CELESTEI walked out of the living room with a skip in my step and I commended myself for expertly finding a way to get Xaden to calm down and not make me the brunt of his still simmering anger. If I stuck to the way things were playing out and held out just a little longer, I was certain that I would be able to win him over and then Soraya would be out of here. I just needed to be a tad patient.I stepped into the kitchen and noticed Melissa pulling out an oven tray filled with pie. My blood boiled at the thought of Soraya who actually conceived to sabotage all my plans and come clean to Xaden. That bitch actually had the gall to ask me to go to hell and she mixed batter while doing it. It didn’t matter now, I was the one who ended on top.“What the fuck are you doing Melissa?!” I announced, completely startling her.“Ma’am! You scared me. How long have you been standing by the door?” She asked, holding a hand to her chest as she tried to catch her breath.“I asked you a question fir
CELESTE He stayed silent and eyed me suspiciously for a while before letting out a deep exhale.“I hope you’re not trying to fuck me Celeste? I would end your life painfully if I even get as much as a whiff of treachery on your part.” He said as stared me down and held my gaze uncomfortably.“Why would I betray you? We both came up with this and the plan would favour us individually when it comes full circle. Just be patient, you would have Soraya in your arms soon enough.” “You had better be right.”“So now, are you going to tell me why I’m really here?”He watched me for a moment before pulling out a folder and tossing it at me.“What’s this?” I asked, staring at the strange package.“Open it and have a look.”I quickly opened it and read through the document. For the most part, it made no sense to me but I got to a unique point in the write up where I was familiar with what I was seeing and my eyes widened with disbelief.“How did you get this?” I asked, staring at him in shock.
CELESTE As I walked hastily out of the Cafe, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of dread at what I needed to do. I had always known that working with Jeremy would come with its own unique set of challenges and I had prepared appropriate contingencies against them. But this, this was different, he was basically sending me on a suicide mission cause it was definitely suicide if Xaden were to ever find out that I was instrumental in the plot that cost him the land that he cherished so much. Financiers and investors aside, that property held so much sentimental value to him and it was beginning to make more sense why he harbored so much hate and contempt for Jeremy. I mean he had basically stolen the land deeds and held Xaden in perpetual limbo, he wasn’t able to begin projects on it and he also wasn’t able to sell. On the other hand, I was caught in deep shit, a real rock and a hard place kind of dilemma. Jeremy would burn all the bridges to make sure he exposed me to Xaden and Xade
CELESTEHis familiar voice which was now a little raspy with dizziness and intoxication called out from behind me.I promptly wiped the stunned look that had formed on my face as a result of his surprise entry and turned to face him.“Was someone worried about me? Or probably even missing me?” I asked as I wore a cheeky smile and moved closer to him. He had one hand in his pocket and the other was grasping tightly to a steaming cup of coffee.“Maybe a little bit of both.” He began as he made his way to the chair. “I got up not quite long ago to meet an empty couch and Melissa said you quickly stepped out after receiving a phone call. Who called you so late in the evening that you had to step out in such a haste?” He wore a bemused look but I wasn’t sure if it was out of confusion or suspicion and I quickly cursed Melissa under my breath for being such a snoopy little bitch. Why had she given so much detail? She could have simply said she had no idea where I was and that would have bee
XADEN“It happened maybe about eleven or twelve years ago.” I began after maybe what was a few minutes of consideration. “I can’t remember the exact timeline of events but you can bet that the event itself has been permanently etched in my memory.” I watched as Celeste listened with a rapt attention and I couldn’t help but feel vulnerable at the information I was letting slip. I had never told anyone about this before, I just couldn’t and anytime it ever came up, it was almost like I was opening up a can of worms. A can of worms that I would rather have buried deep, very deep.But with Celeste, it seemed different. I felt a peculiar kinship to her at that moment more than ever before, even more than when we were together. I felt as though I could tell her anything and she would always have my back and hold me down. I mean, if it wasn’t for her, I would have remained oblivious to the escapades of Soraya and would never have known exactly what she had been up to. It only felt natural to
XADEN “You got that right. He muscled them into fearful submission and a good number of them even offered to give us the land for free as long as they could just get their children back. The ones who chose to fight back, simply disappeared and were never heard from again. I was surprised when a lot of the slots started opening up, so I investigated a little and to my utmost shock, I found out what he had been doing. I was livid! The contract had been attached to my name and for everything he did, the landlords thought I gave permission for it.”“You must have felt really bad that a lot of good people got hurt and most of them thought it was your fault.”“I was beyond furious and when I confronted him about it, he simply mocked my meekness and told me to my face that I didn’t have what it took to get things done and make the investors happy. Like I said, a scoundrel would do anything just to add a few zeroes to his bank account. I preferred not to handle business that way and fired hi
