~ANASTASIA~
I didn't understand what William was doing here, so I quickly stood up and walked to the door with Dad following behind.Reaching the door, I was shocked to find that William and Trey were taking turns on each other—hitting each other like little kids on the grass.“Oh my god, somebody stop them!” I screamed, and that's when the gateman and two guards rushed to them and separated them. I couldn't just wait by the door, so I walked to them and asked the guards to free them since they were both struggling and wanting to hit each other more.“Trey, go inside,” I said, and Trey shook his head.“You're not speaking to him, sis; this bastard mistreated you for four years. Give me a good reason why I should leave him alone with you.” Trey questioned."He's in my house; I can take care of myself here, and besides, the guards are here; he can't do anything to me,” I s~ANASTASIA~ You won't believe I've been married to William for four years and still never saw this side of him. With the mistreatment, I still never imagined him calling me a thief. “You're unbelievable.” “I know you have it.” "Well, my father is experiencing a little trouble now, but that does not mean we are desperate for money.” "I honestly don't care the reason you took it; you know how Jimena is.” “I don't care about Jimena!” I yelled as I was tired of hearing her name, “You love her; then fine, go be with her and stop bothering me.” “What is that?” “What is what?” “I knew it; you still want me,” he said, a smile on his lips as if that's all he wanted to see. Well, if I didn't know him well, I would think he wanted a second chance, but this was William; he would never love anyone apart from Jimena, and besides, I was nothing more than the villai
~JIMENA~ I took a sip of my glass of milk and then glanced at my phone. I don't even know why I was checking at this point when it was clear that William was not going to call. I don't know where to start; this was all so shocking to me. Why was William behaving like this? I mean, a few days ago he was talking about our marriage, how he was going to divorce Anastasia and marry me, how he was going to give me and our child the world, so what changed? I kept asking myself if I had done something wrong, but nothing came to mind. I don't remember doing anything that could have upset him. “Did he fall in love with her?” I asked myself in a low tone as I was in the kitchen still waiting for him to return as he stormed out earlier, leaving his mother and me. “It is like he doesn't want to marry me?” I said as I remembered earlier when he said he didn't care about our honeymoon and his reaction when Carol, his mother, said she was going to move our wedding date. "No, he loves me; we've
~JIMENA~ “Shit!” I cursed as the call ended, “What am I going to do now?” I asked myself as I started pacing around, “They made it clear, god!” I slapped my cheek but quickly rubbed it as it started to tingle in pain. They made it clear that if their plan got ruined, I would be the one to pay for it. “But I... I can’t leave William now.” I said to myself as I stopped pacing, “Mom, she knows what to do.” I said as I got my phone, and with trembling fingers, I dialed Mom's number, and she picked on the third. “Sweetheart, I’m in the middle of something… can…can you call back la-” “You can fuck him later; I need you.” I cut her as I could hear moans; yes, that was my mom. Since Dad died, all she did was sleep around with young men. “Okay, that’s rude,” she said, but I could hear movements, which meant she was now seated. “What happened?” “It’s William.” “What did he d
~ANASTASIA~ I woke up about thirty minutes ago; I had already taken a shower and prepared myself for the day. I had to see Harriot today for my first appointment. Sadly, it wasn’t weird that William was not going with me. I mean, even with Ivy, he never attended any of the appointments; he was only present at her birth, which he made sure to trend on the news as that was his main goal. I was standing in front of the mirror combing my rich chocolate brown hair. I haven’t looked at myself in a mirror in such a long time. Marrying William somehow made me question myself if I was just that ugly, whenever I looked in the mirror, I saw that ugly woman who destroyed William's life, so I refrained from looking, but now that I wanted to rebuild my confidence, it was going to be difficult, but I had to try. I noticed I had bags under my eyes, so I quickly picked the foundation and hid them. I was pregnant, so I was so emotional that even a little thing made me cry. Last night, after t
~ANASTASIA~ I couldn't believe it was happening again—Dad choosing Carmen and this time Carol's side too. I could feel my tears threatening to fall, but I bit my inner cheeks, keeping them in; this was not the time nor the place to cry. “Really?” I tried to sound confident, “I should publicly embarrass myself?” “Honey-” “Don't you dare!” I yelled as Carmen almost came to me; she really knew how to play nice; I mean, she just agreed to me publicly humiliating myself. “You need to calm down.” Dad said, and I shook my head, “I might not agree with Carol now, but what she's saying is making sense.” “Why should I go and embarrass myself?” “For peace...” Carmen answered, “We, your family know the truth, so it won't matter what the public will say, right, love?” She turned to Dad, who nodded. “If what the public says is not important, then why bother holdin
~ANASTASIA~ I was back in my room packing the things I left out while Trey was outside preparing the car. I just prayed that Carol kept her word; she said if I was leaving, there was no need for me to call for a press conference as she would make sure her son married Jimena as soon as possible. Well, it hurt me, but there was nothing I could do. William loved her, and it was for the best. I wanted to leave Seattle as soon as possible; I just wanted to be with my daughter now. “Of course, honey, but please don’t tell Daddy, and I have a surprise for you,” I said as I looked at the phone. I was on a video call with Ivy. “Surprise?” She still couldn’t believe I was going to tell her, “Tell me? Is it a new bag? A brand I haven’t seen?” Yes, Ivy liked expensive things; at her age, she was already aware of brands, and she’s not to blame but William; to make up for his absence in her life, he spoils her with expensive things.
