As soon as we arrive at the sprawling apartment where the party is being held, I quickly realise that either Charlie lied about the populace in attendance or she severely underestimated the party's reach. Because it is definitely more than just my classmates here, there are so many unfamiliar faces, that my anxiety about being in a crowd shoots up. Choking me. Rachel notices me blanking out and directs us to the kitchen where there are several options of alcohol available and people going in and out, taking their choices, mixing lethal cocktails and serving themselves. There is beer, vodka, whiskey, there is even red and white wine. It is a madness. I think I can perceive the smell of weed in the air. I know I am way out of my depths here and immediately decide to leave. But then Rachel quickly mixes a cocktail with more straight vodka than cranberry juice and hands me a cup, I take a sip and decide that I can stay for just a little longer. It is free booze afterall. The music is lo
"What?" I manage to whisper, feeling faint. Two weeks of healing, coming undone in a few seconds. "I am really surprised you didn't know. The vow renewal is in two days. They are throwing a lavish party. Well, Christine is the one spearheading the whole thing. Stephane has been suspiciously quiet, but that is just his personality anyway. It is like a second wedding essentially. And it is the talks of the tabloids." Benjamin twists the knife deeper. He can't possibly know that that is what he is doing to me. He is oblivious. Shredding my heart to pieces. "They are getting back together?“ I ask, breathing the words. I can't believe it. But why would Benjamin lie to me about this? And yet, I remain rooted in my disbelief. It is the only way I can stop myself from breaking down."Yeah. It was a shock to everyone. I know all this because I was home for a bit and my mother would not shut up about it. Making calls and cackling aloud with all their friends." "They are getting back together
The car rolls to a stop at the entrance to the mansion. It is close to midnight and I don't snap out of my trance as I make my way to the house. What am I doing here? I am not sure I know. I was led here. That sounds insane. But it is what it is. I need to see Stephane and have him tell me to my face that he is remarrying my mother. That he had no intention of fulfilling his promise to me. That he is really just going to discard me like the time we spent together meant nothing to him. That it was all for nothing. I don't care if my mother will be there. I don't care anymore. I just want him to look me in the eyes and tell me that it was truly over between us. I am still dressed in my party dress. The make-up and heels. My made up hair. I don't look how I feel on the inside. I can't be sure. An upheaval is going on and I am powerless to define it. The security agents at the gate let me in without much hassle. They recognise me as Christine's daughter. Entering the house and a wave o
"Like hell I can't!" I raise my voice. My mother winces, like I reached out and slapped her across the face. "Aleen. Please. Don't be insensitive." She says, her tone is undeniably angry and tense. She is over her shock of me walking in on her. "What? What did you just say? Insensitive?" I can't believe my ears. Can't believe my eyes. This was the same woman who was losing her mind over her husband's alleged cheating. She coaxed a confession from him, she was projecting all along. "First, before we get into all these. Can you just answer the question? Why did you come here at this time? It is past midnight. Dressed like that? What is going on, Aleen?" She has the gall to look genuine. The white bulbous bedcovers still wrapped messily around her naked frame, smelling of alcohol and sex, hair messed up, makeup and lipstick smudged, looking like that and she has the gall to question my reason for visiting. She is deflecting, but she doesn't know that I have an even better reason to d
"Richard?" I whisper, still stunned by her rant. She is exposing herself to the wrong person and it makes me feel conflicted listening to her. She nods in the direction of the bedroom, I follow her gesture and I flinch. He is still there. I can't see clearly if he is still naked, I hope not, but he is there, watching us down here. I see his dark eyes shrouded in even more shadows and I feel fear lick down my spine at the lifelessness in those dark depths. Who is this man? How come I have never met him or even heard of him before?Well the answer is that my mother and I aren't close. Of course I don't know her lovers and whatnot. I barely even know her friends and they are loud and social enough. Also, looking directly at the stranger, I can tell that he is definitely older than I thought him to be. Though definitely younger than my mom and Stephane, but he is also way older than me too. He is middle aged. His body still retains the lean firmness of youth. There is something sinister
Stephane POV: I am getting married in two days. Getting remarried, more like. Renewing our vows. All those adjectives to describe something that makes me feel like there is a cavernous void in my chest where my heart is supposed to be. Empty. Hollowed out. Dreary. The whole thing. It might be the whiskey and vodka and beer in my system. I have locked myself away in the penthouse since yesterday. Christine didn't mind. All she wants is for me to just show up on the day of the ceremony, prepared to rededicate myself to her. To tell her she won. She offered me a deal I couldn't get out of. A week ago, when I was preparing our divorce with the lawyer, she suddenly flipped out on me, going crazy and trying to physically attack me in the presence of my lawyers, I was too shocked to react. She had led me to believe up until that moment that she wanted nothing to do with me. That she wanted the divorce. I was very generous with her settlement. And deep down, I was rejoicing. It was wrong
