NATESun light trickled from my window, casting warm shadows on my eyes.I moaned awake, stretching my hands to bring Vivian closer to me. A smile crept on my face as I recalled that last night had to be the best night of my entire existence.I never believed that I would have ever had sex with Vivian but yet I did and I loved every part of it.I could tell just from our encounter that I had really been her first even though that was the second time that we were having sex and somehow I blamed every moment of it on me.If I had put more effort?If I had paid more attention?I couldn’t possibly imagine the sort of sexual torture I must have been doing to her, all those times? I am a horrible man.A horrible, horrible man.I had even tortured her the more when we were at this same house months back, where I let her almost let me in and then I just walked out on her.I didn’t know why I didn’t know that that was a horrible thing to do.My hand hit the bed and my eyes snapped open.The wel
VIVIANMy eyes fluttered open. It took me a minute to get accustomed to the dreary darkness of the room. My eyes were still sleep laden but I was conscious enough to understand that what was at stake was greater than my exhaustion. I needed to get away from here, and quickly too. My hands groped the bed and lightly brushed the fabric of Nate’s silk pajama trousers. He was still sleeping soundly, the sound of his breathing like music to my ears. I wondered how he could sleep so soundly when my night had been fitful, overwhelmed and torn by the dilemma of a decision I knew was both inevitable and ultimate. I turned in his direction. It might be the last time I would be in the same room with him as man and wife. I got out of the bed and silently made my way to the bathroom to wash my teeth and my face. By the time Nate woke up and realized what had hit him, I would be gone, having expertly avoided a conversation that is unnecessary and surely incapable of ending amicably. I grabbed m
VIVIANI could feel myself start to hyperventilate. My breath came out in short bursts while my eyes were trained on the approaching form of Richard. He had transformed into something I couldn't recognize and even though I tried to stay calm, I could not stop the feeling of foreboding that had overtaken me. This man in front of me could not be reasoned with. He could hurt me without batting an eyelid and by the time he came to his senses, it would be too late. "What the hell are you doing?" I screamed, backing up against the wall. My eyes darted towards the door. Could I make a run for it before he caught up with me? I wished today was a work day and there were employees just at the other side. At least then he would have had to keep himself in check. "What does it look like I'm doing, Viv?" He asked. His voice was so menacingly low, it sent a cold shiver down my spine. I had never hated my pet name so much in my entire life. He made it sound like a threat. I forced myself to l
VIVIANI pressed a firm hand to my chest to still my pounding heart.I had been anticipating this news for the past couple of days, and here it was finally—the proof of our consistent hard work over the past three days.Richard and his company were trending, and for all the wrong reasons too. I had made sure to spare no effort in my revenge plans, and it was one disaster after the other—one new piece of evidence sent to the press every other day.Of course, he had tried to break his fall in every way possible, but the evidence was too damning and way too much.I couldn't be sure how Emily had gained such access to inside information, but it was good for me, so I did not press her for details, and neither was she motivated to share.I had now made it a habit to listen to the radio at every chance I got, switching between TV channels at random as a routine. Now, he was on the news yet again.This time, it was talk about how their stock prices had plummeted. I could just imagine the giga
NATEI felt cold to the marrow of my bones. Vivian was in danger. I could not process anything else but this information. I wanted it to not be true so badly that I closed my mind to the possibility, telling myself that there must have been a mix-up somewhere. Surely, Vivian was still in the living room where I had left her. I only had to walk down the stairs and I would see her bent over her laptop, with frown lines on her face alternating between reading two news articles. "What do you mean? Vivian is with me." I said, the doubt in my words evident even to my own ears. "Richard is planning to hurt her. In a very brutal way. Please confirm her location immediately." The voice of the spy I had placed on Richard echoed like a broken tape in my head. He was one of the very few guys I trusted because of his competence and because he was discreet, so I had entrusted the job of tailing and spying on Richard to him and thus far, he had done his money's worth. I did not wait for him t
VIVIANI pulled hard at the skin of my face. It hurt, so I knew I was not dreaming. Richard had been arrested and my mother was really awake. It felt almost too good to be true. Just a few hours ago, my life had been the epitome of anxiety and misery but the tables had turned so quickly and suddenly that I could not put my emotions to words. I let Nate lead me to where I had parked his car, still in a daze. I watched him as he spoke to the members of his security team, barely registering any of the words he said even though he continuously gestured towards me. I was itchy to go and see my mother and hear her voice. I had so many things, to tell her, so many things to do, we had so much to catch up on and the thought of it made my breath catch in my throat. The happiness I felt was not abstract. It was a heavy thing weighing on every vestige of my soul and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I had not known it was still possible for me to feel this type of unbridled joy. Nate handed the key
