~ANASTASIA~ “No…” I sniffed, “Something entered my eye; I think it's... it's the lash.” I said and wiped the tear that rolled down my cheek. “Mommy, do you want us to go home?” Ivy sounded so sweet, and I hated that she was the one who had to act like the adult here. “No honey, I'm… I'm fine, I just—” “You don't want to talk about Daddy?” “Let's put it that way.” “Okay. I will ask Daddy myself; he has not been picking up my calls.” “He has not?” “Yes, but don't worry; maybe he's busy with work or…” “Yes, okay, what do you want to do from here?” I asked, changing the topic, “Maybe a spa day; we can get our hair washed, do our nails…” “Anything, Mommy, as long as I'm going with you.” She smiled, and I nodded before turning to the waitress and thanking her as she placed my plate on the table. “Say thank you.” “Thank you,” she said to the waitress, who smiled and told her to enjoy. One thing I've noticed about Ivy is that she wasn't polite; she rarely thanked the servants who h
~ANASTASIA~ It seems the woman I was meaning to meet was working for Hudson, and if so, as she already mentioned, I was her boss, so if I was her boss, then I could get whatever answer I wanted from her. I know I had a lot going on, and thinking of Trey was like neglecting myself, but she was my only hope. With Trey having a girlfriend, it will be easy to convince him to help him quit and maybe send him to rehab, as I was not sure if he was taking drugs, but for him to be addicted to being in the clubs, I was suspecting it, and Trey has been the only person who had taken care of me even when I was married to William. I refused to see it, but he always sent his guard to make sure I was okay, so it was my job to save him now. I smiled at Juliette as the waitress brought their food.We chatted, and all the time Trey pretended to be genuinely interested in Ivy, that he didn't even have any conversation with us, only stopping Julliete from having to
~WILLIAM~After Anastasia kissed me back, Jimena showed up, and they exchanged words, which wasn't my concern, as I was still in shock that Anastasia kissed me back. I mean, I don't even know why it shocked me when I knew that Ana would always be mine.I pretended to be drunk because I didn't want Jimena to ruin my mood. After all, Ana kissing me back brought some weird confidence; it showed that she still loved me.Anastasia slapped me, but for the first time, instead of getting angry, I was impressed. Yes, she was the woman I wanted; I didn't like that Anastasia who cried about everything; this was the woman for me. Jimena drove me home under the impression that I was drunk and I thanked the heavens as she didn't bother me too much.After leaving me in Mom’s care, she left, and I headed straight to my room. Mom knew I wasn't drunk and questioned why I pretended to be, but I didn't answer her—it took five bottles to get me drunk and I only had two shots.I took a shower, and after t
~ANASTASIA~ Yes, I expected to meet William here; I knew he would compete for this contract just to get to me, but I didn't expect him to be here already, let alone in Mr. Grant's home. “Come on, let me introduce you two.” Mrs. Grant said, I don't know if she was pretending, but she might have heard about the divorce; it was trending. She must know William and I knew each other already. I mean, yes, she was old, but I knew she was educated, so she might have come across it on the internet. William placed his glass down and then stood up, buttoning his suit jacket, and he surprised me as he held out his hand for me. “William Rogers,” he said, and I don't know what trick he was playing as I chuckled in disbelief. “Is there a problem, Ana dear?” Mrs. Grant asked, and I quickly cleared my voice before telling her there was the problem; then, faking a smile, I turned to William and took his hand. “Anastasia.” I knew what he was
I was already finding it to hide the bump as it was beginning to show, so staying with him would expose me, but I didn't want to make a scene. I was here to win his trust, here to show him I could handle my emotions, so clearing my throat, I showed him my wedding ring.“My husband will not be okay with it.” I smiled, and Mr. Grant, without showing emotions, looked at his wife, “I mean…” I looked at William and then said, “Mr. Rogers is married too. I'm sure his wife will have a problem with it.” I said, and I could have sworn I saw William roll his eyes, but again I might have imagined it; I wasn't really well right now; I was nervous.“Ms. Anastasia—”“Frost,” I cut Mrs. Grant off, “I'm married, please address me by my husband's last name, Mrs. Frost.” I politely said, and she smiled.“Of course, well, what my husband is trying to say is this arrangement is part of the competition. I know you did your research about The Grant before coming here, so you know my husband is involved in
Well, as far as I was concerned, I had nothing to say to William; I had no business with him, so ignoring his knocking, I walked straight to the wall, and resting my head on the wall, I took in deep breaths to calm myself down.I remained there for a moment before I stood straight, and then, making sure I was calm, I walked to the bed, sat down, and, after clearing my throat, I dialed Ivy's contact.“Mommy, are you in your room now? I've been waiting for your call.” She sounded curious.“Yes, honey, but I'm a little tired. I need to take a shower and rest. Can we talk tomorrow?”“I understand, but I just want to see your bed.”“I promise first thing in the morning, okay?”“Okay, Mommy, good night.”“Sweet dreams, baby.” After wishing her well, I ended the call, and before taking a deep breath and wanting to distract myself, I headed straight to the bathroom stripped naked, and then went under the shower.I turned on the tap but didn't start washing my body immediately; I let the water
I was standing, shaking my head, and watching as William crossed his legs, looking relaxed.“You can't possibly be serious; we talked about this.”“I know, but you used that bastard husband of yours to blackmail me.”“It's not my fault you chose your company over your daughter, William!”“I didn't.”“Oh, you did.”“I didn't want to go to war with you. We have a daughter; sure, the marriage is over, but we have to make it work for Ivy, don't you think?” He stood up, and I now carefully watched his every move. I could read William, his emotions, and his thoughts, so I wanted to see if he was being sincere even when I doubted that.“We can come up with an arrangement; I also want to live with my daughter.”“Why are we talking about Ivy now? We still have a month.”“Because I want to know where I stand in my daughter's life.”“Really? Is that the reason you've been ignoring her calls? Because you want to know where you stand?” I asked and watched as he guiltily ran his hands in his hair.
