~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.
~WILLIAM~I looked up at Jimena, who was now shaking her head in disbelief. “Jimena, I—”“Save it. Save it, William, I mean, I always knew there was something fishy about the marriage; I just didn't know it was… this?” She eyed me head to toe.“I think you're angry. Why don't we have this in the morning? The doctor said stress is not good for you, so—”“Oh, now you're pretending to care?”“What do you mean? You know how much I care for you.”“If you knew stress is not good for me, why the hell did you kiss Anastasia?”“Oh, that again…” I ran my hand through my hair. “I'm going to bed,” I said and turned to get my bottle, but before I could even get there, Jimena stopped me as she suddenly appeared in my way. God, I don't even know how she kept doing that when she was pregnant; she moved like a vampire.“I said no one is sleeping,” she said, blocking my way. I closed my eyes and calmed down as I remembered what happened the last time we had such a fight; she ended up in the hospital, a
~ANASTASIA~I woke up feeling better. Last night I thought I would lose my baby; Santiago called doctor Luke, as I couldn't afford to go to the hospital. William was too smart; he had loyal people working in hospitals, and so we knew he could have gotten the news of my pregnancy.Home, Doctor Luke checked and examined me; it turned out the wetness on my panties was harmless, my baby was fine, but he warned me to rest as the recent stress was weakening my body, which wouldn't be good for the baby.Doctor Luke recommended a few things that I was supposed to do to avoid what had happened to the report itself.So just like he said, I woke up feeling better, but since I was told to rest, Carmen insisted I stay in bed.I walked to the bathroom and took a shower while Carmen said she would be back with my breakfast.It didn't take long to finish putting myself together, as I was now done.I was on my bed and scrolling through my phone. I was bored, and even though I wanted to work, I cared f
~ANASTASIA~ My mood was suddenly ruined, as hearing Williams's name was like rubbing salt in a wound. “Ms., are you sure?” “Don't make me repeat myself; trash them!” “Go on, you know her condition; why are you making her shout?” Carmen questioned, and she quickly apologized before she picked up the bouquet and walked toward the door. “You forgot this,” I said, referring to the gift bag. She turned and then came toward the table to get it, but before she could reach it, a knock was heard on the door, making her rush to get it, which she didn't need to. But as soon as she opened the door, the person pushed her out of the way and came running to me. “Ow, Ana?” It was Vivienne. “I'm fine, Vivi; you didn't need to come here. I told you.” I said, and then eyed Carmen to leave. Vivi and I talked about things besties would talk about, things that we didn't want others to hear. If you have a best friend, you will
~ANASTASIA~Vivi looked as shocked as me; well, I was not going to fall for his games. Although this was the first he ever sent such a thoughtful gift, I was not a fool, so I looked away from Vivi.“You’re right…” Vivi said, which made me slowly turn to her, “This gift means nothing compared to what he put you through.” She said, and I nodded my head. “Oh, and that’s not the only reason I’m here.”“Okay?” I was curious as she reached into her handbag and brought out a card.“The meeting is set this afternoon at a fancy restaurant.”“What meeting?” I was confused.“Oh, we found a business investor. You know how much the company needs an investor.”“And he’s willing to invest?”Vivi nodded, confirming, “And what’s more he’s one of William's top investors. If we get him on our side, we might let’s say, convince him to leave Roger’s Enterprise; a little revenge would be helpful after what that bastard put you through.”“I don’t want revenge, Vivi; I’m the one who drugged him.”“You did?”
~ANASTASIA~I cleared my voice before I asked, “Okay?”“Should I pick up because he never calls me, so it must be you he wants to talk about?”“If you’re sure, then don’t. I don’t want him updated with what’s happening in my… life.” Vivi had ended the call before I could even finish the sentence.“Now get ready; we are getting late.” She said, and I nodded before I headed toward my closet.I was going to a work meeting, so I had to dress for business. With that, I pulled out my office skirt, a white official shirt, and a black suit jacket. After pairing with white heels, I was done as I did light makeup, and surprisingly, even after I ruined the style last night, the curls were still there, so my hair was good. I only sprayed it and made sure it had no splits.“Alright, I'm ready,” I said as I walked to the bedside table and picked up my phone while working on my wristwatch. “I hope the presentation is ready.”“Certainly not.”“What?!” I turned to her as she lazily got up from the bed
~ANASTASIA~Okay, I was really confused; why did it always have to be him? I mean, in Sedona, when Santiago insisted I meet the investor, it was him, the man Vivi said to be good friends with and owned a private jet; it also turned out to be him, then last night and today?I didn't understand this at all.“Hello?” He greeted me after clearing his throat; he didn't look shocked at all. I only pointed at the seat, and he nodded before he came and pulled it out for me. Without wasting time, I sat down and mentally calmed my senses.He walked back to his seat, and the waitress asked what I wanted; she wanted us to get started with drinks. I settled for water while he ordered a glass of juice.“I… are you the one I'm supposed to meet?” I finally gathered the courage and asked; his thin lips extended into a smile, and without answering my question, he asked about Ivy.
