“Where were you last night? And why was your phone off? I demand an explanation, Ayenda! I've been trying to reach you all night. You didn't even bother to talk to me. What kind of behavior is that?!”
I was sitting in my desk chair going through some documents as the storm raged in.
Danner!! I knew this moment would come, only I didn't prepare myself for it. He stands in front of me, his hands on his sides and his face contorted with suppressed anger.
So, I decide to use my charm, this old trick has saved me from a lot of clashes with my fiancé in the past, so why not now?!
“Danner!”, I whisper in my special soft voice. The fire in his eyes dims a bit, but it’s not completely out. I slowly get up and walk towards him with swaying hips. Standing close to him, I run a hand through his hair as I slowly pull his head toward me.
His cologne that I used to love so much now smells awful, I can barely contain a belch from my stomach. Bu
Later in the afternoon, when I grab my bag and close my office, I bump into Kaylah. “Are you going home already? There is still so much to do. The staff is still meeting.” I frown and decide to take a look at the conference room. Indeed, I see the managers there deliberating. When I step in, I end up in a financial discussion and eventually I help with the preparations for the execution of the several departments. I am startled when I suddenly feel a hand on my shoulder, when I look up I get a kiss on the lips. “Loraine, you would be home early. I came here to get you." Danner has a smile on his face, thankfully. I can't afford his irritation now, I'm dead tired myself. I quickly gather my things and get up from my chair. “Gentlemen, lady. I am leaving. Tomorrow is another day, so what cannot be finished today, start fresh tomorrow.” I see the disapproval on their faces, they really thought we would finish all the tasks today. In addition, not ev
"Honey, you look stunning." Danner stands behind me with an admiring look in his eyes. My bright red dress, which is tight around my full breasts, falls loosely in a bell shape over my body to my knees. Against my pitch-black hair and gray eyes, it's a stark contrast. I have my eyes in a gray shade and my lipstick is hell red. I am an appearance that cannot go unnoticed by Danner's guests. Danner grabs me by the upper arms and presses me against his chest. I suppress the urge to push away from him, he has lost his attraction to me. I want to be further away from him, actually, I want my old life back where I live alone in my country house. Tomorrow I'm going to talk with him about this, I need some breathing space. Tonight is the launch of a new car brand at Danner's company and some senior officials are on the guest list. As his betrothed, everyone expects to see me appear on his arm and I will not disappoint him. In good spirits, I step out o
"Danner, I want to live alone in my own house for a few weeks." I drop the bomb, and indeed he is petrified by my words. His eyes rise to mine, incredulous in disbelief and anger. “You want, what!”. His lips are a straight line, his face a tight mask. Unfazed, I look back at him. “I said I want some private space. We've been living together for a while and I'm starting to feel caged." His fork falls back loudly on his expensive porcelain plate. By no means am I going to let Danner overpower me this time. I stand firm in this, I want to get rid of this strenuous part in our relationship. The engagement and this living-together entangle me, restricts my freedom of movement. “What does feel cage mean?”, he demands to know in a loud voice. “Listen Danner, I don't want a fight. But we live as a married couple, I have to keep you in mind all the time. Notifying you where I am going, what time and when. It's all too much. I want a little
Two weeks back from China and I haven't heard from Dordrich yet. A week ago at Danner's reception, we last saw each other but didn't speak. Danner's argus eyes wouldn't allow me to go and greet Dordrich. Because if I had only tried that, the whole event would have ended in a drama and that’s exactly what I wanted to avoid. I spent the whole week in my own house. Straight home from work. Every morning a walk through the artificial forest behind my house, in the evening flirting with Danner on the phone for an hour. By arrangement, I will go to his penthouse tomorrow after work and from there to work the next morning. I am taking another short walk today before I leave for work. With a dry branch in hand, I follow the path to the Hill where there is a bench to rest for a while before starting the descent again. It is a walk of about half an hour. There is a tap there where I can wash my face and have a drink of water. This way I d
