ethan to explain things to Tristin while he was still reeling with the shock of seeing what he did.That’s why, without saying anything, I followed Luca. Tristin was long gone, and the journey back home left me feeling numb.Now, as I sit in the backseat of the car and stare at my home, I feel foreign in my body. Tears have dried, and my mind has grown eerily silent. How much can someone cry anyway?What is the use of crying, to begin with?There are some things in your life that you can fix and some mistakes that can be amended. But then there are things, these mistakes that don’t get fixed or can’t be made right. “ Doctor Smith is waiting inside. He will take a look at you. ” Luca says from his spot in the passenger seat.
GraceEthan looks at me like I have grown two heads. Then, he shakes his head, his breath coming out heavy. “ If they were drugged, I would have been affected too. I drank the same alcohol you did, Grace. Don’t you remember? ”“No...” My voice falters, my knees threatening to give out beneath me. My mind is racing, trying to piece together fragments that don’t exist. I can remember—I tell myself.But everything is so blank. “ You are lying. Tell me you are lying. Say we didn’t...that we didn’t do anything. Please, Ethan. Just say that this is all your plan, and we… ”Ethan’s jaw tightens. He runs a hand through his hair, his voice rising in frustration. “ I would have told you if I could, but I don’t remember anything! I don’t remember touching you or…or leaving those marks on you. But they are there. So, I must have.”The weight of his words crushes me. My legs give out, and I collapse onto the floor, clutching the sheets to my chest. Tears blur my vision as sobs wrack my body. Th
GraceMy head pounds like someone is smashing a drum inside my skull. I groan, my body heavy and sluggish, and that’s when I feel it—a hard yank on my body. Rough. Unforgiving. My eyes flutter open, and the blurry image of Tristin comes into view. I want to call his name, but my throat feels so dry, and my head is about to explode.Tiredly, I blink while trying to reach him. And that’s when I start to make out what he is doing. He is above Ethan, fists flying as Ethan lies on the floor, blood dripping from his nose and lip. My brain can’t catch up with what is happening.“ Tr—Tristin? ” I croak out. My hand instinctively reaches out, grabbing his arm to stop him. “ What—What are you doing? Stop… ”He doesn’t stop. Instead, his arm jerks, shoving me backward like I am nothing. My head slams against the headboard, and a sharp pain shoots through me. Warm liquid trails down my forehead, and when I touch it, my fingers come back red. Blood. I am bleeding.I push myself up, my vision bl
Grace“ A woman…like that came here. But she didn’t come alone. She came with her husband. ” The man blurts suddenly, making me freeze in my spot. Husband?For a moment, everything stops. But I can’t think too much. I have to check. I push open the door to the cabin. Luca is right behind me, pulling the man along with him. The air inside is thick, heavy, and the dim light from a single lamp makes everything look wrong.I don’t think. I just move.I open the door to the only room. And then my heart stops.There she is. Grace.The world around me comes to a stop, and everything inside me turns upside down.She is lying in bed. Bare shoulders exposed to the light, the blanket barely covering her. For a moment, everything feels distant. Is this real, or is it my hyper imagination tricking me again?I don’t understand what I am seeing. My eyes move down, and I see a man’s arm wrapped around her. Holding her. Pulling her close.No one does that. Only I do. She will never—never let anyone