NATEMy head throbbed painfully. I restrained myself from punching the dashboard of my car as I pulled into the driveway of my house. Vivian had made it painfully clear that she wanted nothing to do with me and while I had taken it with a coolheadedness that surprised even me, the reality was starting to dawn on me. I was alone in the car, there was no Vivian to shoot baleful glances at me from the shotgun seat, no Vivian to give me the silent treatment or start a fight about something I might have brushed off as casual. I hated myself for how much levity I treated her with in the past. I had always assumed she would always be by my side, unable to break away, unable to let me go for as long as I wanted at least. Why had I subscribed to put her through so much misery? I had never once in my wildest imagination imagined that I would end up falling head over heels in love with her. There was a time months ago it might have been easier to write this off as an unlucky and unprecede
VIVIANI turned on my bed and almost fell off. My eyes snapped open at once. Bright light was streaming into my room through the window. I sat up on my bed and yawned, taking a moment to really take in my surroundings. My room here was smaller than the one in Nate's mansion but at least I was free of the heartache that came with living in that house. I made my bed quickly while humming a tune under my breath before skipping to the bathroom to shower and wash my teeth. Now that I was pathetically jobless, I needed to work twice as hard or it would only be a matter of time before I tucked my tail between my legs and sought out Nate. The thought was so repulsive that I almost gagged on my toothbrush. I sat in front of my vanity, applying my ten step skin care routine while speaking words of affirmation to myself because a nagging fear kept gnawing at me that I might not be able to do well on my own. Just as I finished applying mascara, my phone buzzed from the pocket of my bathrobe.
Her hands trembled slightly. She was staring out the window of her office at the academy but her mind was somewhere else entirely. She had been transported back in time to the fateful day two weeks ago when the doctor had made the announcement with a wide grin on her face. "Congratulations, Miss Vivian. You're ten weeks pregnant." She had said, flashing Vivian a genuine smile that reached her crinkling eyes. At that moment, a cold sweat had broken out on Vivian’s forehead as the doctor’s words hit her like a bomb. The words had been so unprecedented, so out of left field that it took her a long time to understand the gravity of the doctor’s pronouncement. When she had finally digested her words, fear caused a knot to form in her stomach."The baby is in perfect condition." The doctor had said and Vivian had smiled at her, happy but at the same time, uncertain. "Your husband must be so proud." She had said. But would he? Nate had been so vehemently against a child and even though
VIVIANI opened my eyes. But I was in an unfamiliar place. The darkness that surrounded me was not only palpable, it was suffocating. I tried to breathe but my lungs seemed to be constricted with something. I stretched forth my hands to guide my path but something seemed to be on my way. I tore at the barrier but it only grew thicker. It was the darkness. Was there any way out of here? How could I fight something I could not even see? I opened my mouth to scream but no sound would come out. I was stuck in this deep, dark pit with nowhere to go but down. Below me, it seemed like there was quicksand and if I did not find a way to get out of here quickly, I would be swallowed whole. I clawed at the space in front of me, beside me and above me but the darkness was too dense, too restricting. Where was help when I needed it the most? My determination had started to wane. My resolve which I thought was stronger than steel bars had become considerably weakened the more it dawned on me t
NATEI felt overwhelmed. I had not felt this way in the longest of times, not even when dealing with Richard's stupidity. Why were things going haywire all of a sudden just when I thought the dust had settled down? I could not pretend not to know why. Gran's announcement yesterday had triggered a lot of suppressed resentment and I just had to deal tactfully with it or everything I held dear would be taken away right before my eyes. I had been called to the company the day before because Aston was making trouble. Word had spread that he had gone around contacting all the members of the board and having a secret meeting with them. I was not sure what the meeting had been about but I could guess. "Let's hurry." I said to my driver as I looked through Vivian's mail for the umpteenth time. I was about to send a message thanking her for her hard work when my phone started to vibrate. It was a call from my personal assistant. "They are holding an emergency extraordinary meeting of the