Okay, having dealt with Jimena for years, I knew better than to repeat the same mistakes, and besides, Hudson never told me she was a girlfriend. Even if she was sleeping with him, as long as he didn't address her as someone special, she had no right.“Are you there?”“What do you want, Maddison? Why are you calling me?” I sounded uninterested.“Hudson doesn't know I took your number; he's asleep, we—”“You didn't call me to tell me you're sleeping with my husband, did you?”“Are you not upset? I mean, don't you see he's playing you?” She sounded shocked.“He's not playing me, Maddison; if anyone is being played, then it's you. I'm his wife; you're just a girlfriend. That's what you even called yourself, so you're just like a mistress, you have no right to be calling me at this time.”“I'm calling because I need to speak to you.”“You've really got no shame, spend any little time you have with my husband instead of wasting it on me, that's what mistresses do. Do you even realize that
~WILLIAM~It's been a month since I returned to Seattle. I've been working mostly from home because I had to spend most of my time with my daughter—I had to help her with her homework since Ana was not in a state to, and the Lancaster family was all a mess now.Gianna was busy helping her husband run the company and house; even their son was mostly assisted by their servants, and I didn't want my daughter to feel neglected again, not now that Ana was barely a mother to her. Hudson even mentioned that sometimes she forgets she is a mother or that she is pregnant.I wanted to be here for Ivy; that's why even at times I had important meetings that needed my presence, and I went with her, and she attended the meeting with me. She literally had a seat in the conference room, and you won't believe she once gave her opinion, which made sales, but I loved her because she knew when to keep quiet. Now I was convinced she was given an adult's brain.While at home I've been chec
~ANASTASIA~It's been days; I don't know if it's been a week, weeks, or a month; it wasn't honestly important.“Oh yes, finally this girl has been fooling them for a long time now,” I excitedly said and stuffed more popcorn into my mouth. “Let's see how she will get out of this one,” I said, and yes, I was talking to myself.I continued watching for a few more minutes before I heard Hudson's voice.“Are you sure you don't want bacon?” He asked for the hundredth time now.“I'm good, but if you will be so kind, I would like five more cupcakes.”“One.”“Thank you, alright, you two have a good day,” I said as Ivy kissed both my cheeks before taking her backpack. Hudson also bid me goodbye by kissing my forehead, then he asked if I needed help washing my hair.“I can do it if you don't want a hairstylist to do it.”“I'm good, but if you're worried about me, get me more snacks on your way back, okay?”“Okay, Dahlia is here, you're safe, and you can
Those imaginations worked as I went forty minutes without cursing or causing an accident.When I reached the city, I drove straight to the ranch, as he owned a ranch here and liked staying there at times when he was grieving or maybe getting away from the First Lady.Of course, security was tight; most of them knew me, but they still had to confirm my presence and search me. After that was cleared, I was led in, and of course, I found him in the stables, feeding horses.“My dear old friend,” he said, then took me in his arms, clapping my back.Now even with this happening, this man was like a father to me, considering I was seventeen when I met him. He is the reason I and my family were still alive and living well; otherwise, we would be in the streets or worse, dead.“Mr. President.”“I was just telling Daisy you were coming to see us, isn't that right, Ana?” He turned to the white horse, and yes, you heard it right. The white horse's name was Ana; he named
I was trying to make sense of everything when Gabriella asked a stupid question. I mean, she knew I knew the president was in Fall City; why the hell did she ask me that stupid question?“Get to the point, Gabriella,” Rowan said knowing I didn't have the patience.“I think what Gabriella is trying to say is that the president is in Fall City, you found Maddison in Fall City, with the footage and the call history, it’s obvious the president is in it,” Matt explained, and again I already figured that out, although his explanation made it make sense.“So the president didn't, or let's say doesn't, want you and Mrs. Frost to be together,” Dahlia added.“Correct, but for him to go to these lengths, creating a whole new identity must be deeper than just wanting you back as his fixer,” Rowan said, making me nod and say that I wanted the reason.“None of us for sure know the reason, only him.” Gabriella answered, and I turned to her and then patted her back, saying she w
