~ANASTASIA~I was scared too; I feared for my father’s life, but being a mother, I had to pretend to be okay, to pretend nothing was wrong.“It’s nothing, baby; Grandpa is fine,” I said, stroking her hair as she was now in my arms hugging me tightly. Ivy was strong, but she had a soft spot for the ones she cared for, just like me, so I understood why she was shaken.My eyes were now on Margot, watching her closely as she spoke in a low tone. They spoke for like five minutes, if I'm not mistaken, before the call ended, and she handed me my phone, but I asked with my eyes for an explanation. I was still upset with Margot, but still, I knew she was the only one to tell me what was happening.“It's a document. I misplaced it, and your father couldn't find it.”“A document?”“Yes, Ms.”“Then why was Carmen sounding like Dad was in a critical condition or something?”“Oh yes, your father… He has become grumpy; I mean, it comes with age…” She nervously chuckled before she continued, “He was
~ANASTASIA~I was lost in my thoughts blaming myself when I felt a hand on my back; it was Ivy. She hugged my legs; I guess she realized I wasn't well. I wiped my tears before I turned to her.“Mommy, are you crying?” She asked; she couldn't tell as I was still in glasses.“No honey… I…” I sniffed, “I'm just, you know what, forget it; we will go and check schools and see which one is best.”“You're registering me for school?”“Yes, honey, I want you to be smart and have a career.”“Oh Mommy, thank you,” she said before she hugged my legs again. “I'm going to have a lot of friends.”“Yes, sweetie.”“Is Charlie coming?” she asked, and I shook my head. “That's fine; I will talk to Aunt Gia.”“Alright, baby, now say bye to Grandma so we can go check out the schools,” I said as I attended to my phone, which beeped with a notification.It was a message from Santiago reminding me of the ball, how I should be ready before five, and what I was to wear. I didn't bother responding as I put my ph
~ANASTASIA~“You know you can cancel, right?” I heard Vivi suggest, “I mean, you don't have to if you're not ready. I'm not going; apparently, Harriot was too poor for them to invite, so I decided to stay. Like, how can I go out and leave my husband behind?” She didn't sound okay at all.I was going to tell her my situation with Santiago, how Trey’s life depended on me… on my decisions, but I couldn't; she seemed to be going through life herself, so I cleared my voice and told her I would go, and I would be fine.“At least just make an appearance, show them I am back,” I said.“Wait, I'm still confused. How did you get invited when they literally hate you? No offense, but—”“Yes, I'm going in Gianna's place, Santiago thought… thought it would be good to show them I was back.” I lied.“Alright, if you say so, call me if that bastard and his mistress give you a hard time, okay?” She said, and I couldn't help but get emotional. I had her, even though she was also dealing with her own pro
~ANASTASIA~With that, I cleared my throat, got my lipgloss, and added to make my lips even more glossy before I comfortably rested my head on the seat.‘You can avoid them; you don't have to see them.’ I convinced myself.Santiago joined me shortly, and the car started moving. All I thought of was Trey, so it gave me the courage to go on.“We are here; remember, you're here for business partners. I'm sure you still remember them, right?” Santiago asked, and I nodded my head, yes, I've been gone for years, but even when I was married to William, he still took me along to important events like this when Jimena was not in the mood, traveling, or when he was required to go with me so I knew which ones to target.“Of course,” I said after clearing my voice.“Good, oh Mr. Rogers is here too; please avoid trouble at all costs; it will ruin your business opportunities.” I nodded before he said we were ready to step out.The driver opened the door for me, and I walked to the other side to mee
~ANASTASIA~Santiago seemed to have noticed I was trying to hide from someone, so he turned to look before he turned to Mr. West and told him we had to say hello to someone, and with that he made us walk toward Mrs. Frost.“Oh my God, so it is true?” Mrs. Frost sounded shocked, and with that, she freed me from Santiago before taking me in her arms. “Ana?” She was hugging me so tightly that I felt like I would break at any moment.“Yes, Mrs. Frost, my sister is back,” Santiago said while Mrs. Frost pulled away.“I’m so happy; Martinez was miserable when she left.” She said, Martinez is Dad's first name. “How have you been dear? How’s your daughter?” She kindly asked, and I nodded, then forced a smile and told her everything was going well.“Ivy is doing pretty good too,” I said, and she smiled.“Oh, I came with your fiancé; he left to greet his partners, and I came straight here as soon as I saw you.” She said she was referring to Hudson; well, I didn't expect her to be this kind to me
~ANASTASIA~I don't even know why seeing the ring made it feel so real; it felt like my marriage with William was just ending today. I guess even when I refused to admit it, I still had hoped that somehow we would fix it and get back together. I was okay with the little he gave me. I was okay with it all but this; god, I couldn't take it anymore.“Tell them, honey,” Mrs. Frost’s voice shook me out of my thoughts; I felt tears stinging the corners of my eyes.“I... I have to use the bathroom.” And with that, I ran out of there with no direction as to where I was going; I just wanted to get away from there, get away from Jimena, William, and everyone else.My heart was beating in my chest; I could hear it through my ears. God, why was I acting like I hadn't prepared for this like Jimena hadn't called me last night and told me about it? Why did it still hurt like I was just finding out today?I was lost in thoughts but sure felt it when I bumped into the wall, “Ouch!” I complained and l
~ANASTASIA~I calmed myself as much as I wanted to scream; I didn't want to attract more attention to myself.I looked up at his face with a bored expression. “What do you want, William?” I asked; he didn't respond; instead, he looked shocked, as if he wasn’t expecting me to have such courage. “Shouldn't you be with your fiancé?”“Are you jealous?”“What?” I chuckled, “Am I jealous?” I couldn't believe he was asking such a stupid question. When we were together he told me I had no right to be jealous so what a foolish question. “Why should I? I'm not your wife anymore, so who you marry is not my business.”“You're jealous,” he said with a mischievous smile. “I told you, you thought you could leave me; you're the one who drugged me so I could sleep with you. I should be the one to leave you.”“Blame game again; God, you're so sick.”“Yes, I'm sick of you. Following me around, did you think I would cancel the engagement when I see you?”“W-what?” Okay, he was out of his mind. “Let me go
~WILLIAM~I walked straight to the kitchen, went to the drink cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of whisky, and a shot glass.I walked to the kitchen counter, jumped up, and sat on it before opening the bottle and pouring the drink into the glass.I don't know what I was feeling; I mean, I should be happy that I'm marrying Jimena, that at least Anastasia would not be in our way anymore. This should be good news, but it wasn't; I wasn't happy at all. How could I be?Hudson marrying Ana? I couldn't let that happen, and the way she said it earlier sounded like she was happy.Hudson was the man she was supposed to marry, the man her family chose for her, till she decided to drug and take advantage of me. I agreed to marry her to save my fortune, and even when I was going to change my mind at the last minute, as she was a total stranger, she told me she was pregnant. I just couldn't abandon a pregnant woman.She owes me; Anastasia owes me because when her family disowned her, I accepted her.
~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