"Ida." Elon gently shook her awake. The initial plan was to allow her to sleep in the guest room, but as stubborn as she is, she refused, saying she wanted to sleep in his bed because it was comfortable. Yeah, there was some snuggling and cuddling and light kisses here and there, but nothing more. "Ida, get up," he said a little bit louder, making her stir in her sleep. She opened her eyes, gently taking in her surroundings and wondering whose voice she was hearing. She caught a glimpse of Elon wearing his shirt, and boy did he look fine. The events of the previous night came rushing into her mind, and she couldn't help but smile at them. " Good morning," she replied in a raspy, sexy morning voice, making him instantly turn to face her. " Finally, the queen awakens," he teased as she sat up. " What time is it?" she asked, picking up her phone to check. It was just 7 a.m., and luckily for her, she didn't have anything major to do at work today so she could just stay back, and that w
" Ida, we know he hurt you, but that wasn't the best way to go about it. You broke him," Khloe scolded her cousin, seated in front of her with Aly by her side. " All men are scum; we get that, Ida, but that was kind of low. I know you're hurt, angry, and want to vent out and take revenge on him, but what you did was just a no-no. I am not saying this because he's my brother; you and I know if it were any other man, I would have said the same." Aly made her point. Ida sat without saying a word, trying to find something to justify her actions, but the truth of the matter was that she had no reason and they were both right. Yes, she wanted to hurt him, but it shouldn't have been with Adrian, whom she knew had feelings for her and was involved in this whole mess. That way, it would have seemed like she chose him over Elon. And the hurt across Adrian's eyes when she made it known to him that she didn't want him but she just needed to prove a point was sad. He didn't deserve that. " I kno
" Hey, sweetheart," Kai said, sitting up on his bed as Aly sat beside him. " What happened?" she asked, looking for answers from her mom, who looked confused at her. She immediately sensed that she was as lost as she was and hadn't had the chance to speak to her husband. Aly got up from the bed and left the room with her siblings, and Ida followed suit. Elon walked out to his car to sit and wait for his mom and dad to be done with whatever conversation they were having. As to why Ida was there was a mystery to him What was she doing at the hospital the moment her father was rushed in? Did she do something bad to herself? He couldn't help but worry about her. That was how much of an influence she had on him. " Hey, are you okay?" Ida asked, seated beside Aly. At this point, Xi , Ayanda, and Brynn had come over to keep Jax and Giada company. Giada could feel Brynn stealing glances at them as well as shooting glares. She wasn't bothered by that. What was on her mind at that moment
Elon held his phone in his hands, contemplating whether to join Tinder and look for love or not. Was it worth it? He asked himself, swiping on Tinder, until he stopped on one profile. The woman had a beautiful smile, and something had drawn his attention to her, but as to what it was, he had yet to figure it out. He tapped on her profile, instantly matching her with him. Ida's phone vibrated in her pocket as she led a presentation. She was itching to reach into her pocket to get the phone, but she ignored it and continued with her presentation. There was more time to browse on her phone after this deal had pulled through. Elon checked the calendar on his wall; there were five days left until his father's surgery. He was wondering if he should let his mom know that he was also suffering from the same sickness as his father was. Now isn't a good time. He told himself. His mother was already occupied with taking care of her husband, telling her this would do her harm rather than good
" I think love is not meant for me; I've been treated unfairly because of love." Ida reread the message again. " What do you mean by that?" she texted him, waiting for a reply. Instead of him replying, he called her. She had practiced her fake voice, so she wasn't bothered about being caught. " Hi," he said through the phone. " Hello, how are you doing today?" she answered. Elon was quiet on the other side of the line for a while. Her voice sounded silky and beautiful. " Good, what about you, beautiful?" he replied. " Nothing much, just laying around waiting for your reply on my last message." “ was caught up with a few things; that’s why I couldn’t reply,” Ida said. “ By the way, Elon, how can the heir to the Maximilian Empire be single? What happened? Is there a story to this?” She asked, waiting for answers from him. “ Nice assumption; there is a background story, actually. But it’s not important; I got heart broken at the end. Can we change the topic if you don’t mind? I
Elon and Ida, posing under the disguise of Michelle, had grown quite close to each other, but Elon hadn't requested to see her in person yet for reasons best known to him. Ida had also been quite busy with some projects at work; she barely had time to go out for a drink. She canceled her schedule today because Aly had asked her to come over to the hospital to be there for her since her dad was having his surgery today. The whole family was present to meet him when he came out of the OR. Nurses and doctors were walking up and down and were not giving any answers to Kai's family. Elon had spoken to the doctor three times, but all he said was " Everything was under control," but it didn't seem so. Xara was on the verge of breaking down at any given second with the way things were unfolding. " Time of death: 5:59 PM," the doctor announced to his team, covering Kai's dead body up. He had fought a good fight but was unable to win this battle. The doctor walked out of the OR toward the fam