Aleen's POV:: "Your tardiness is unacceptable, Aleen," my stepfather's baritone voice boomed in the dimly lit sitting room, sending shivers down my spine. In that moment, a mix of fear, realization, and anticipation coursed through me as I squinted, attempting to locate his position in the room. My heart raced when I saw a looming figure advancing towards me. Every nerve in my body tingled in ways I had never experienced before. "Damn it, Aleen! He is your father," a voice in my head scolded, but my body arrogantly ignored it. In the presence of Stéphane, my senses were rendered useless, my body subjected to his every whim. There was something about this man that had a hold over me, something that made me want to throw caution to the wind and beg him to take me as he pleased. From the first time my mother introduced me to Stéphane as her soon-to-be husband after the death of my father three years ago, I knew he was trouble. Standing before me, tall and commanding, exuding a mascul
Aleen's POV::A moan was coaxed from me, as he gently nipped my lower lip. I could sense his hesitation, likely due to the myriad factors at play. He was my mother's husband, my stepfather, a man two decades my senior, everything about this felt so wrong, yet so undeniably right. Deep within, I acknowledged the taboo nature of our actions, the disapproval it would garner, but in that moment, it was all eclipsed by the intoxicating feeling of being with him.If Stephane didn't touch me within the next few seconds, I would lose my sanity."I don't know what you want me to say," I replied, attempting to deceive him, my words emerging like sharp, bitter barbs. Dammit! I wasn't supposed to be accountable to this man, even though he was my stepfather. As an adult, I had every right to live my life and go out as I pleased, free from the burden of accountability. Yet, a part of me yearned for his dominance, willingly submitting to him."Daddy," I murmured softly.With those words, the last sh
Stephane POV: I am getting married in two days. Getting remarried, more like. Renewing our vows. All those adjectives to describe something that makes me feel like there is a cavernous void in my chest where my heart is supposed to be. Empty. Hollowed out. Dreary. The whole thing. It might be the whiskey and vodka and beer in my system. I have locked myself away in the penthouse since yesterday. Christine didn't mind. All she wants is for me to just show up on the day of the ceremony, prepared to rededicate myself to her. To tell her she won. She offered me a deal I couldn't get out of. A week ago, when I was preparing our divorce with the lawyer, she suddenly flipped out on me, going crazy and trying to physically attack me in the presence of my lawyers, I was too shocked to react. She had led me to believe up until that moment that she wanted nothing to do with me. That she wanted the divorce. I was very generous with her settlement. And deep down, I was rejoicing. It was wrong
"Richard?" I whisper, still stunned by her rant. She is exposing herself to the wrong person and it makes me feel conflicted listening to her. She nods in the direction of the bedroom, I follow her gesture and I flinch. He is still there. I can't see clearly if he is still naked, I hope not, but he is there, watching us down here. I see his dark eyes shrouded in even more shadows and I feel fear lick down my spine at the lifelessness in those dark depths. Who is this man? How come I have never met him or even heard of him before?Well the answer is that my mother and I aren't close. Of course I don't know her lovers and whatnot. I barely even know her friends and they are loud and social enough. Also, looking directly at the stranger, I can tell that he is definitely older than I thought him to be. Though definitely younger than my mom and Stephane, but he is also way older than me too. He is middle aged. His body still retains the lean firmness of youth. There is something sinister
"Like hell I can't!" I raise my voice. My mother winces, like I reached out and slapped her across the face. "Aleen. Please. Don't be insensitive." She says, her tone is undeniably angry and tense. She is over her shock of me walking in on her. "What? What did you just say? Insensitive?" I can't believe my ears. Can't believe my eyes. This was the same woman who was losing her mind over her husband's alleged cheating. She coaxed a confession from him, she was projecting all along. "First, before we get into all these. Can you just answer the question? Why did you come here at this time? It is past midnight. Dressed like that? What is going on, Aleen?" She has the gall to look genuine. The white bulbous bedcovers still wrapped messily around her naked frame, smelling of alcohol and sex, hair messed up, makeup and lipstick smudged, looking like that and she has the gall to question my reason for visiting. She is deflecting, but she doesn't know that I have an even better reason to d
