XADENI sat in my office, trying to make sense of what had happened yesterday. I could only come to the conclusion that not killing Celeste when I had the chance was the biggest mistake I could have ever made. That mistake seemed like it was now going to cost me dearly.Kaylee’s cries had woken us up suddenly last night and even though it had been a long time since she woke up in the middle of the night crying, I didn’t think much on it or even suspect any form of foul play. That was until I got to the nursery to find Kaylee wailing uncontrollably with the window completely opened as the cold night air poured in.It wasn’t even remotely possible for either Melissa or Soraya to make such a fatal error and I knew immediately that something was seriously off. I decided not to raise any alarms until I was sure of my suspicions and so I took Kaylee upstairs to our bedroom without telling Soraya what I had discovered. I didn’t want to worry her unnecessarily just in case it turned out to be
XADEN“Give me a minute babe, I need to take this.” I said to Soraya, who didn’t even acknowledge my words. She just sat there looking dazed and my heart broke seeing her that way. I picked up the call as I made my way outside the clinic.“Celeste? Is that you?” “I’m sure by now, Kaylee should already be feeling the effects of the poison I injected her with.” She said in a mocking tone as she laughed maniacally.“You fucking bitch! What did you do to my daughter?! I swear I will kill you and feed your dead carcass to the vul...” “Oh shut up Xaden! You are in no position to make threats and you had better listen and listen good because Kaylee doesn’t have much time before that poison kills her.”“What do you want?! Is it money? I’ll give you anything you want. Just make this stop, I’m begging you!”I couldn’t help but feel helpless as she burst into that sick laughter again.“Oh Xaden, strong and powerful Alpha. Begging? I sure want to see that. Meet me at the Lupine gardens, the on
XADEN Three whole days had already passed since Celeste had made her demands clear to me and I still wasn’t any closer to making a decision. To say I was heavily conflicted would have been an outrageous understatement. On the one hand, I wanted Kaylee safe and free from the effects of the poison that Celeste had injected her with. And on the other, the price of that safety would be losing both of them, Kaylee and Soraya, which was a choice I wasn’t prepared to make.Celeste had definitely gotten more crafty with how she had gone about this twisted form of blackmail. Signing the power-of-attorney over to her would give her sole control over all my businesses and holdings. Even the very roof over my head would be gone if I took one step out of line. So like I said, I was outrageously conflicted. There was no possible scenario where any of this would have a happy ending. I didn’t want to lose them but if I didn’t agree to the terms that Celeste was putting forward, then Kaylee would be
XADEN “Shit!” I cursed out furiously as I tried to save some of the documents and clean off the liquor from the table. “Who is it?” “It’s Melissa Sir.”“And?”“I’m sorry to disturb you Sir but madam Soraya told me to come up here and ask if you would be coming down for dinner.”Shit! This was the third night in a row that she had sent Melissa up here to try and get me to come down. Each time I had come up with some sort of excuse. I had honestly thought she would have given up by now but Soraya was nothing if not persistent and I was even more surprised she hadn’t come up here to drag me down herself.“Erm... tell Soraya I’m really stumped with all of this paperwork I need to fill out and would be a bit late for dinner. If I don’t make it out there in time, please tell her not to wait up for me cause I may be working really late.”“Um..okay sir. So should I bring your dinner up here for you?” She asked, unsure of exactly what it was she needed to do.“You don’t need to worry about t
SORAYA The words had hit me like a tire iron straight to the face and I felt like I had lost my wits as I did nothing but sit opposite of Xaden, smiling to myself. Even from a mile away, Celeste was still able to manipulate and get us to do exactly what she wanted. If I wasn’t so incensed at the whole situation, I would have applauded her, for her unrelenting schemes and machinations. Even when I thought I had won, it was all an illusion and while I was playing checkers, she had been playing chess the entire time. I looked over at Xaden who was already looking like a shadow of his former self. He had been cooped up in his office all week and drinking himself senseless, it was all making sense now. He’d had to make an impossible choice and whichever way he went, he was still getting the short end of the stick.“So what now?” I asked finally. “I just pack my things and leave?”“I don’t see any other way out of this mess Soraya.” “And you haven’t been able to find a way to get a perm
SORAYA “What is it now?” He said, annoyed.“You had better tell that bitch you call your mate to have all her bags packed before I arrive tomorrow. Once I get control of everything, that house becomes mine and so is everything inside it. If she isn’t packed before then, she would be kicked out with nothing but the clothes on her back. Do I make myself clear?”“Crystal!” Xaden blurted before hanging up the phone immediately.“I hate her so freakin’ much!” I glared as I rose to my feet.“Not as much as I do babe, not as much as I do. It would take everything in me not to kill her when she moves back in.”“I guess I had better go get packing before our new landlord kicks me out into the streets with no clothes.” I said as I reached for the door.“Wait.” He called out to me before I could twist the doorknob.I turned, looking over to him as he caught up with me and drew me close to himself.“Xaden,” I moaned in protest as I tried to wriggle out of his hold but his arms were strong and he
CELESTE I took a quick glance at my watch as we slowly pulled into the driveway of Xaden’s villa. It was almost 8:30 am and as I took in the familiar surroundings, I still found myself in awe of its splendidness. It was really insane how a place you had lived in for so long, could suddenly look so different under the right circumstances.“Soon to be all mine.” I couldn’t stop myself from saying as I remembered my last time here and how it had ended in quite the shameful affair. Xaden had pulled me mercilessly by my hair and thrown me out like some disgusting handmaiden, not even allowing me the decency of packing a few belongings. He had completely embarrassed me while that bitch, Soraya, simply watched and smiled. I was reduced to nothing but a mere laughing stock but this time, things were different. This time, I was coming back with a vengeance and I was coming for everything.If Xaden wasn’t prepared to hand everything over to me, then he could kiss Kaylee goodbye but I knew b
CELESTE “Let’s just get this over with.” Soraya said finally in a choked up voice like she had been sobbing incessantly before or was trying her hardest to suppress a fresh batch of tears. I couldn’t tell exactly which it was, she had put on dark sunglasses to mask her eyes but the point was that she was in pain and it was music to my ears.We quickly took our seats as Xaden reached into a black briefcase before pulling out a relatively thick folder of documents. He placed them on the table and held his hands over them.“Antidote first!” He glared as I quickly rushed to grab them.“First of, you had better watch that tone with me or I walk out and take the antidote with me. Secondly, I suggest you get real cozy because Mr. Fabian still has to look through them first. When he gives me the go-ahead, you get the antidote.”I watched as Xaden turned and shared a look with Soraya who promptly nodded before he let go of the files. I picked them up hastily before handing them off to Fabian.
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