" I made breakfast," Ida said as soon as he descended the staircase. He was about to say he wasn't hungry until his stomach rumbled, giving him away. He walked towards his table and grabbed his coffee flask. He noticed it was full as he kept it in his bag, taking a seat at the table. She had made some bacon, scrambled eggs, toast, baked beans, and a glass of orange juice. Ida was having a hard time sitting still since her neck and back were stiff because of how and where she slept yesterday night. Elon noticed she was uncomfortable and was about to ask her about it when she got up from the table. " I can drop you off at work if you don't mind," he suggested. " Don't bother; I need to take care of some stuff before heading off to work. I'd see you when you get back, and do have a nice day today," she replied, climbing upstairs to her room. Elon shrugged it off, gulping his drink in a go and walking out of the door. Ida lay with her back on the bed, hoping that would help ease the pa
Maybe he didn’t want me here anymore. Ida lay on the bed, thinking. It had been a month since Kai had died, and Elon wasn’t any better. He acknowledged her presence but hardly spoke a word to her. His dad’s funeral was today, and she had to be strong for them. She could deal with her thoughts later. She had heard Elon when he was preparing to leave for the funeral grounds. He was supposed to be there earlier than everyone. She had heard a slight knock on the door but pretended to be asleep, so he left. She couldn’t face him yet at that moment. After her simple make-up, Ida slipped into her black self-portrait off-shoulder jersey midi dress. She secured the fascinator in her hair and then slipped into her 3-inch Loui Vuitton boots and grabbed her black clutch. She looked in the mirror, taking in a deep breath before leaving her room, leaving behind a whiff of her Chanel perfume.Alyona turned for the umpteenth time, trying to spot Ida in the crowd. She thought she was coming with Elo
EPILOGUE.A FEW MONTHS LATER... The deaths of Raelyn and her twins had spread like wildfire. She had planned a fake death to claim half of her husband’s property, and now she was dead for real. Penny stood in front of her daughter’s tomb silently. She had been buried with her twins a couple of weeks ago, and they had come to visit her tomb with a couple of friends . She could neither cry nor scream because she was numb. Never in a million years had she expected the death of any of her children. Raelyn was the black sheep of the family, but she was still her child. She did a lot of terrible things, but that didn’t mean she should have died that way. Bel stood behind the crowd, observing with a small smirk on her face. There was no one to brag about her riches any more. “ Hey,” Anika said, tapping Bel on the shoulder. “ Hi, how are you holding up?” She asked Anika. “ Numb, terrible, horrible. I lost my best friend, Bel,” she sobbed.“ I know; she was mine too. I know we had petty sq
“ Seems someone is glowing,” Alyona teased Ida. Her relationship with Elon was blossoming into something beautiful. He had finally gathered the courage to ask her to be his girlfriend, and she was over the moon. That was what she had ever wanted, and now that it was here, she was more than grateful. "No, I’m not; it’s just been a while since you last saw me,” Ida defended."Whatever you say, for all I know and what I can see is that the d*ck is good,” Aly said, smirking, making her friend blush in the process. “ Ah, seeing how dumbfounded you are, I guess I am right on the fact that you’re getting a good f*ck from my brother, Since you’re happy, I am happy for you... You’re welcome,” she goofed. “ You do know you’re one weird child, right? Who in their right mind tries to find out from her brother’s girl if his d*ck is good enough? No one but Alyona Maximilian!” Ida scolded. “ Eeh,” she shrugged, making Ida laugh at her childishness. “ Enough about me, Aly; what of you? Zac is gon
“ I’m going to freshen up and come back; don’t sleep, Ida,” he said to her, making sure she was awake. “ You can join me in the shower,” she flirted."Um, are you sure about that?” He asked to be sure of what she was saying. And also, to be sure, she wasn’t saying it out of exhaustion.“ Yeah, I am," she confirmed. Elon entered the room, locking the door behind them. He helped her take off her shoes . Ida walked into the bathroom to give Elon space to change, or at least get out of his clothes. She stood in front of the mirror, splashing water on her face.Did she want to do this? Was she ready for this? Yes! Heck yeah! She’d been waiting for a moment like this, and there was no way she was messing it up. No way. She changed into her towel in time before Elon walked in. He shut the bathroom door behind them, locking it. He looked sexy. Ida couldn’t take her eyes off his perfect body through the mirror. He moved to stand behind her with his hand on her waist. Sparks went down her s
