WINTERA cloak of ice dropped on my body seconds before a chippy voice woke me from my hundredth slumber. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"I stirred awake, only to find my body soaked. My teeth clattered as I looked at the pool of water I was lying in. I raised my head, only to find Seven staring at me with a bucket in his hand."Seven..." I called out weakly.With a creepy smile, he waved at me. "Long time no see!"I frowned, wondering how long I had been locked inside this cage. The light was on, so it was hard to tell if it was dark out or not."Oh, you have been here for four days. How do you like it in here? Not so much, right?" He cracked a smile again.Four days? Seven locked me up for that long? That meant it had been five days since I had something good to eat. You bet, I was starving. I could eat a horse!My stomach rumbled as if on cue. I held it and swallowed hard. My throat was parched and my tongue was bitter dry. I ran it over my lips. Unsurprisingly, my lips had many cuts on the
KAI-VIIThe jig was up. Frankly, I was quite surprised that it took Winter this long to notice that I was an impostor. When Ratio told me to go after her, I thought my cover would be blown the second she set eyes on me.I wanted to keep up acting as her Seven, but she was wasting my damn time. I need to get my hands on the orb or the gemstone it was contained in now. Replacing the gemstone on the ring with a fake one hadn't worked. Winter repeatedly told me that she couldn't spot any difference. And that pissed me off.I didn't believe that someone who was the closest to Seven wouldn't know about his most-priced possession. The fact that she was pregnant threatened to spoil my plans. However, I soon saw it as a way to threaten her instead. Females were very sentimental and emotional. There was no way Winter would keep up with the offense if she knew that her baby's life was on the line. I intentionally starved her for days, vowed to rip out the baby, and even lashed her with my bel
WINTERDarkness descended on me the second that impostor walked out of the room. Once again, I was left alone. The past few days had been a blur for me. But today, I was completely in my senses. My mind processed everything that just happened once again.Seven was dead.The love of my life was dead, and I didn't know for four months. I had been living with that impostor for weeks, yet I didn't notice he wasn't my Seven.What kind of girlfriend did that make me? Did this mean my love was really fickle? The subtle differences in his behavior should have told me everything. Why in the world didn't I notice? Why did I live under the same roof with the identity thief for so long?My hand was splayed over my chest at this moment. Guilt tore at my heart, causing me inexplicable pain. I shed tears more than I had ever done before. Mucus dripped from my nose and found its way to my mouth.I could barely breathe. Every inch of my body hurt. It was as if there were pins inserted all over my bod
WINTERUnsurprisingly, the women still didn't say a word. I was beginning to wonder if they were deaf or had sworn an oath of silence or something.I alternated my gaze between them, hoping to get a clue from studying their faces. But I got nothing. They all had the same expression; serious and taut."There you are!" Suddenly, a male voice pierced the air.I looked forward. The face I saw instantly filled me with fear. It was Seven. No, no! It was the impostor. He was standing at the head of the staircase wearing a well-ironed white shirt with oxblood pants.With a deadpan, he looked at me from head to toe and quipped, "You look... blaah!"He then turned to the women and said, "I thought I told you to give her a full makeover. What is this?"The women finally let go of me. I watched as they bowed their heads in fear. The one who had picked out my dress stammered, "Alpha, we...we..."Alpha? He's nothing but an impostor! He literally stole Seven's whole face! I hissed in my mind while s
WINTERA tinge of fear crept through me. I froze on the spot, staring blankly at Mr. Impostor. I tried to come up with something, but my mind drew a blank for a long time."Have you gone deaf? Move aside!" he repeated irritably.I finally snapped out of it. Pointing at the sign on the door, I uttered defiantly, "And why would you want to go into a women's bathroom?""We'll see. Just get out of my way." He took a step further, our noses almost brushing.The extreme closeness freaked me out. I almost broke character. However, I didn't move an inch. "Can we just go home? I think I am constipated. I need to take some medication and have a good rest."The impostor balled his fists. "Get out of my way or I'll punch you in the belly."At this threat, I beat a hasty retreat from the threshold. He glared at me as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. My back was against the wall. I watched as he looked under the washstand. When he found nothing, he turned to look at me again. "Who wa
WINTERFive years. That's how long it has been since Seven died. My pregnancy was the toughest phase of my life. I lost count of how many times I thought I would die. Not only was my mental health affected, but my physical health was also in shambles.I couldn't entirely blame my ill health on the pregnancy. After all, I was living under the same roof as the person who murdered the love of my life. Kai, as he had introduced himself, became crazier and crazier as the days ran into months.There was even a time he turned the whole house upside down in search of the Phoenix Orb or whatever he called it. I didn't know how to feel about his constant failures.On one hand, I wanted him to get his hands on what he wanted and get out of my life for good. And on the other, I couldn't help feeling that I would be doomed if he found the orb. Something told me that it was very important and he needed it badly.Sometimes, I found him on his knees while speaking on the phone. It was as if someone w
WINTERNo words had ever made my heart break so much. Dawn was naturally a cheerful child, and after she grew past the baby stage, she rarely cried. She leaned into giving anyone a piece of her mind instead of crying.So, you can guess how shocked and heartbroken I was after she made such a demand in tears.As a child, when I fantasized about having my own kids, never in a million years did I imagine that I would be raising any of them in captivity. I tried to shield Dawn from all that was going on. However, it seemed she was catching on. No child would ever ask for a parent to be replaced if they didn't sense something wrong. I dreaded the day I'd have to explain to Dawn that Kai wasn't her father, but a knockoff of the original. I thought I still had a lot of time. Little did I know that it would come knocking on my door so soon.After taking a deep breath, I said in a choked voice, "Baby, what happened? Why did you say that?""I don't like him. He slapped me!""He did what!" I exc
WINTERThe guest was none other than Eric Kester, my friend from NYU. The last time I saw him was about five years ago. He had tried to save me, but ended up jumping to his death.How the hell was he here now? And why did Kai address him as Gary Blake?Eric glanced to the side before whispering, "Shhhh! He's going to hear us."I glanced at Kai, who was staring at a series of champagne bottles while rubbing his chin. His mere back filled me with fear. A scarf was wrapped around my neck, but I couldn't forget how he almost strangled me to death. My mind also went to Dawn who was still unconscious last I checked.Curiosity was killing me. However, it was nothing compared to the fear for my life and that of my daughter. I quickly straightened up and picked up my fork, unwilling to talk to Eric anymore."Can you give me your phone number so we can talk some other time?" Eric uttered in a low voice."I can't!" I whispered, glancing at the bar. "I don't have a phone."Eric didn't take the h