My head whipped to the entrance, and a sharp, icy chill ran down my spine. I could hear Blake's short breaths beside me matching mine.
"I knew it." Jazmine's lips flattened as she glared at me. "You truly are a gold digger," saying that, she turned away, walking to the elevator.
"What? No, wait! Jazmine, stop. It's not what you think it is." I dashed after her, my adrenal spiking, but before I could reach, the doors dinged to a close. "Please, wait." I banged on the metal, panic clutching my heart. Some of the employees roaming around in the hallway, gave me a weird look like I had gone crazy.
"Haze, stop. Let's go. Let's get out of here." Blake grabbed my arms and tugged me to the other lift.
"No." I shook my head. This couldn't be over. Not like this. He could not find out like this when I was this close to telling him everything myself. It was better he knew from me
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"What is it?" I frowned, eyeing the envelope."See for yourself." He streched it more to me, and I took it, tearing the top and sliding the paper out in my hand. Unfolding it, I examined the content, my frown deepening."He is transferring me to New York, a thousand miles away from you," Blake worded it for me, anger lacing in his voice.I gave the paper back to him, looking down and pretending to fix the sleeve of my sweatshirt. "It is good. Everything is over. You should keep away.""What!" His face creased in astonishment. "Hazel, what did this man do to you?" He looked at me like I had transformed into a ghost."He saved me, so many times," I told him."So did I," he retorted."I don't deny it." I looked him in the eye, hoping he could read the fear and concern in my face. "That is why I am asking you to leave, so wh
"You may try, but you can't lay a finger on Dimitri. I won't let you." The line went dead the second those words left my mouth. I called Montero first thing in the morning next day and let him know that he failed, and it felt so good. Although I should not have done this. But all the anger, all the frustration had built up in me for so long, they begged to be released. When I tried to suppress, they slithered inside my brain and took control. Yes, that's how it felt like. There was a colossal book of profanities in my head, waiting to be read to him, word by word, but I resisted. Because I had no other choice. One day though, I told myself. One day all those curses would reach the ears of their rightful owner, and I would make damn sure of it. I was going through the seating chart of a charity raising event Dimi
I went through his closet, grabbing the first shirt that reached my hand and threw it on in a haste. "Hazel, what happened?" Dimitri asked yet again, but my mind was too occupied with dreadful thoughts to fully register his words. "My purse... Where did I keep it?" I began digging through the mess of blankets on the bed when clasping my arm, Dimitri flipped me to face him. "Hazel, will you tell me what happened? What did Brooke say?" he questioned, eagerly wanting to know my answer. I swallowed. What would I tell him? That Joseph, who lived in the retirement house, I was betraying him to save, had a heart attack and was now fighting death in the hospital? Say it or not, but I already knew that it was the deed of Montero to punish me for disregarding his warnings. He wanted me to suffer. God, how could I be so selfish?
If one could go back in time and change the course of action, then I would have erased the day Daniel Montero came into my mother's life. I would have destroyed their marriage. I would have tossed him a thousand miles away from our lives. Only if we knew before. Daniel Montero came into our life like a soft flower petal, floating in the cool spring breeze, like someone you could rely your dear life on, but in the end, he turned into something dangerous, something poisonous like bleeding hearts. Movement in my hands, snapped my attention to the sleeping figure. But no. His eyes were still closed. He had been doing this since yesterday, moving his fingers, sometimes eyelids, but that was about it. My ears craved to hear his voice, to listen to him guiding me to the right path, to stop me from the sun I was about to commit. I rubbed my thumb over the soft,
My eyes snapped open by the buzzer of my phone, and I rose up, leaning on my elbow to grab the phone from the nightstand. It was a message from Brooke. The insurance company had agreed to cover the surgery and ICU cost, but there were still some other expenses that had to be borne by us, or more like by Montero, because he was in possession of all our money. Setting aside the blanket, I fully got up and scanned my eyes around. Dimitri was nowhere to be seen. I tip-toed out of the room towards the kitchen and sure enough, found him there, filleting a salmon with the utmost concentration and skill. My clutch tightened around my phone, and I whispered, "Please, forgive me." Skulking back inside his bedroom, I closed the door, so no sound could escape outside and found myself in front of the floor-to-ceiling shelf, my breathing bursting in and out. Lifting my foot, I let it hit the floor beside the couch as Dimitri did before, an
I pushed the file on the table like it was something poisonous and glared at Nina. "Have you lost your mind? I will never do it.""But this is sir's order." She enunciated each word clearly as if talking to a child."Screw him! I have done enough on his fucking orders. This-" I pointed an accusing finger at the manilla folder, containing the ominous papers that I had to trick Dimitri into singing, "-is beyond the boundaries now."She sighed dramatically and glanced up at Ryan who stood right beside her with his hands shoved into his pockets. His lips pulled up into a smirk, and he drew out his hands along with his phone."We knew you would be a pain in the ass as always," he spoke, tapping something on his phone and extending it to me. "So we came prepared."Frowning, I eyed it, a new sense of fear gripping my heart. "What?""Talk."
