Onika's POV "So are you sure you're okay over there? I hope Nathan is not giving you any troubles," Kent asked me.We were talking over a video call then he has been doing this I was since I moved into Nathan's mansion. It would call everyday to ensure that Nathan was being gentlemanly towards me. "There are no troubles over here at least not for the meantime," I replied."I wish I could be there with you too make sure that nothing goes wrong," he said.I simply smiled and said, "You don't have to worry about me. Everything is fine.""Okay. If you say so. So what are your plans for today?" He asked.Just as I was about to answer his question, the doorbell rang. Who would be ringing the doorbell? It was obviously not Nathan. Because he wouldn't ring the doorbell at his own house.So who could it be, I thought again.After a while, I didn't hear the doorbell ring again so I thought whoever was at the door had left already."Who was that?" Kent asked."I don't know. Maybe it was some
Onika's POV Willow looked at me with so much anger that I thought she was going to explode. She turned to look at Nathan, hoping he was going to say something but he didn't.She scoffed and without another word said, she turned around and walked out of the house, leaving me and Nathan standing beside each other.Despite the fact that I was able to stand up to her, I was still very much upset. I could feel my anger rising."Onika, I'm sorry about my mother. I didn't know she was coming. If I had known, I'd have come home earlier to stop her from attacking you," Nathan said but I ignored him.I tried to walk away but then he grabbed my arm and in annoyance, I slapped his hands away."Get your hands off me, Nathan. Don't you have a touch me again. Remember what we have is a contract. You don't have any right to touch me except when we are to make public appearance. Got it?" I said to him, angered."Sure. I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure that you are okay," he said, looking at me in
Nathan's POV Although she was right, I couldn't help but feel bad about the way she said it. But I understand why she's like that. I deeply hurt her by breaking up with her the way I did.It was the most horrible way to end things with someone you're in a relationship with. I just hope with time she'd be able to forgive me, especially now that we'd be working together to keep my position in the company.Just then, I heard the snapping of fingers and I was pulled back to reality."Are you even listening to all I've been saying?" Dion asked me.I looked around me and noticed I had zoned out in the middle of an important business conversation with my best friend and partner, Dion.I shook my head to get rid of the remaining thoughts of Onika and our last encounter."Sorry Dion. I think I just zoomed out for a second. Remind me what we were talking about," I said trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Zoned out for a second? Are you kidding me? You've been staring into space for th
Onika's POV I was on my phone, scrolling through Wattpad reading an interesting novel when my phone suddenly began to ring.It was Kent.I immediately picked the call, wondering what he was calling about. "Hi Onika," he greeted. "Hello Kent," I replied."Can you quickly come downstairs for a minute?" He asked."What?" I asked confused.Downstairs? I thought. What is he talking about? I wondered."Just come downstairs. I have a surprise for you," he said."A surprise?" I asked, wondering what this surprise would be."Yes, a surprise," he repeated."Okay then. I'll be down in a minute," I replied, still confused.I couldn't help but wonder what kind of surprise he had for me. I immediately got out of bed, adjusted my dressing to appear more decent and made my way downstairs. When I got downstairs, I heard the doorbell ring. Since he said he had a surprise for me, I thought it was the delivery person at the door. But when I opened the door, I was dumbfounded to find Kent standing at
Nathan's POV Walking into the house and seeing Onika in the hands of another man made me so enraged. I couldn't even describe the anger I felt when I saw her in another man's embrace.It was as if I had been possessed by a wild, driven by alpha instinct to claim what is mine.I didn't even realize what I was doing until Onika slapped me across the face, pulling me back to reality. It was then I realized I had almost killed a person.Seeing her tend to him make me so upset but I controlled my temper. I didn't want to scare Onika anymore. I saw the fear in her eyes when she slapped me.When she turned to look at me and asked me why I did what I did, ingot up because she was taking his side and asked her if she liked him.She froze for a second, probably taken off guard by the question I had asked. Then she replied,"I don't see how my personal life is any of your business.""What?" I asked with a confused expression on my face. "You heard me. My private life is none of your business.