~ANASTASIA~ My eyes were on the clock. I didn't understand what was taking him so long. “Calm down; everything is going to be okay,” Carmen said, but I ignored her as my eyes darted to the door. “Good, the next flight leaves in an hour; let’s hope this fool is back by then,” Trey said, Yes, Trey hated Harriot as well; his crime was being friends with William, but I didn’t hate Harriot; I mean, he was not the reason William was who he is. Dad asked him to show some respect, but he just rolled his eyes and turned to me, “You’ll be fine, sis; I won’t let anything happen to you.” He said, and I nodded my head, and that’s when the door opened, and I quickly sat up. “What’s wrong with my baby?” I asked as soon as Harriot walked in. “Speak.” Trey, who was trying so hard to hold in his temper said. “Calm down everyone,” Harriot said before he looked into his notepad. “I thought it was a big issue, but it’s just stress, th
~WILLIAM~ Leaving Anastasia’s house, I went straight to a bar. I was in pain as that Trey guy had the guts to hit me even knowing his family company was at stake. I didn’t care about the pain though, and I don’t know why I was feeling weird that Anastasia asked guards to throw me out. I thought she would be asking for forgiveness; I expected her to be on her knees, but instead, she did that. I honestly didn’t understand her. I mean, if she was playing hard to get me, was she not afraid of losing me? Because as far as I remember, Anastasia was in love with me; even when she found out I was cheating on her with Jimena, she still stayed, so this... this wasn’t making any sense. I was already parked outside the bar; I don’t know what I was waiting for, but I couldn’t bring myself to go in. “I need to be sober,” I said to myself, and with that, I started the car and drove away. Drinking now would not help. I needed solutions because there
~ANASTASIA~I was so lost in my thoughts thinking about the marriage that when I heard my name, I jumped.“Yes?” I said and cleared my throat, as it was embarrassing; I had even forgotten we were standing in front of Gabrielle, the friend of Hudson’s contract lover. I couldn't let her think I was to be messed with.“She was asking what you think of the plan,” Hudson said, and I nodded my head before I looked at her plan as she was holding the poster up for me.“How many bedrooms?” I asked after a glance.“Seven, we have the master bedroom, two girls' rooms, two boys' rooms, and two guest rooms.”“Oh, actually…” I brought out the plan I drew earlier with Carmen: “I was thinking six, one master bedroom, two guest rooms, and about our children we will figure it out.”“Yes, that's why I added the extra, as most families have four: two girls and two boys.”“We are not most families, so six.” I sounded confident.“I mean we could turn it into the playroom; I'll see what I can put there,” sh
~ANASTASIA~It's been hours; Carmen and I were still in the library. She was now teaching me how to run a household. I wasn't just doing this for Hudson, but we had three children, so I had to be prepared, I never lived with Ivy, so I didn't know how to take care of a family.Two maids came and brought us snacks as we hadn't left the library in quite a while. Carmen was telling me about infidelity and how I was supposed to deal with that when my phone started ringing.“It's Hudson; I need to pick it,” I said, and she nodded, asking me to go ahead. I stood up and walked to the window before pressing the accept button. “Hudson?”“Anastasia, I'm on my way; I want us to pass by the building before we get home.”“Home?”“Yes, I bought us an apartment; it is safe, and at least there we'll have privacy.” He said. He had earlier mentioned moving out of the hotel as we didn't know who took that video, so privacy wasn't secured.“Oh, yes, sure, you know you don't have to call me every time you'
~ANASTASIA~She turned to Dad, who shook his head, clearly not happy with Carmen.So William re-proposed to Jimena? That means they were really getting married.“Sweetheart, Carmen didn't mean to say that to hurt you.” Dad said, and Carmen nodded, “She just—”“Dad, why are you apologizing?” I asked; I mean, I was married to Hudson, and William marrying Jimena meant I would be left alone, and right now all I wanted was peace; I had a baby to prepare for, and all these recent dramas distracted me. “Hudson is a good man, and Grandma was right; he is my match.” I lied about the match part because I didn't want Dad to worry.“That's good to hear, love; your mom would be so happy for you.”“Thanks, Dad.”“Okay, enough with William. Ana, I heard you found an area for your home; how is it going? How many bedrooms are you going to have? You know it's a home; there will be a name attached to it, so think of guests and not only the present kids but also the future.”“Yes, Gabrielle is helping us
~ANASTASIA~“No, that's a six!” Ivy loudly said.“No, it's a nine.” Dad insisted.“Oh my god, give me a second.” She said, and Dad nodded, then turned to me while I shook my head. Ivy walked to the dresser and then picked up her tablet. I watched as she typed something before she came to us, then showing the screen to Dad, she repeated, “It says this is six; nine is this one.” She sounded annoyed, and I couldn't help but bite my inner cheeks before commenting.“Grandpa is old, sweetheart; he can't see clearly.”“Yes, but he's being stubborn.”“It's okay; go get Grandma; Grandpa needs to take his medicine,” I told her, and she scoffed before leaving. She was so annoyed at Father; as soon as the door closed, Dad turned to me, and we started laughing.We laughed so hard until we lost our breath, and now we had to gasp for air.“My God, she's very smart,” Dad commented.“Yes, she is, and she hates it when she's right and someone insists she's wrong,” I said, and he nodded.“I loved messin