The car rolls to a stop at the entrance to the mansion. It is close to midnight and I don't snap out of my trance as I make my way to the house. What am I doing here? I am not sure I know. I was led here. That sounds insane. But it is what it is. I need to see Stephane and have him tell me to my face that he is remarrying my mother. That he had no intention of fulfilling his promise to me. That he is really just going to discard me like the time we spent together meant nothing to him. That it was all for nothing. I don't care if my mother will be there. I don't care anymore. I just want him to look me in the eyes and tell me that it was truly over between us. I am still dressed in my party dress. The make-up and heels. My made up hair. I don't look how I feel on the inside. I can't be sure. An upheaval is going on and I am powerless to define it. The security agents at the gate let me in without much hassle. They recognise me as Christine's daughter. Entering the house and a wave o
"What?" I manage to whisper, feeling faint. Two weeks of healing, coming undone in a few seconds. "I am really surprised you didn't know. The vow renewal is in two days. They are throwing a lavish party. Well, Christine is the one spearheading the whole thing. Stephane has been suspiciously quiet, but that is just his personality anyway. It is like a second wedding essentially. And it is the talks of the tabloids." Benjamin twists the knife deeper. He can't possibly know that that is what he is doing to me. He is oblivious. Shredding my heart to pieces. "They are getting back together?“ I ask, breathing the words. I can't believe it. But why would Benjamin lie to me about this? And yet, I remain rooted in my disbelief. It is the only way I can stop myself from breaking down."Yeah. It was a shock to everyone. I know all this because I was home for a bit and my mother would not shut up about it. Making calls and cackling aloud with all their friends." "They are getting back together
As soon as we arrive at the sprawling apartment where the party is being held, I quickly realise that either Charlie lied about the populace in attendance or she severely underestimated the party's reach. Because it is definitely more than just my classmates here, there are so many unfamiliar faces, that my anxiety about being in a crowd shoots up. Choking me. Rachel notices me blanking out and directs us to the kitchen where there are several options of alcohol available and people going in and out, taking their choices, mixing lethal cocktails and serving themselves. There is beer, vodka, whiskey, there is even red and white wine. It is a madness. I think I can perceive the smell of weed in the air. I know I am way out of my depths here and immediately decide to leave. But then Rachel quickly mixes a cocktail with more straight vodka than cranberry juice and hands me a cup, I take a sip and decide that I can stay for just a little longer. It is free booze afterall. The music is lo
"I already told them that we would show up, Aleen. Please don't make me look like a liar." Charlie whines, standing over me in bed. I try to pull the covers over my head but she stops me, yanking it away. I groan in protest, but she doesn't yield. She pulls the entire duvet off my body, I have been in my pajamas for over three days and it looks like it. It has been two weeks. Two weeks since I came back from Stephane's penthouse, completely emotionally wrecked. And I am still wrecked. Maybe not as badly as the first week, I managed to go for classes this week after all, but I am still so tender from the heartache that rocked my world, that I am still hiding from the world. Still not interested in anything that I should be interested in. Most especially this annoying party my classmates are throwing to celebrate the end of the semester before exams. Exams are starting in a week, and I am as unprepared as I have never been, it is almost comical because I am not even particularly tense
"It is the only way, Aleen. I am so sorry but it is the only way. I have to make sure you are safe and removed from this mess as much as possible. Christine is out to get you, she is raging and I can't blame her, we didn't end up how she hoped we would. I was cruel to her. I was selfish with you. It is all my fault and I need to remedy it before it is too late. Please, give me the grace to do that, Aleen." Stephane tries to walk to me, but I take a step back away from him, apprehensive and not knowing exactly why. I feel so many emotions and I can't name them. Can't follow their logic, or lack thereof. "But you said you loved me. Does that not mean anything? Does it not count for anything?" I whisper, my voice shaking as I do my best to swallow my tears. I can't keep crying and reinforcing his view of me as an helpless child. "It means everything, Aleen. It means everything. That is why I have to do this." Stephane says, his brows knit together, like he is in physical pain. It is no
"You understand why I have to do this, why we have to do this. Please tell me you understand." Stephane is still on his knees next to me. It is so unnatural to be looking at him from this vantage angle, our usual dynamic is me looking up at him and now I am looking down to meet his eyes, I am too overwhelmed by my feelings to care much. He doesn't seem to mind. He seems content down there, hands on my legs, unsure. "I don't." I say, my heart is shattering into a million pieces. And I am not exaggerating. It feels exactly like that. A million jagged pieces stabbing me, wounding me further. "Just till the dust settles, love. We have to stay away from eachother until I settle Christine. We are dissolving our marriage and she is very sensitive right now. She has been snooping around, trying to figure out who the other woman is. I have to protect you. And maybe protect her too. This is not something you guys can come back from and I don't think I would be able to forgive myself if I am t