Onika's POV The moment Willow and Gina walked into the house, I knew trouble was about to begin. The mere sight of them made my blood boil.When Willow said all those things about me being a slut and Kent being my secret lover, I realised that if I didn't leave at that point, I'd commit murder so I said my piece and walked away.Nathan tried to stop me but I didn't budge. He didn't even try to defend me from his mother, which made me even more pissed.When Kent and I were finally out of the house, I took a deep breath and exhaled so deeply. I was trying to release all the tension and anger in me."Wow, that was really intense," Kent said but I didn't respond to that."Are you okay?" He asked me and I turned to look at him."I should be the one asking you that. You were the one who received a great amount of beating," I said."Oh, this is nothing. You had to listen to a lot of crap from that woman. Is this how she's been treating you since you agreed to this contract?" he asked, a con
ONIKA'S POVAs soon as I entered the room, I banged the door behind me, seething in anger.Seriously, what did I expect from him? I wanted to hope that he had changed from the mummy's boy I had know two years ago but his attitude where he couldn't speak back to her when she was trying to dictate his life simply annoyed me.He could never go far if he kept letting her do that to him. Would he seriously still let her dictate who he got married to? Seriously? How dumb could he be?I groaned and tied my hair into a messy bun before I collapsed on the bed, the space feeling cold. I hugged my pillow tightly to my chest, wondering if I should call Laura but then I looked at the time and decided against it, she needed her time to rest and she shouldn't be burdened by my problems every time.I however took my phone and texted Kent with a simple âheyâAlmost immediately the three dots to signify that he was typing and I immediately sat up in bed, waiting for him to reply.âWell hello, beautiful
NATHAN'S POVI was in my study room with my mum who was sitting across from me, a scowl on her face which I tried to ignore by looking busy with work.âNathan, we need to talkâ she finally saidThere it was. The long awaited talk that I was ruining our family's name by marrying onika.âMum, I'm kinda busy right nowâ I countered, refusing to look up at her.She scoffed and crossed her arms. âThis is about our reputation and i refuse to let you tarnish it by getting married to a slutâ she hissed.The way she always refered to onika as that was beginning to grate on my nerves.âMum, that's not something to call anyone and you know itâ I reminded her, my voice still calm.âWell I will call her whatever names I want because she deserves itâ She hissed again.The door to the study was shut and I knew onika was in her room so thankfully she wouldn't have to witness this drama my mum was about to put on.âYou were engaged to Gina, she is such a lovely girl who will be by your side then you le
NATHAN'S POVI felt like a shell of myself the next day as I sat in my office.Believe me when I said I had tried to get some sleep but that was a luxury that I apparently couldn't afford because I had spent the night tossing and turning, my mind going haywire with thoughts. How was it possible that she hadn't checked into the hotel? I had gotten them to go to the nearby hotels but there was no trace of her. There was no way that she could have slept on the streets.Dread filled my veins and I felt true fear the previous night. I didn't believe that I could be this worried over someone but this was fucking Onika! Of course I would be worried about her! I fucking cared about her and now it felt like a part of me has been violently ripped out, leaving me without a vital piece of my life.I had spent the entire night waiting for a callâany damn callâfrom the people I had stationed in Barcelona, but my phone had remained frustratingly silent. Not a single update. Not from the men I sent t
NATHAN'S POVI pinched the bridge of my nose, sighing heavily, feeling my head ache as I paced across my study. The room was dim and it was dark outside already. I had a long day tomorrow, I had one more day to my wedding but my wife was still missing. Gods.I hit the dial button again, the phone ringing in my ear."Talk," I ordered the moment the call connected.A gruff voice responded on the other end. "Weâre still looking, sir. One of our men is sweeping the northern districts, while the other is covering the downtown area."I halted mid-step, my brain short circuiting. "What?""He insisted that splitting up would be more efficient. Said there were too many areas to coverâ""Goddammit," I muttered under my breath, gripping the phone tighter. "I gave a direct fucking order, and theyâre already doing whatever they want?"The man hesitated. "I told him itâd be best to stick together, butâ""Then why didnât you stop him?" My voice was dangerously low now, my patience thinning fast."He
ONIKA'S POVI drew my hoodie harder over my head, staring at the phone in my hands.The shop keeper kept telling me the details about the phone but that wasn't what I needed to hear, I just wanted him to tell me the fucking price so I could leave this place and go find a place to stay.Apparently getting houses at such short notice in this place was near impossible and I would have to go to the elite part of town because they would have more reservations. I had the money, I just needed to get this phone so I could head next to the hotel.Maybe I could ask this man for help on which hotel I could pick but the way he kept blabbing, urging me to buy the phone and bringing new suggestion had begun to piss me off not to mention that he was constantly cutting me off before he would pull out a better phone, eager that I buy a more expensive one.I couldn't blame him, I probably gave off the air of someone who could afford all these.With a sigh, I tugged my hoodie lower, gripping the phone i