"I feel like kidnapping you to take you with me." I chuckled, staring at his intoxicating greys, my heart heavy with guilt and grief. We stood at the airport, in front of his private jet, bidding goodbyes for the journey. It had been five minutes already, yet we latched onto each other like siamese twins. "When will you come back?" I asked, my voice coming out in a whisper. "I'm not sure yet." He pressed his forehead against mine, sighing. "Maybe the day after tomorrow." His voice was uncertain and low like he hated the fact as well. I looked down, biting my lip. I already knew what the future had in store for me, and it would not be something pleasant. For the record, this might just be our last time together. The mere thought of it shattered my heart into a million pieces, making me feel suffocated. My eyes stung at the corners. "Hey, look at me." His hand grabbed my chin,
"What did you do?" Blake shouted, his eyes rounded. "Calm down, okay. I had to." Nearing me, he held my shoulders and jerked. "Smurfette, do you have any idea where this can land you? That man, when he finds out, do you think he will let you off? No, Haze. He didn't forgive his own mother for God's sake." "Will you stop with that? I told you he had other reasons," I hollered back. "Shh, guys. Keep it down if you don't wanna get kicked out of the hospital," Brooke interrupted, walking out of Joseph's room and glaring at us both. She was right. My eyes scanned around the hallway. People were looking at us like we had grown three extra brainless heads. Closing my eyes, I let out a loud breath while Blake released me, calming himself down as well. "I'm sorry, but you should have asked me, Smurfette," saying, he ran
Makeup is not a mask. Makeup is art. Makeup is Passion. Makeup is an expression. I found the quote to be true when my eyes fell on the mirror, and I gawked at the girl staring back. Her hair was swept up in a messy ballerina bun with curls falling around her round face, and her makeup was immaculately perfect. Smokey eyeshadow under freshly waxed eyebrows, made the baby blue in her eyes pop like a blue lagoon in a dark cave, and light pink lipstick adorned her lips in complement to the blush on her cheeks. My finger grazed along one of my flawless contoured cheekbones in awe. I felt like a pretty princess, fresh out of a disney castle. "Do you like it?" Caroline questioned, from beside me. She was the head of the makeup team Dimitri hired for me, the ultimate make-up queen. "I look so beautiful!" I gushed. &nbs
Tip-tap, tip-tap, like the steps of little babies, the seniors rushed out of the house on the front porch. Curiosity laced in their eyes, and excitement was expressed in the way their hands jerked. Standing before them, I cleared my throat. "Actually, I have brought someone to meet y'all today," I announced, not being able to hide the smile tearing through my lips continuously. "Who?" Lauren perked. "Who is it?" Ben asked, craning his head from side to side to look behind me as if I hid someone there. "Is it another new member?" Dorothy joined in the questioning spree. Chuckling at them, I glanced at the Rolls Royce awaiting in the driveway and gestured with my head. "Come out." Everyone's wandering gazes turned to that direction as the car door opened ajar and stayed like that for a few moments. The anticipation was
My eyes widened to their limits, before a body collided into mine, flying us into the hard floor. More screams resonated throughout the hall and more gunshots could be heard, but all that occupied my mind were those terrifying words. "Are you okay, Hazel?" Sylvester asked from above me, his eyes frantically scanning over my body. "He killed my mother," I muttered. "I'm sorry about that," he replied with pity lacing his voice. "He killed my mother," I repeated, letting the news sink in my head. Suddenly the world began to blur before my eyes, and time slowed down. All these years, I had been associating with my mother's killer. I had been believing his lies, thinking she died from a heart attack while... "He murdered her..." "Hazel?" "Montero killed her..." I gasped, but no air reached my l
I tip-toed inside, closing the door behind me and making sure a certain someone suspected. But before he came, I glanced around, messed through the drawers and shelves, finally spotting the file I had given Montero on the day of my doom. My smirk broadened as I fished out the lighter, I snatched from one of the guards at the front gate and lit it. That's when the door shot open and before me stood Montero's most loyal guard dog, Ryan. His eyes widened as I brought the papers in contact with the fire and they shrunk back, turning ashen little by little. "You bitch!" he screamed, pulling the file out of my hand and hauling it at the floor. His foot stepped over the papers repeatedly until the fire came to a cease. Then his crazed eyes turned to me, and he launched towards me, gripping my neck, hurling me against the wall behind. My heart curtailed in fear in one corner of my chest, but I faced him head on, sending him the best