VIVIANI typed away feverishly. I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins, fueling my fingers and propelling me to think. What had this not occurred to me before? Why had I glossed over Emily's statement back then like it was nothing at all. Had I been too overwhelmed at the time that I had been unable to put two and two together? Unable to see what was right in front of me? Emily had said three companies. Three companies, but only two were behind bars. So what happened to the last one? It was a question I should have been asking for sometime now. Would I be able to find a connection that would reveal which company was the third? Would I find enough proof? I started by digging into the two companies. Their CEOs had been well known in the business world for taking over small companies after leading them into debt. There were many comments online laying complaints against them and a third name kept popping up. Could it be?... I changed the direction of my research. It w
VIVIAN It all felt awkward. Gran had made the announcement of the century and the room was thrown into chaos. Aston looked like he could combust in anger at any time and stormed off. Gran was unwilling to listen to Nate's protests and Nate's mother just looked surprised. I, on the other hand was unsure how I was supposed to react. I was not very surprised, considering how much affinity Gran held for Nate, I was only a bit skeptical about the timing. But what did I care? I was no longer a part of the family. I was practically a stranger who happened to witness the Stuart family going at each other and it didn't matter what my thoughts were. I just wanted to escape before anyone looked in my direction and thought to rope me into it. Gran shuffled out of the room, leaning slightly on his cane and I saw my chance. Nate was still looking around, confused as ever and there was just a general tension in the air that I was sure no one would notice my silent disappearance. It felt good n
NATEI swore internally. How had Ashton found out? But then again, the same idiot that had the temerity to give out company information had probably babbled again. Vivian looked stricken standing there, staring numbly from Ashton to my mother to Gran. She tried to say something but it seemed like the words would not come out. I wanted to hold her and calm her down like I did yesterday in the hospital but this was not the place or time and I was pretty sure she would push me away. Guilt weighed down on me heavily. This was all my fault. I had brought this situation on her and I wanted to fix it badly but I felt control slipping out of my hands. Ashton was pushing, tearing down the walls of support around me, trying to strip me of my confidence and painting Vivian as the black sheep. I could not understand for the life of me why he had suddenly turned bad. Or perhaps he had always been this way, lurking silently in the shadows, waiting for this chance to ruin me. "Vivian did nothin
VIVIANI sighed for the thousandth time. Why on earth couldn't I be allowed to catch a break? Had all the universal forces aligned to ensure I did not have a single moment of peace? The whole situation seemed absurd to me. I did not yet know what Ethan was going on about but it couldn't be anything good, judging by the tone of his voice. Moreover, he was never one to impose, so if he was in front of my house, it must mean something quite severe was about to go down or was even going down. The taxi came to a stop in front of my apartment and I hurried up the path. I did not have to look for Ethan as his car was parked conspicuously on the driveway and he was sitting on it's hood tapping his phone impatiently. "What the hell, Ethan..." "There's no time for this." He looked worried, confused and most notably, tired. His tie had been drawn down, probably to enable him breathe properly while driving and his hair was tousled as if he had been in too much of a hurry to brush it properl
VIVIANI was elated.I flashed a wide smile back at the sea of smiling faces. I had not felt this way in a really long time, had not felt like what I had to say mattered, like I could dispense joy so freely, so abundantly and still have so much of it left to live on. I was not sad or angry or conflicted here, I just felt like I was wrapped in a bubble of peace, woven softly into a web of comfort and it scared me that this peace was fragile. That it could easily be broken if I didn't protect it. "Do you kids remember what we learnt yesterday?" I asked, leaning towards them and adopting a high pitched childlike voice. "Yes!" They chorused with enthusiasm. I smiled and turned to the board. "Today, we will learn something even more interesting. Are you ready to learn?" They answered with as much enthusiasm as earlier. Their innocence tugged at my heartstrings. Wouldn't my baby have grown to sound like this? To make mischievous jokes and play pranks on others? Maybe it was really not
VIVIANAnother emergency. But this one couldn't be a prank because Nate had delivered the news and we weren't exactly friendly enough to pull that type of joke on each other. Also, it involved my mother. Nate was a premium jerk but he wouldn't stoop so low. Right? I wished he would. I would swear at him and maybe even hit him but my mother would be fine and I would have worried in vain. "Oh God, oh God... Oh God." Night was falling fast but I didn't care. I rushed out of the house and flagged down the first taxi I saw. If anything happened to my mother, how would I cope with the pain, the guilt. If anything happened... Thoughts consumed me and filled my head with scenarios that were probably too far fetched but seemed feasible at that moment. Panic had taken over me and my hands shook terribly as I contemplated calling Nate. What would I say? What was I trying to find out? "No, no..." "Is there a problem?" The taxi driver was looking at me through the rearview mirror and I ave