SORAYAThe days that followed Xaden’s outburst were incredibly strange to say the least. From being the lady of the house, I had been completely relegated to the sidelines and had no choice but to play the role of a supporting character in my own home. I couldn’t tell the difference between my situation and that of a prisoner who simply had a few liberties with no right of objection. The only spark in my otherwise dull and monotonous daily routine was the presence of Kaylee in my life. I held tightly to that singular ray of hope as I schemed and put the wheels of my revenge into motion.I definitely wasn’t going to take such a defeat lying down and the thing with supporting characters was that nobody ever noticed them but they noticed everything. Xaden didn’t mince words when he made his instructions clear and I wasn’t to take one step out of line. I was certain that Celeste thought that would be enough to limit how much I could do but what she didn’t anticipate was the unlikely ally
SORAYA It was like taking candy from a baby, except it was almost as if this particular baby didn’t even care for candy at all. I was completely surprised at how easy and well that had worked. Melissa however, was still very much frightened and feared for her job, maybe even for her life.The poor thing. I thought as I strained a bowl of brown rice that I had soaked for the better part of the morning. She probably had never done anything quite so treacherous before and simply could not control the guilt that had begun to eat her up. Despite the fact that Celeste had been nothing but insufferable to her since she had moved back in, she still felt it was a grave sin to go against one’s boss. And to go as far as to drug their food, that was simply unforgivable. I could relate to the crisis of loyalty she must have been feeling. I’d had the same feeling and I couldn’t possibly remember the exact moment I had lost my sense of self righteousness but I knew that desperate times called for a
SORAYA ONE YEAR LATERSo this was what bliss felt like. It was everything I had heard it would. A mate whom I had gone through hell and back with, a daughter we both would give our lives for without hesitation and a happiness that knew no bounds.Xaden was the mate he had promised me he was going to be. “Earth to Soraya…” I heard him whisper in my ear. His hands held firmly against my waist. I didn’t realize when he got so close to me. “What’s wrong, love?”Nothing is.I turned around to face him and met his gaze. “Sometimes, I still feel like she's going to show up.” I answered. I knew she was gone, there was no way she could have survived the poison but still, at the back of my mind, there was once in a while this nagging feeling. Xaden sighed and shook his head, cupping my face as he did so. “Have I given you any reason to feel so?” I shook my head. “Nothing, and absolutely no one is going to come between us again. I love you, Kaylee and our little boy…” he said as he dropped on
XADEN“Of course not. I loved you Evan and I really wanted to be with you. Killing you was completely Malcolm’s idea. He wanted the connections that came with being married to Xaden so he forced me to go along with all of it. I felt like I had no choice, you really have to be believe me Evan.”I couldn’t help but chuckle at the load of bullshit she was spewing all in a bid to save her worthless life. Hopefully this Evan guy saw right through it.“You loved me?” He asked and I felt my blood boil at what a stupid question it was.“What the hell are you doing Evan? You can’t possibly believe that Celeste ever loved you!”“Let her speak!” He bellowed. “Come here Celeste. You really wanted to spend your life with me?”I could only watch in anger as Celeste made her way to him, holding him in a warm embrace as she spewed more lies.“I’ve spent every minute of everyday thinking about you since Malcolm had forced me into that heinous act. I’m really sorry I wasn’t bold enough back then to spe
XADEN I thought to myself as I tiptoed slowly to get a good idea of whom it was, she was fighting with. The fella seemed to really be in quite the sour mood but I was still unable to make out the voice clearly. I decided that there was no point sneaking around, I hastened my steps and headed straight for the living room.Upon opening the door, I was greeted with the sight of the kind of vermin I never thought I’d ever have the displeasure of seeing again.“What the fuck are you doing in my house?! You sacrilegious sack of shit!” I yelled as I found Jeremy in my living room, about to pounce on Celeste.“Xaden!” She screamed. “Be careful, he’s gone completely crazy! He keeps saying...”“Shut up Celeste!” I snarled. “You did this! How could you let this unrefined buffoon into my house?”“What did you just call me?!” He turned to face me and I finally got a good look at him. He looked dastardly, almost inhuman as he was beginning to appear like some unholy alchemy of man and beast.I kn
