Not selling her engagement ring after Jotham broke up with her certainly became a good choice after she got the call from their PR team. She had them immediately wrapped around her finger.It was a diamond ring, the exact one that had been given to Julie. She’d taken it after Julie left it behind. Mirable wondered what changed between him and Julie? It was like she had him under some spell. He was willing to do anything for her, even let his company burn to the ground just because of her. But that didn’t matter, Mirabel thought to herself. She would make sure their reunion never happened.Staring admiringly at the ring on her middle finger, she smiled and posed it to take a picture, making sure to catch all the catchy shiny details. And then she pressed send. ***Keypad warriors on the Internet didn’t anticipate getting news of the most eligible bachelor in the city getting engaged. Jotham had been tagged in the picture that was now trending online. It was a picture of Mirabel with
Jotham's eyes burned with sincerity, but Julie's wounds still lingered, refusing to be so easily soothed. He'd callously cast her aside years ago, discarding her like rubbish. How could she forgive and forget?"I don't care about you, Jotham. Not one bit. You can reunite with Mirabel or date an entire harem - it makes no difference to me. We're finished. Get out of my house!"For the first time in his life, Jotham felt the urge to beg, to drop to his knees and implore Julie to give him another chance. Desperate to show her how much he truly loved and wanted her now. His eyes, clouded with concern, cleared instantly as Julie stood before him in her nightgown, her beauty leaving him breathless. His resolve crumbled, replaced by a primal urge to claim her, right there, right now! He said the words he’d never said to anyone in his entire life. “Please. Please, Julie.” When morning came he’d blame it on the alcohol. “If you give me a chance then I’d call off this facade with Mirabel and
Julie walked to him and poked his chest. ‘Never talk about my marital life again. What I choose to do is my business alone. I love me more than you ever will, and he doesn't care if I give another man flowers 'cause he knows it's harmless." Jotham gritted his teeth in pain. It pained him more than anything that she was refusing to divorce that husband of hers, but it was alright; he had to be patient with her.He took deep breaths to calm himself before looking at the woman before him. “I forbid you from seeing this idiot from now henceforth.”Julie couldn’t believe her ears. “I'd like to remind you that I’m a grown woman who has the liberty to do whatever the hell she wants. And like I’ve said a thousand times before, my business is mine; you have no right to butt into my life or, worst, tell me what to do." She continued. "You lost that right a long time ago."He grabbed her hand, his eyes flashing with possessiveness. “That is where you’re wrong. In case I didn’t make it clear bef
As Julie drove away, Jotham's frustration mounted, exacerbated by the annoying click-clack of Mirabel's heels. Why did she persist in pursuing him when he'd made his disinterest crystal clear?When they’d gotten together after his divorce, he had pretty much treated her as nonexistent and only focused on building his wealth, and she didn't seem to care so long as he was giving her money. Her actions made it crystal clear she was just with him for the money. He had moved on now, but she kept trying to slitter back into his life.“It doesn’t look good if you’re seen getting close up to another woman when your fiancé is only blocks away.”“You should get your head checked, I’m becoming genuinely concerned for you.” He watched Julie’s car until it disappeared completely from sight.“Says the man going after someone else's wife. Have you no shame?” Mirabel knew she was walking on eggshells, but there was something about getting Jotham to lose his cool that made her excited. She had never
Many thoughts plagued Mirabel’s mind. Did Jotham and Julie have babies together and they were keeping it a secret? As far as she could remember, Julie hadn’t been pregnant when they’d gotten the divorce. Or did she hide it and was now using it to blackmail Jotham into going back to her.There were so many questions and it pissed Mirabel off that she was far off from getting the answers. Maybe she’d pay her sister a visit one of these days. They always said to keep the enemies closer.***A group of people typed furiously in the dimly lit room, the pressure of the deadline hung heavy in the air. Mirabel was present as this group of writers were working for her. "Make it faster!" She screamed. if the storm subsided too quickly, she'd have to leave Jotham's side, and she wasn't ready to let that happen. This was her only chance and she had to milk it for as long as possible. With a satisfied click, the lead writer sent the article live, setting off a chain reaction that would change
Julie hated leaving her kids but she couldn’t exactly bring them along. She made a mental note to take them on a vacation after everything settled down.The trip was miserable for her. Marcus had spent an unnecessary amount of time talking her ear off. She’d have prepared to sit all on her own on the plane. Jotham had wanted to take his private jet with him but there was no landing pad at the resort. They had to fly business and Mirabel made sure to be seated next to him. It was evening when they finally arrived at the resort in the small village. Julie let out a satisfied breath at the view. The pictures they’d put up on their website did no justice to the beauty in front of her.The attendants helped them with their bags as they walked to the receiving room to be checked in. Except there was an issue with the rooms. The rooms for the staff had been booked ahead of time but not for the rest. There was a problem with the system and the payment hadn’t gone through. It didn’t help th