The majestic, silvery hue of the night stretched over the calm water of the Michigan lake, yet it could not penetrate the depth where she held her darkest arcanum. Just like the crisp breeze that blew past me, yet failed to pacify the turmoil inside. I felt like I was in a vessel, lost and deserted far in the sea, with no direction to where I headed. Did he know something all this time? Or did he not? Those questions kept swirling in my head like an ingenious dolphin spinning over the surface of the sea. I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Dimitri might have known about my secret for God knew how long, yet he kept quiet. But... "Why?" A deep, low masculine voice sounded from behind, and I whipped around, a small frown appearing in between my brows. Dimitri stood there, a few feet away, just as still as the lake, but in those frazzled eyes, danced so many emotions.&n
Time seemed to slow down as we stared at each other. His eyes were blazing while mine probably showed hurt. I couldn't take the fact that he might have gotten back with Catherine. He perhaps replaced me already. But my thoughts came to a stop when the glass in his hand suddenly popped, and red liquid slowly dripped down his hand. What was concerning was that the drink he was having, was ember in color, not red. "Dimitri," I gasped. His eyes lifted to glare at me one more time, before he turned and strode away. "Wait, Dimitri." I was about to run behind him when a hand wrapped around my arm, stopping me. "Nah ah, now where do you think you're going?" Catherine spoke in her thin, high-pitched voice, her nails digging in my flesh. "He is hurt. He needs his hand treated," I gritted out.
"Here is your room, dear. Mr Montero will see you in the morning," saying Cora left. I nodded, my backpack slipping off my shoulder and falling on the marble floor with a thud. Following it, I slid against the door, cocooning myself into a ball. I was exhausted, so much I lacked the mere energy to lift my eyelids and take a look at the new inferno I had casted myself into. Not that I had not fought, because I did. I called a couple more personnels, literally begging them, but no one gutted enough to embroil with the Kingstons. So, once again, I was left with no more choices... *** "Hazel? Dearie, wake up. Hazel, darling?" I felt myself being shaken. Fluttering my eyes open, I tilted my head, only to feel a sharp ache shooting through my neck. A groan left me as I shut my eyes tight. "Are you okay, honey? Is it cramps? Why did you
Climbing into my car, I revved up the engine. It sickened me, thinking about where I was about to go, but for my brother, I was ready to cross all the oceans in the world. On the way, I passed the street that I had crossed five days a week for the past few months to go to work. But today as I drove away from it, it felt like I was driving away from my home, from a place that I had gotten so accustomed to that it physically hurt just from trying not to look that way. It was like my heart and mind was still there inside that fuscous cabin, only my body ran away, far away from that place. My eyes darted to my phone, and I had to employ all my willpower to restrain myself from reaching it and calling Dimitri again. Instead I drew out the pendant from inside my dress and clutched on it. I wondered if he felt the same, if he thought about me, if that burning yearning gnawed at his chest as well. But then a shaky sigh escaped my lips, rem
My eyes opened from the silky, warm rays of the morning sun, gracing my face and moved to my hand, dangling from the edge. White strips embraced my palm and fingers diagonally. I frowned, running my other hand through my hair and pressing it over my skull. My head throbbed like someone hammered it with utter hatred. Sitting upright, I looked back at my injured hand, inspecting it. What happened to me? My mind was blank. I couldn't remember a thing. Dragging myself out of the bed, I stood up, only to fall back down as the room began to spin. Groaning, I stayed put for another minute till the phase passed and got back to my feet. "Brooke?" I called, but no sound came out as my throat felt excessively sored, like someone had been rubbing sandpaper over it for days. Exiting my room, I looked around, spotting no one in sight. "Brooke?" I tried to call again, and a series of dry coughs left me. Careenin