XADEN It had been almost three days since I’d heard last from Soraya and I could feel the fear, slowly creeping in. It was unlike her to stay radio silent and even on the days she didn’t feel like talking, she would always try to send a message at least.I looked at my watch and saw that it was past 7am already. Three days and not a peep, it definitely wasn’t looking good. I went for a quick run, in the hopes of clearing my head. I didn’t want to entertain the wild thoughts that were beginning to plague my mind.When I got back to the house, Celeste was already waiting in the kitchen. I had been hellbent on avoiding her all week and she was almost never awake this early in the morning. I winced, knowing I’d inadvertently walked into a well calculated trap. “Good to see you can still show your face.” She spat out derisively. “I thought you finally decided to run after Soraya like the lovesick puppy you’ve proven to be.”I steadied myself, choosing to remain calm and silent as I too
EVAN“I honestly can’t believe this. Celeste actually tried to have you murdered because she wanted to be with Xaden?”“To her, I was simply an obstacle. A mere nuisance that she had to get rid off so she could enjoy the splendor and lifestyle that came with being married to a man like Xaden. She poisoned me while I was asleep and thinking I was dead, her father bundled me into his car and they drove deep into the woods to bury me. When I came to, I tried to beg Celeste for help. That was my biggest mistake. They pummeled me with their shovels till they thought I’d stopped breathing and buried me in a shallow grave.”I took a deep breath and looked up at her. She seemed completely lost for words. “You shouldn’t look so surprised. I mean, she poisoned your two year old daughter. Such a person is capable of doing anything.”“I know Celeste can be ruthless but I always thought she became this way over the years. This incident happened more than ten years ago. I’m just surprised that she’
EVAN“That’s what the nurse said but I doubt there’s much you would be able to do for her.” She said in her tone that was completely crippled by fear and resignation.“Well, this is an hospital ma’am. Why are you so certain that we would be unable to get her the help the needs?” I asked, doing my very best to sound as genuinely oblivious as I could. I was fishing for information and I didn’t want to spook her just yet.“I know you won’t be able to save her because this has happened before and the doctors who attended to her then were just as clueless. All they did was stabilize her but it was only a half measure. Without the antidote, she wouldn’t be alive for long.” As she spoke, I could feel the weight behind every word, the immense gravity behind each statement and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for all the pain she had to be going through in that moment.“Well, I’ll advise you don’t give up hope just yet. Things like this always have a way of working out in the end.”“I don’t need
EVANEven as I held on to the hospital file, I still found it hard to believe what I was reading. The file had the biodata as well as the personal information of a two year girl who was rushed in on account of a terrible high fever and loss of consciousness of a one day duration but it was the name of the patient I found most intriguing.Could it really be possible? I looked through the name again as bewilderment washed over me, Kaylee Sinclair. I flipped to the page that had the information on the parents and primary care givers.The father was a Xaden Sinclair and the mother, Soraya Summers. I couldn’t help but feel a bit jittery as a wave of excitement surged through my entire body, filling me with an immeasurable sense of glee.If this turns out to be accurate, then my opportunity had finally come.As I leaned against the counter of the nurses’ station, I went through the previous bloodwork of the patient, trying my best to make sense of what I was reading but I still couldn’t get
CELESTE “He fooled you, Celeste. I, on the other hand was a fool for ever thinking you were competent enough to get anything done.”“There’s no way I could have known. How can you possibly blame me for this?”“I don’t give a fuck how you get information from Xaden but the least you can do is verify and make sure it’s at least authentic before sending me on a wild goose chase.”“What’s done is done Jeremy. The blame game isn’t going to do anyone any good. She could be anywhere, so I suggest you had better forget about her and best move on.”“What’s done is done? Is that what you just fucking said to me?” He asked in a much tamer and colder tone. It was more unnerving whenever he spoke like this compared to the yelling and shouting.“There’s nothing that can be done. Xaden isn’t going to give up the information. They could be anywhere in the country. Even if they were still in the city, which I highly doubt, it would still be almost impossible to find them. So what can you do?”He rema
CELESTE “Your intel was complete horse shit! Are you trying to fuck me over Celeste? We had a deal!” Jeremy’s voice rang out angrily as I switched the call to hands-free and tossed it on the bed.“What the hell are you yapping about? It’s fucking 8am in the morning Jeremy. Who even calls someone this early in the morning?” I asked sleepily as I tried to find my morning voice.“Well, unlike you, some of us have to work for everything we own. We don’t just get rich through blackmail and manipulation.”“Watch your fucking mouth Jeremy! You don’t speak to me that way. Instead of being this much of an insufferable prick, why don’t you tell me what’s gotten your pants in such a twist?”“Wow! Look at the millionaire growing wings all of a sudden. You’re now telling me how and how not to speak to you? Insane!”“Please why did you wake me up so early? I need to get back to sleep!”“I guess it’s easy for you to sleep when you’ve got everything you ever wanted. So you feel you can now screw me