Julie had ignored her words and walked straight to the bathroom before letting herself fall apart. If there was anyone who couldn’t know about the father of her kids, it was Melinda. She would definitely wield that information against her. She’d made sure to retire to bed immediately, leaving no room for any sort of conversation between them. The next morning they all gathered at the entrance to start the first activity of the day.Jotham couldn’t keep his eyes off Julie. She looked like she was barely able to get any sleep and it made him wonder what had gone down in their room. With Mirabel, you could never be sure. He’d have to get her alone and ask if she was okay.“We’ll be going hunting in the woods today.” The instructor was saying. “We’ll be using real guns so I’ll be going over the gun safety rules.”They all gathered together as he read the rules. Jotham was more concerned about the glint in Mirabel's eyes and wondered if she had anything dangerous in mind. Guns and a c
The gunshot rang out loud, echoing in the woods. Jotham’s fingers froze on his gun. He looked around frantically for Julie but did not see her. He ran to Marcus to ask where she was.“She said she was going to give her kids a call and left,” he answered fearfully. “Where is Mirabel?” When he found her, she had her gun trained in the opposite direction. He read the crazy look in her eyes immediately and hoped that he had read it wrong and she hadn’t done what he was thinking.Except she had. Julie was a bleeding mess on the floor.“Julie!” he screamed as soon as he sighted her. He wouldn’t forgive himself for leaving her when he knew her sister was up to no good. He gently lifted her up, observing her wound. Luckily, the bullet had only grazed her arm but it still hurt a lot. Julie couldn’t stop herself from crying and clinging onto Jotham.When she got better, he would worry about the stair stains she had left on his jacket. She held on tight as he carried her back to the resort, t
Mirabel had received a text from Jotham telling her to dress up for dinner and come meet him at the address he sent. Her best guess? He was going to break up with her publicly. Rightfully so. The game was coming to an end, but not for Mirabel. She had one last move to make on the chessboard.That day, she took extra care of her makeup and her hair. She’d cry, it was an easy task for her. It was staying pretty while that was the work, she had to look flawless in her pictures. After that, she rewarded herself with a glass of wine. Not everyone had the brains to pull off what she did. She knew that they’d collected the sample and sent it to the hospital and that in a couple of days, the paternity test results would be out. She could already guess what the result would be.Jotham was the father of the twins. She’d always thought of him as a smart businessman but he was downright dumb to the truth that was glaring in his face. She laughed a little on the inside. Her sister was a cunt.
The rumors that had been circulating online had taken a toll on Julie; it had been a hassle taking Astrid back to the hospital for her checkup cause she was trying to constantly avoid the media. Vesper sat beside Astrid, reading her stories. It made Julie grateful that they had each other. The doorbell rang and she froze. She’d become fidgety cause of the numerous bad comments she had read online lately. She was scared that the hate that Mirabel's fans were displaying online would somehow make it to her door. She wasn't just worried about herself—she was greatly worried about the kids too. Mirabel's fans can be very toxic. In walking over to the door, her face morphed into anger when she saw Jotham. She only let him in the cause of how caring he had been towards Astrid. She thinks avoiding Jotham is best for now even though he has been nothing but good and kind towards her and her kids. Sometimes, she secretly wished that they were actually a happy family. Jotham had really chang
"Julie, don't say a word. I'll have my lawyer file a lawsuit against them all." He guided Julie and Astrid inside the car while ignoring the many questions the media were spilling on his face. A few days later, the company was buzzing with whispers and hot takes about their CEO whose affair was plastered all over blogs and verified X pages.Another emergency board meeting had been immediately scheduled. This time, Jotham was not having it. He needs to find out who is fueling the media against him and handle them himself. The conference room was soon filled up. The investors were present, and so were the PR and the marketing team.Jotham just sat quietly. He wouldn’t have to fault the board on whatever decision they made; he has his own plans anyway. His supposed affair was the most talked about gossip that week. And the worst part of it all was that they were dragging Julie online for being a homewrecker. He could handle anything that was thrown at him, but he wouldn’t stand by and