~ANASTASIA~ I was on a call with Vivi; the lunch with Hudson went well. He said after I sign, he will send instructions to Williams' company asking him to either sign the divorce or lose the contract. I knew it was going to work, as William loved that company. “Yes, I mean this is like God coming through for me; how could he just agree to our terms like that?” I said to Vivi as I took my handbag and got out of the car, we were already back at the Lancaster mansion. “Yes, it must be God, but I'm just happy you'll finally get to experience real love.” “Aah, Vivi, now I just want to focus on my career and children.” “But I… I thought you were marrying Hudson, or did you change your mind?” “Santiago won't tell me what to do. The man on my side is powerful. He asked for my second favor, and I told him I was still thinking about it so I could get him to deal with my brother as well.” I said, and I wasn't lying; there was no way I was going to marry a man I didn't love. “Oh, that's…une
I was now pacing around, still in a towel, as I thought of what to do with Anastasia when someone suddenly knocked, and without waiting for my permission, they let themselves in.It was just who I was looking for.“Mom, you won't believe what just happened,” I said as she placed the bottle of champagne on the table. “William is now picking her side.”“Whose side?” She didn't really sound interested. I mean, her life depended on my marriage with William, so it should worry her.“Who else if not Anastasia, that bitch!” Her name now naturally irritated me, as if separating us was not enough; now she had the nerve to still be in his life even when he was married to me. I am sure she influenced Mr. Grant into putting them in one apartment, and if not that, what I had to take care of here in Seattle was serious; I would have stayed there and made her experience hell there in LA.“You need to calm down; that's not how a woman talks about another woman.” That was Mom's r
~JIMENA~After the failed show, I took the first flight here, taking Mons' advice; she said it would be best if I was with him when he found out so I could know how serious the situation was.I mean, I only wanted to attract more clients; I had the best, so everyone in Seattle should buy from me. Why did Anastasia even sell jewelry when she had such a bad taste?Well, it failed. I don't know how, but somehow the jewelry turned out fake, and trust me, I checked before the show, so whoever did it was inside the room with me.After Mom pulled a show for Carol, she told us where her son was living, and if there was a state I knew well, it was LA, especially the wealthy people's homes, so when she said the Grant home, I told her to say no more. As landing in LA, I ordered a cab, which took me to them.Now since I was good at the manipulation game, I got a key to the apartment, and unfortunately, things didn't go as I planned because William was horny for his ex-wife. Well, I didn't really
~ANASTASIA~I won't say I was surprised; I expected that from Jimena, to cause a scene, but I didn't think she would go so far as to try to stain Williams' name, not that he didn't deserve it, but the way she made him look, I'm sure everyone in this room would start giving him the side eye.I was by my desk, thankfully by myself, as William went out with Jimena. I prayed he wouldn't come back, as I couldn't deal with them today.The rest of the team was already discussing things with their partners—well, decent partners, because William, god, he was just a headache. I keep wondering how things were just working in his favor, first the apartment and now this. It's like it was all planned; maybe we were shooting a movie or something because there's no way things just turned out like this.With that, I looked around, not that I was sure there were cameras, but lost in thoughts.It was beginning to feel boring, so I stood up, and seeing that no one was concentrating on me, I walked out. I
~WILLIAM~When James told me Jimena had left the house, I knew she had come here; I just didn't get how she found my address, but knowing her well, I knew it was possible—she knew LA well—she often came here for work.I quickly rushed to the apartment, and as expected, she was there, dressed provocatively. Well, seeing her even half naked didn't turn me on, so I asked her to cover up, and seeing she failed whatever she had planned, we ended up arguing.She talked of how this was my plan; yes, I once mentioned that it would be good if she got pregnant, but I didn't mean it. I only wanted to go raw because she always asked me to wear a condom, and you know how irritating that is; sometimes I feel nothing in a condom.After the argument, Jimena left—slamming the door hard, and I didn't follow her as I needed a moment; I was worried that Ana heard part of the conversation; so I knew if she heard then my plan to win her wouldn't work.I walked to my room and paced waiting for Jimena, as I