NATHAN'S POVI nodded at my assistant, giving her a slight wave of the hand before muttering. âLet her inâI had successfully kept my mum out because I knew what she was going to say but I really did hope that Regina wasn't here for something like that or I'd have to kick her out.I barely looked up when Regina walked in, but I caught the way she shot my assistant a sharp glare before plastering on a fake smile as soon as she walked in."Thatâll be all, dear," she said sweetly, but I could tell she was pissed off that she had been kept waiting for about 5 minutes. Patience was just not one of her values. Even seeing her now as she had the guts to waltz in, made me sick to my guts when I remembered what she did.Regina turned to me, her smile widening. "Nathan."I leaned back in my chair. "Regina."She strode forward, sitting in the chair opposite me. She crossed her legs, dropping her small purse on my table, my eyes narrowing at the movement but I shut up about it unwilling to say an
NATHANâS POVI gripped my phone so tightly it nearly cracked. My knuckles were white, my patience nonexistent as I walked back into my office."Barcelona," I muttered, rubbing my temples. Onika was in fucking Barcelona.Seriously? Once more, I found myself complimenting her despite my shitty situation because damn, she was smart.Who would ever think to go look in Barcelona? It was such an unlikely choice for her so I could understand why she chose it but the problem was I didn't know where in Barcelona and I had been sitting here for a few minutes, contemplating if I should go straight into action or just make sure I was right first of all. Make sure she was actually in Barcelona.I thought about the flight line that Mr Sam Damon had supplied to me when I had asked what flight she had flown so that I could keep a track on her so I'd know what time the plane took off to time when she would be back. Big fat lie.I forced myself to take a deep breath before dialing the airport. It rang
AUTHOR'S POV Regina leaned back against the chair, her eyes shut close as she hummed to herself.She immediately sat up as Willow came into the room.âAre you okay? You look tenseâ Gina pointed out, her face contorted into one of mock concern.Willow collapsed on a nearby chair, burying her face in her hands. âI'm not fine, Gina. That bitch has ruined everything for my sonâ She lamented.Gina smiled to herself, this was going exactly as she wanted it to but she couldn't let Willow know that right now, even though they were practically partners in crime at this point, Gina knew that telling Willow about her plans would only lead to more questions which she couldn't answer right now because as usual, it would mean exposing herself.Who would have thought that it'd be this easy to trick everyone in the city by spreading a bit of fake but not so fake news. She wasn't wrong about one thing in that article but she would rather die than tell that to anyone.âOh, Nathan can at least see her
NATHAN'S POVâWhat do you mean she's not home?!â I yelled into the phone, my other hand running through my hair.Damien who was beside me looked just as panic stricken but he didn't show it, he was still as cool as ever but how I could be calm when Onika had suddenly disappeared. I didn't even know if she was safe and that was what truly bothered me.Was this what she was planning? That nightâŠ. Is this what she was thinking about? She was fucking smart and I would give her that. She had all of us fooled but I knew I couldn't blame her if she had actually chosen to run away. The pressure right now was too much on her but for her to not tell Laura? Damn, she was serious about this one.Laura could be in on it but as I saw her back into the store, tears pricking at her eyes as she looked at me with hope which quickly deflated when I shook my head, I knew she wasn't in on it. She looked just as struck on me.With a strangled sob, she leaned back against the wall, sliding down to the floor
ONIKAâS POV"This is insane." I muttered to myself, pulling my hoodie lower over my head as I walked through the busy airport terminal. If Paranoia was a person, it would be me right now. My heart was hammering in my chest and beads of perspiration rolled down my forehead as I pulled my hoodie lower to obscure my face more.I had done it. I had actually done it.No goodbye. No explanations. Not even to Laura. That was one thing I was yet to come to terms with yet because that was so wrong but I knew what would happen if I had told her that. She would be the logical one and tell me not to leave, she would be the one that tells me to stay and something in me told me that if she urged me to stay, I would so that's what I didn't tell her. She would be worried sick. And NathanâŠI swallowed, shaking my head as I moved toward the departure gates. Nathan would be livid. But I couldnât let that stop me. Not when I was one step away from doing what I wanted right now.I had to disappear.For go
NATHANâS POV"Mr Nathan, this is madness."I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. Across the desk, Richard Foster, one of the event planners I had hired, was staring at me like I had just suggested we hold the wedding in a burning building. Why was everyone so worked up about my wedding?"Itâs a wedding, not a business merger," he continued, tapping a pen against his notepad that was resting on the table. "Youâre giving me less than two days to finalize everything. The media frenzy alone is making it impossible to secure vendors without doubling the cost, and half of them are hesitant because of the recent scandal and the fact that they won't want to be caught upâ""Then offer them triple," I cut in flatly, arching a brow so I could look at him.Richardâs eyes widened. "Triple? Nathan, thatâs not how negotiations workâ""Thatâs exactly how negotiations work," I shot back. "You find their price, then you make it impossible for them to say no. Thatâs Business logics, Richard. I sugge