Janelle never lived spitefully, but when her husband becomes distant and incessantly continues to treat her terribly, she takes the help of his half and younger brother, Ridley, who wants nothing more than to destroy the brother that has overshadowed him for years. Caught up in the emotions she still harbours for the man who betrayed her only after a year of being married, Janelle has to navigate through hating him while loving him at the same time and teaching him a lesson and with Ridley's help she is certain that she will be able to overcome and be triumphant. But when things begin to get hot between her and Ridley, she has to decide whether to fall for another Stetson brother or enjoy her newfound independence.
Lihat lebih banyakCHAPTER SEVENTEEN (2 YEARS AGO)Ashton and I had settled into a routine. He would pick me up from my apartment in the morning, and we would drive to work together, of course, I would enter the building before him much to his disdain, and once the day was over, he would drive me back home. I had grown even more comfortable around him, maybe a bit too cosy. I had not told him but over the last few days, I had grown smitten for him. His actions made me blush knowingly and unknowingly and I was frightened that if he had not caught on, other people had.No matter what feelings I was developing for Ashton Stetson, I had to ignore them and not act on them. His interaction with me was already taboo and I was so grateful for our friendship as it was, pursuing something more would ruin one of the only good things I had going in my life. Other than not risking our friendship, there was also the most important fact that he was my boss.I sank back into my seat and sighed, the first crush I had in
CHAPTER SIXTEEN“Ridley! I swear, I will barge into your room!” I continued to pace in front of his bedroom door while looking at my wristwatch.No response came and I could hear scrambling so that meant something was happening and he was not just ignoring me. We had a meeting with Ashton and his lawyer pertaining the divorce and even though I had reminded Ridley the day before, personally set his alarm and went as far as writing it on his hand, he had still woken up late.Now, here I was trying to hurry him up and we only had fifteen minutes to get there and the drive to the place we were going was not a short one. Seeing Ashton was the last thing I wanted to do especially after he had ousted me out of his house, a place I considered mine as well and had memories in—though most of them were terrible. Nevertheless, I still had to do this if this divorce was to happen quickly and I could start my life anew.“Ridley! I swear if we find them gone, you are starving for the entire week!” I
CHAPTER FIFTEENI probably forgot to mention that Maria was a very dramatic woman and that her son always hid behind her skirt. Ashton was like a young boy still under his mother’s protection, waiting for his mommy to speak for him. Even during the good times of our marriage, he did defend me, but sometimes I could see that he would rather pick his mother’s absurd point of view. Hence, I tried all I could to avoid bumping heads with her.Yet once more, here was Maria Stetson, hurling insults at me and tossing out my luggage while Ashton stood by the door with his hands in the pockets of his shorts. I moved toward my suitcase, which was lying on the ground with clothes pooling out of it. I watched Maria in disbelief as she walked out of the house once more with another suitcase and threw it to my feet.“Florence, bring this ratchet whore’s belongings and dump them here!” She yelled out and blew hair out of her face.“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked her as I looked at the pile
CHAPTER FOURTEENAfter multiple meetings in the morning, I was stumped. All I wanted was a tall glass of juice and a soft bed to lie down. I could not get what I wished for yet, I had to go through a departmental meeting as well, at the least I was glad that it was the last for the day and all I had to worry about afterwards was paper work and emails.Lisa carried my files as we made our way to Ridley’s office which was close to mine anyways. Ridley’s office was huge and had a huge table on the left side of the room for smaller departmental meetings such as this. When Lisa and I entered, all the seats were almost taken up with only three seats remaining. Ridley’s assistant came over to me by the door and led the way to the seat next to Ridley. I took my seat and nodded to him, to which he gave a smile before looking at everyone.“Okay, everyone is here. Shall we begin?” He began enthusiastically.By the time the meeting ended, my body was sore and I kept rubbing the back of my neck. I
CHAPTER THIRTEEN The divorce papers were right in front of me. I had read them numerous times but could not bring myself to put my signature on any page that required it. I ran my hands through my hair and scratched at the scalp. It was not supposed to be this hard, especially considering everything Ashton had done to me. All I had to do was sign and give him the papers—of course, he had no idea that I had divorce papers ready.I leaned back into the couch, lay my head on the back, and looked up at the high ceiling. Anything to get my mind off my failing marriage was interesting. I had promised Ridley that I would get this done with but a week had gone by and the papers remained in the top right drawer of the desk in my office. Ridley asked me about it on Friday morning and I managed to get away with an excuse of be