~ANASTASIA~These are the consequences of being from a wealthy family: whatever you do is the public's business because I'm sure just one of the people who were in the bar recorded that video and released it on the internet.“You… kissed him back?”“Hudson, I… I can explain.”“Yes, because I'm confused.”“I didn't know he was there.”“Why did you kiss him back?”“I don't know; I've been married to him for years. Do you think our connection will just disappear that same day?”“It was always you; he never felt the same.”“I know, okay, I'm sorry; I swear I didn't mean to.” That's all I could say; I really had no excuse as I was mad at myself for kissing William back, “but I slapped him so hard after—”“The kiss.”“Hudson?” I stood up as he turned to leave.“I'm going to try and get it fixed,” he said, and I nodded as he got his phone from his pockets and then walked to the bedroom. I watched him disappear before I turned my attention back to the TV screen.Somehow I was glad Hudson was
~JIMENA~I mean, I looked this way because of him. I was this dirty trying to make sure our marriage happened while he was here, clean, and not just that, but watching a movie, unbothered, and eating popcorn like everything was okay?!“You honestly need to stop going out at this time; what would your fans say if they saw you like this?”“My fans?”“Yes,” he plainly answered, then turned his attention back to the TV. I didn't understand how the man I left a few hours ago was already so sober; is it that he pretended to be drunk?I cleared my throat before I walked to where he was; his attention was on the TV, so he didn't hear me until I snatched the bowl of popcorn from his hands.“I think you should have a shower before eating,” he said, sounding unbothered.“Is that it?”“That's what?”“You're not going to ask what happened to me?”“I did, but you didn't—”“You asked where I was coming from, William.”“Isn't it the same thing?”“No, it's not. How does where I'm coming from and what
~ANASTASIA~I couldn't believe Hudson; I mean, how could he even think that? I stood up from the bed as he tried to touch me.“What is going on?” I asked.“What do you mean?” He sounded clueless like what he was trying to do was normal.“This, you—oh my god.” I rubbed my forehead. “You are thinking of sex with everything going on?”“We need to consummate the marriage.”“And you think this is the best time?”“I mean?”“Maddison is carrying your child.”“I will take care of that; nothing to worry about.”“Well, I am worried; my reputation—Lancaster's reputation—is at stake.”“Don't worry; Maddison will be taken care of.” He repeated, and he was sounding annoying at this point; all I could hear was, [She will be taken care of] but how?“Listen, I really don't have a problem with you sleeping with your mistress, but what I'm asking is that you be discreet about it.”“What?”“I mean—”“No, did you just give me, your husband, permission to sleep with another woman?” He sounded shocked.“You
~JIMENA~I was still determined to follow William, my eyes darting between the road ahead and the screen.We were now out of the roadblock; I didn't want William to notice me. He was very smart, but I was smarter; that's why I let three cars overtake me.I was busy canceling calls from Mom, who called me like I had lost my mind. I knew she wouldn't stop calling; that's why I picked up on the fourth ring and told her I was busy.She didn't want to end the call asking me to go back and be calm as usual, but I was not going to sit and play good wife when William was out here chasing his ex-wife, so I ended the call in her ear and pursued William.He seemed to have arrived, and of course, it was at a hotel; I knew it must mean Anastasia was there too.I waited for him to park his car, and after he left the parking lot, I also went ahead and parked. Then getting out of my car, I snatched a black cap from the man I bumped into; he called me crazy as he didn't chase or ask for his cap. I nee
~JIMENA~Dr. Luke confirmed to Mom that Anastasia was not pregnant, but she didn’t believe him. After ending the call, she told me to keep an eye on Anastasia: “Spy on her if you must; you know what it will mean if she’s really pregnant.”“Mom, she’s not; if she was, he would have told you.” I insisted I really didn’t want to entangle myself with Anastasia anymore. “I just want to get married to William and maybe, just maybe, beat Anastasia in the fashion world,” I said, referring to the new jewelry company William just opened up.He didn’t tell me about it, but I lied to Ana that he opened it for me. I had to convince William to let me manage it so I could prove a point to Ana, and while at it I wanted to beat Anastasia’s jewelry company.There are jewelry competitions, and it has been Ana’s company always wins the competitions I wanted to win and take her position. That way she will know I didn’t just take her home but her career too.“You’re a star; of course, you're going to beat