Mrs. Grant turned to me with an expression that clearly said she was sorry, which confused me, as whoever she invited to her table was not my concern.“Thank you. Please, do you have champagne? Marriage can be stressful sometimes.” She asked as she sat down and picked up a glass of water.“How far along are you?” Mrs. Grant asked her, and she, for a moment, looked confused; it’s like she forgot that she was pregnant, and then, as if the words just clicked, she laughed, Mrs. Grant being polite as always, tried to laugh with her, and realizing she answered:“It was a joke; you should have seen your faces.” She said, which made Mrs. Grant nod.“Yes, Jimena can be so funny sometimes; I even wonder why she didn’t register to be a clown instead of a modeler,” I commented.“Yes, she is.” Mrs. Grant agreed before she picked up her glass of juice and sipped on it.“Yeah right, I'm so talented.” Jimena sarcastically said she was giving me those eyes that she always gave me. “Mrs. Grant, did you
I didn't care that William never loved me, but wanting to hurt me so much somehow weighed me down, I knew standing here and crying about it wouldn't change a thing, so taking a deep breath, I put myself together before I used my fingers and touched the skin below my eyes just to make sure I had no tears, even though I didn't feel any. I just couldn't afford to allow William or Jimena to see tears on my face again.After calming down and being sure I had no tears, I made my way toward the door. I didn't care that I would distract them; I just wanted to leave there.When I reached the door, I turned to them and they were silent for a second. It wasn't surprising that they were both looking at me; well, I didn't need to explain myself to them, but I still did.“I’m going to have dinner with Mrs. Grant.”“We don't—”“You should too; arguing causes wrinkles,” I spoke over Jimena as she tried to act smart, and with that, I left, closing the door behind me.Jimena always wanted me to be that
Okay, I didn't understand what Jimena was doing here, and sure, it caught me by surprise, but I knew Jimena well; I couldn't let her intimidate me, so after hanging my coat, I walked to where she was.“What do you think?” She asked, showing me her toenails, which she was painting red, “William is obsessed with red; I thought to spice it up by adding these stones.” She said, sounding like we were friends, I mean, the man she was trying to impress was my ex-husband, the man she stole from me, so what made her think I would be here giving her tips on what would work? “Come on, don't tell me you're still not over him. Like, how does that even make sense? He never loved you.” She made a pitiful face before blowing on her nails, I guess to dry the polish.I didn't have her time anymore, so I told her they looked really beautiful: “Match them with red lingerie; I'm sure William will like that.” I added walking to the kitchen as I got a bottle of water.“Really?” I heard her voi
William seemed shocked; it's like he didn't expect me to agree—maybe he wanted me to refuse and look bad in front of Sebastian; I mean, that's what he always did, so it was no surprise. “Come on, Mr. Rogers, I'm sure you can contribute to the conversation,” I said, a smile on my lips, he hesitated, and I can almost guess he almost changed his mind, but knowing him, he cleared his throat and sat.“Of course I can; what are we talking about?” he said in a challenging tone.“Well, this is Sebastian, Mr. Grant’s personal—”“We have met.” Sebastian cut me off, “Mr. Williams, one of the most successful businessmen in Seattle.” Sebastian, adjusting his glasses, said, God, I didn't realize Sebastian admired William. I mean, everyone else did; I just didn't think Sebastian was one of them—William is one of those men everyone admired; men wanted to be him and women wanted to be with him. Well, little did they know that the William they knew was very different from the William I knew.William se
CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES 2022 ~ANASTASIA~I didn't realize that the car had parked already. I was so lost in a conversation with Vivi, forgetting that I was in front of a guard as I laughed freely. When my senses returned, I bid Vivi goodbye and promised her I would call Hudson as soon as I got time; she said he was worried.I also needed to speak to him about Maddison; Vivi telling me she was crying to Mrs. Frost touched me. She was a mother and only wanted the best for her child, even though she was not doing it the right way. The child was innocent, and I had to make sure Hudson would be with her, of course not as she wanted him but as the father of that child. At least she was doing the right thing, trying to involve the child's father, unlike me, who was hiding it from the father.After ending the call with Vivi, I fixed my makeup and made sure I was good to go. This was my first impression, and I wanted to look presentable.“Should I give you a call later, or?”“I wait here.”“U