“Why are you calling me?” I asked as soon as I picked, as this was the third time—I missed the other two.“He told me you knew.”“Knew what?”“The secret—why… why the hell didn't you tell me, I wanted to marry her?” He sounded drunk, like why would he be drinking this time when he was supposed to be mourning? Yes, I could judge, as when my dad passed, I never sat and cried or maybe went and drank my life out. I immediately matured as I started searching for ways to provide for my family, so instead of drinking, he could be there helping Santiago arrange everything—it was his damn father for God’s sake.“I don't know what you're talking about.”“Of course you do, and I—” I ended the call before walking into my apartment; I didn't have time to deal with drunkards.“Found anything?” I asked as I removed my coat.“Wait till you hear what Rowan found,” Gabriella said as she came toward me and handed me a packet of warm chips and a drink, I took it but placed it on the table as this wasn't
~HUDSON~After Maddison narrated everything to us, how the attorney who represented her offered her a fresh start, she didn't accept it at first, but when he told her that he who was supposed to help her would work against her, that he would make sure she spent the rest of her life locked up even when he knew she was innocent, well, she was left with no choice but to accept the deal.Everything else happened in the blink of an eye after she signed the agreement. Next, she woke up in a hotel room with a new identity—her look was completely changed, including her fingerprints.She told us how she had two phones, one to connect with them and another for her fake normal life.Unfortunately, she didn't know who they were, as she only received instructions through the phone from meeting one of them, who was covered. Then, going forward, her first task was to seduce me. Now, that was the first night I bumped into her in that club, so initially, we were supposed to have a one-night stand if h
Vivi told me how Hudson saved them as their home and properties were almost taken, how Hudson started providing for them, and they were confused at first as he was just seventeen, but they needed the money, so no one questioned him. He saved them, well, until a few years ago when Mom died; she found Hudson in the hospital.He first acted like it was just a coincidence until she showed up unannounced at his apartment, and there she witnessed Hudson watching someone get killed and doing nothing, instead, he was the one giving the order. She confronted him, and that's when he told her it was what he did.Vivi explained how Hudson didn't tell her everything, as she figured it all out by herself by putting one and one together. She spent a week just investigating him until she arrived at a point where Hudson and the man who was a vice president at that time worked together.She found out how he took care of people who didn't want to vote for him, how Hudson even ordered the d
~ANASTASIA~Opening my eyes and realizing it was early morning, I got up and walked straight to the bathroom. I don't know how I got on the bed or if I imagined William was here; it was honestly not important.After the shower, I walked into the closet where I threw on the first pajamas my eyes landed on, ready, and tying my hair into a messy ponytail, I walked out and headed straight for my computer. I searched through the CDs, and when I found Dad's favorite, I inserted it before moving to the music.I kept dancing, repeating the song, until someone opened the door without knocking.“Want to join me?” It was Vivi; she didn't respond. She shook her head and asked if I was okay, which was honestly a weird question. I mean, did I look sick to her? I was here moving my body.“I need to talk to you about your mom.” She said, and I didn't want to listen at first, but she insisted, saying it was important. Wanting to get over it, I sat on the floor after pausing the m
I let the shoes fall to the floor as I tried to defend myself by trying to remove Hudson's hand from my neck, but his grip was tighter, and all my efforts were in vain. I didn't understand why he was still holding onto me when he could just easily move me from his way.Okay, I'm not weak, especially not after how I've spent the last month in a gym, but Hudson, it's like he was trained to do this.I didn't want to beg him to free me as that would be so low of me, so I tried all means, but nothing moved him. It's like he wasn't there anymore, and I swear if it weren't for those breath-hold training sessions, I would be cold by now.Well, I was now losing it, and just as I thought I was going to fall, a voice sounded, which made him free me.It was Vivi.I struggled and coughed, trying to catch my breath, while Vivi came to me and tried to help.“I hate him, but doing this won't solve it. I called him here.”“You also asked him to insult me?”“Of course