Jotham looked at her like she’d grown two heads. He was confused as to what she was talking about and what the commotion in front of the hospital was.“Pictures are circulating on the net of you and Julie leaving your house together. They’re saying that Julie’s kids are yours and that you’re having an affair with her.” Mirabel explained better. I wish that were true, Jotham thought to himself. “It’s not news that I’m trying to win Julie back. As for her kids, we all know they’re not mine—these damn rumors are beginning to get on my nerves. Don’t they have anything better to do?”“Not exactly. To them, we’re engaged, remember? From the public's perspective, you’re cheating on me with my sister. You need to see what they’ve been saying in the media. It's worse.” Julie exhaled through her mouth, she just couldn’t catch a break. What the hell was she supposed to do now?She’d spent years hiding away from the media, living a lowkey life, and keeping her children from the public eye. It s
“You all think the worst of me anyway. I can't even drop my own sister off. I hope the child gets better." Mirabel said. Jotham was about to respond when his head suddenly began to spin and he almost lost balance. “Are you alright?” Julie was alarmed, supporting him with her hand. “Do you want to go back inside and rest?He blinked severally trying to focus on the images in front of him. “Please take her home, Mirabel. I don’t think it's safe for me to drive." "I’ll walk you to the car,” he said to Julie. “You do not have to walk me down. Just go and rest, okay?" Julie insisted she didn't know why she was this worried about him. He had been up all these hours just because of a daughter he didn't even know was his. A notification suddenly came in on Mirabel’s phone, after seeing the content, she said, “It’s fine, let him walk you to the car at least. I’ve parked my car not too far from here."Mirabel led the way, schooling her face into one of agony and betrayal. Years of watching
They all waited outside for the blood transfusion to be finished. Julie was a nervous mess unable to sit still while Mirabel scrolled away on her phone. It was almost midnight when they were finally done. Julie sprang up from where she was sitting the moment the doctor came out of the room. “Doctor, how did it go?”He took off his gloves. “It went really well. The donor and the patient are both fine. Your daughter will have to remain in the hospital, though; we need to check her vitals and then monitor her for some time to ensure there are no delayed reactions. Like a fever or allergic responses, you know how these things work.”“It’s alright, I’m just glad that she’s okay.”The doctor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder before leaving to attend to his other patients.Mirabel came up to her. “I’m very glad everything is fine. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if anything happened to your daughter.”Julie met her with a blank stare. She was tired of putting up with her
Mirabel watched it unfold right before her eyes. The nervousness when Trevor was entering the examination room. The grand finale was right around the corner and she was excited. She shot off a text to an unsaved contact. “Handled the bakery yet?”The response came in two seconds. “Yes.”Everything was going according to plan. The secret photographer had just sent her the shots he took of Julie leaving Jotham’s house dressed in his clothes.They were perfect, her face was showing. You couldn’t deny that it was photoshopped. Name a better mastermind than Mirabel. All tracks were covered. Mirabel intended to unleash a shocking revelation, cleverly manipulating the narrative to portray herself as the injured party. The people’s sympathy would get her a lot of monetary compensation. She stood up as soon as Trevor walked out of the examination office. “When are you ready to go in? It’s been two hours already.” Jotham was shooting off. “Aren’t they supposed to test you and all of that be
Julie could not believe her ears. She knew straight away that there was no way in hell Mirabel had magically found herself in the same place as Jotham. “Liar!” Julie called to her face. “You’re a goddamn liar! You poisoned my children! What did they ever do to you?” Mirabel’s face twisted in agony, like she had been accused of the most cruel thing. “I might not be the most loving person in the world but I would never ever hurt children. If I have a problem I’ll settle it with you. I can’t believe you’re accusing me of such a thing.”People were beginning to gather in the hallway to know what was going on. Everyone recognized Dr. Julie and wondered what the problem was.Jotham tried to handle the situation. “Look, let's get a donor first and then we can settle this later. You’re with your phone, right? Call Trevor, he’s our best bet since he’s the father of the kids.”Mirabel smiled a little on the inside. They couldn’t be so sure about that, which was why she’d taken the risk and we
Julie’s heart threatened to jump out of her chest as she raced into the house.“Why is Astrid on a stretcher? Why is there an ambulance? Somebody, please say something!” She was losing her mind. “She ate some of the cake Mirabel had brought for them in the morning. I didn’t know she had gone to the kitchen after I gave them breakfast.”Her entire body went cold. “Mirabel? She came to the house? What for? Why will she bring them cake? Was it poisoned?”She rushed to where they were putting Astrid in the ambulance. “Did she poison my child?” “Ma’am please calm down. You can come with us to the hospital.” One of the men told her while they secured Astrid’s stretcher in the ambulance.Jotham put an arm around. “Get in, I’ll speak with Trevor and join you shortly.” She nodded, the tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched Vesper who was a crying mess.“God please, let nothing happen to my baby, I beg of you.”Jotham waited until they were gone to ask Trevor what happened.“I’d spoke