Ida had started working from Elon’s office, as agreed in their contract. Though she didn’t get to see him every day, she was enjoying the moment while it lasted. He had to travel out to make sure his father’s other businesses were doing well. Xara had someone in charge of her company, and Alyona also checked in on them occasionally, so they were doing fine. Her kids were actually happy she was out traveling, trying to make the most of her life since her other half was no more. Xara was getting better as the days went by. She always had journals for every country she visited, and she was on the verge of publishing some of them. Just a little editing here and there, and she was good to go. Life in itself is not balanced. She and her husband had a rough time, but when everything was going well for them, kids came along the way, and then priorities came next. They didn’t have that much time for themselves to actually enjoy their marriage. It was more of babies and working for them.“ Hi
“ You know she likes you, right?” Giada popped her head into her brother’s room after Yara walked out to the kitchen.“ Nah,I just think she’s just being there for me as a friend, nothing more, nothing less.” He shrugged internally, jumping with joy that his sister was talking to him. After her fallout with Brynn, she had hardly said a word to Jaxon, just because he was failing to see the horrible person she was. “ You’re in denial; I hope you realize it soon," she replied about walking to her room."Giada, wait,” he said, making her stop in her tracks, wondering what he wanted to say to her.“ I know I haven’t been the best brother in the world to you. I’ve done stupid things that I am not proud of.” he paused.“ It’s fine, Jaxon; I know you didn’t mean all that you were doing; even if you did, it’s fine. I’m glad you finally saw that bitch for whom she truly is,” she winked at him, walking back to her room as she spotted Yara coming back.“ Did I miss something?” she asked, settin
"Oh, I miss this." Elon found himself saying after they had finished their lunch. He hadn't gone out in a long time just to have fun and unwind from work. He had also realized that, despite what had happened between them, he still had feelings for Ida."Yes, I do, but priorities have shifted, and you're now the busiest man I've ever met," she chuckled dryly. He knew she was right. Everything was on his neck while his siblings went about their lives. Not that he was complaining, but he was allowed to live his life while running the Maximilian empire. His father had done it, and he could as well.“ I know, but can we take it slow? Put the past behind us and start all over," he asked, taking her hands in his. Ida was dumbfounded at that moment. Was she hearing right, or was she dreaming at the moment? “ Ida?” He drew her attention to what he was trying to say.“ I’d love that too,” she responded.“ About the business proposal you sent, which I am about to accept, it says I would be worki
Months had passed since Kai’s burial, and Elon had taken full responsibility for his father's companies, which wasn’t an easy task at all. Managing those businesses was barely giving him time to himself. Ida had to move back home since he was barely at home and saw no reason why she should stay in the empty house alone. Xara came home occasionally since her kids were busy with school and their lives, and she didn’t want to be a bother to any of them, so she decided to travel the world to see what that holds for her. She was trying to get over the fact that the love of her life was gone for good. “ Hey mama!" Giada’s new stylist hyped her up as she came backstage from the runway. Shane was an amazing stylist; he knew just the right outfit for each shoot or runway session and was a great person. His nickname for her sounded hot when he said it, but when other people did, it sounded normal. Being on the runway was her way of keeping herself sane after the loss of her dad. Everyone thou
Raelyn was six months into her pregnancy, yet she was glowing. Pregnancy was doing a great job on her. She wasn’t having any complications in her pregnancy except for morning sickness and cravings, and for that, Calvin had everything under control. With the way Calvin was treating her like a queen, she was thinking of rescinding her initial plan. Focus, girl, focus. She always told herself each time such a thought came to mind. She had mapped out everything, and she was going to make sure they fell into place if it was the last thing she did. “ Did Bel tell you she had gotten married?" was the first question Anika asked as soon as Raelyn answered her phone.“ Good morning to you, Anika,” she said, ignoring the question.“ Did she?” "No, Anika, she didn't, and I should be the one asking you that question; she’s your best friend now, and you both should know everything about each other,” Raelyn replied, getting out of bed. Calvin had gone on a business trip as usual, and she was at ho
Maybe he didn’t want me here anymore. Ida lay on the bed, thinking. It had been a month since Kai had died, and Elon wasn’t any better. He acknowledged her presence but hardly spoke a word to her. His dad’s funeral was today, and she had to be strong for them. She could deal with her thoughts later. She had heard Elon when he was preparing to leave for the funeral grounds. He was supposed to be there earlier than everyone. She had heard a slight knock on the door but pretended to be asleep, so he left. She couldn’t face him yet at that moment. After her simple make-up, Ida slipped into her black self-portrait off-shoulder jersey midi dress. She secured the fascinator in her hair and then slipped into her 3-inch Loui Vuitton boots and grabbed her black clutch. She looked in the mirror, taking in a deep breath before leaving her room, leaving behind a whiff of her Chanel perfume.Alyona turned for the umpteenth time, trying to spot Ida in the crowd. She thought she was coming with Elo