CHAPTER TWELVE (2 YEARS AGO)My nervousness had reached an all-time high. Today would be my last day at Stetson Hotel if I was not offered a permanent job, and quite frankly the chances of that happening were zero to none. I had been unable to sleep and for the past week, I had been on the lookout for any listings of available jobs or cheaper apartments. Despite checking every single newspaper every morning and different pages on my phone, I had not seen any job that was particular to my expertise. Jobs were just that scarce, and the apartments were just as expensive.I buttoned my shirt all the way and folded the collar before wearing my pants. I only owned two pantsuits and the navy blue one I wore today was my lucky one- well it was the best one and so I attributed it only to good things. Maybe if I wore something cute and flashed my ass around, my name would magically appear on the list of permanently employed contract workers.When I walked out of my room, Lou was seated on the c
CHAPTER 11 Shockingly, Ashton was still in the house when it was morning. I found him at the dining table, picking at the food on his plate. It almost reminded me of the past, of what we had and how we would have breakfast together, and Ashton would stick to his sweet coffee that I still did not have a liking to. He looked natural except for his bouncing leg and nervous look. There was no need for him to be nervous or uncomfortable; after all, it was his house, too. I walked past him and straight to the kitchen because I had to leave Florence with a few instructions. His eyes followed my every movement, and I could feel them on me at the back of my head, like an irritating itch. "What?" I turned to him after telling Florence to move my things into the guest room. "You don't have to change rooms because of me," He said, but I shook my head. "Of course, I have to. You and I can't share a bedroom," I said instead and adjusted the sling of my purse over my shoulder. After grab
CHAPTER TENWhen Ridley proposed "letting loose," the first thing I thought of was a club and getting wasted. After all, he had already offered me a cup of wine. I was insistent on refusing and going back to work. He kept trying to get me to accept, but I was hellbent on going back to Stetson Hotel despite the backlash I expected to receive after what had happened. Multiple articles had already started appearing, and Ridley had shown me some of them.The last thing I expected was to end up in an ice skating rink. This was Ridley Stetson, the infamous bad boy, and Cassanova, an ice rink, was the last place I thought he would bring a person to as an idea of fun. I looked at him like he was an alien when he led me to get a pair of ice skates."Don't look at me like that. I skate all the time." He turned back to me before looking back at the person that was giving out the skates. "What's your size?" He turned to me again."Um, it's-""We have adjustable sizes, actually." The man behind the
CHAPTER NINE I took a seat on my new chair and breathed in. Ridley stood in front of my new huge glass and wooden table with a wide, triumphant smile. His smile was so infectious that I smiled back and stretched my arms, excited about what was to happen ahead. "So?..." He looked at me with huge eyes. "How do you like it? Is it okay?" He asked, and I nodded before turning in the swivel chair to look at the huge window on the left side of the room. Unlike my office back at the Waterfalls branch, this one had a larger window and a better view, even the furniture was better. Lisa had also done a good job sorting my things and preparing the office just the way I liked. After working with me for only a few months, she kind of knew my likes and dislikes better than my husband."It's perfect. Almost feels like a promotion." I replied and turned to face him."Of course, it's a promotion. Not just anyone gets an office right next to Ridley Stetson." Cockily, he ran his hands through his hair
Was I expected to ignore whatever was happening in front of me, only across the room? The perfectly shaped champagne flute wine glass in my hand felt heavy, the sparkling liquid in it tempted me and before I could account for it, I had downed more than four rounds. I wished I could ignore what was happening and turn the other way, act oblivious but I could feel the pitiful gazes of everyone in the room. They knew just like I did, and they pitied me.I motioned for one of the waiters to refill my glass and continued to burn holes into my husband’s perfectly ironed suit. Only but a year and a half ago, I was the one that stood beside him with his arm around my waist with the attention of all in attendance on me. If I spent another second staring at my husband’s arm around another woman, the glass in my hand would have shattered. I took a deep breath, placed the glass on a tray carried by one of the workers and walked out of the huge hall.I walked down the hallway until I found an empty...
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