“One month bonus salary for the junior staff”. Kaylah looks at me incredulously. She blinks her eyes a few times, hangs over my desk up to my face. "Did you say a whole month's bonus, free money for all but the top employees?", she asks to be sure. I look at her with a straight face. “Said in round English words”, I snap at her. Her eyes search my face. “Did Santa visit you last night? You are never that generous.” This bitch! "One more word and you can whistle to yours," I hiss at her. She turns and walks straight to the finance department. After fifteen minutes she’s back with the printout for approval and puts it on my table. I look at her from under my glasses. “Do I have to do your job too? My signature is too precious for such worthless things.” She sighs dramatically. “Loraine, these are not regular expenses, this is an extra burden on the budget,” she explains as if talking to a toddler. I look up immediately. “No, this will be
It is afternoon when a large bouquet is carried into my office. A warm feeling goes through me, I know exactly who it comes from. Kaylah points the man where to put it, signs for receipt and looks at me from under her eyes. I ignore her, take out a flower and smell blissful. Seeing that I don't intend to explain the sender of my present to her, she turns with a knowingly face and walks to her own workspace. Dordrich! This guy makes sure I don't forget him. Like I even can after what we shared a few hours ago. I still blush when I think about it. My phone rings on my desk. “Mr. Fellogan on line three, Loraine,” I hear Kaylah announce. Quickly I press the button and Dordrich's deep voice comes through the phone. “Princess, are you okay? Want to have dinner with me tonight?”. I’m shocked by his invitation, I had thought that our relationship would only be based on hot sex until the attraction wore off. This is definitely not a smar
When I get home, I call Danner right away. “Hi babe, I have an all-girls night out tonight. I'll call you as soon as I get back, but it may be late," I apologize. "Or shall we talk tomorrow afternoon when I'm with you?". “No, call me as soon as you get back. I want to make sure you get home safely. My phone stays under my pillow so I can hear it when it rings." “Do you know where you will be hanging out?”, he asks. "Please, go to a safe place so I don't have to worry about you." I chuckle. Danner is always so practical. “No, Kaylah decides. She knows the best places.” I make a mental note that I have to compensate Kaylah for this cover-up. While I get ready for a nap, we finish the conversation. My conscience gnaws a little at the lie I told my fiancé. But I quickly shake it off, Dordrich is definitely worth it all. I fall asleep right away and
“Princess, you are so beautiful. I can't imagine you allowed me to love you. Many in this city long for the privilege of owning you. But you gave yourself to me, out of all who want you,” Dordrich begins in an intimate tone. "Why? I know the attraction between us was strong from the start. But all these years, all those men by your side. I of all people, Princess?”. Amazed by the vulnerability in his voice, his openness, I pause for a moment. I've never seen this side in a man. All men I've encountered are confident, knowing what they're worth. Dordrich sounds a bit insecure as if he is a real human being with real feelings, capable of suffering. I have experienced this with neither Danner nor Aziel. And to be honest, I really appreciate this. With a relieved sigh I let go of my Haute attitude. Dordrich opened up to me, so I can return the same to him. I get up
Finally!Mrs. Loraine Aziel Renegade. Nice to meet you all out there.Aziel has just sworn his undying love for me in front of a hundred-strong crowd here in the Protestant congregation. Before the God we serve, he promised to always be there for me in good and bad times, share all my sorrows and joys, and never again hide his struggles from me.Yes, we've had a rough time.We both went through a deep hell, but God had mercy on us, we are resurrected and have overcome. And today we start a new episode in life. I’m Mrs. Renegade, the title I aspired to, dreamed of for a long time. And today it has all become a reality. I am the lawful wife of that wonderful, gorgeous man I saw standing by the pulpit waiting for me, who pulled me tenderly by the hand beside him. I love him, have told him so many times. There's only one secret left to share with him, and I'll do it tonight.We are now walking into our reception, Kaylah has organize
When we are inside the room, we indeed see Aziel lying on the bed. It's like he hasn't bathed or shaved in days. He lies there snoring like a sailor.Damian grabs him by the shoulders. “Aziel, Oooh My God! No, man, no!” he exclaims. He gently shakes Aziel until he opens one eye. He looks at Damian blankly and closes his eyes again. “Aziel, we're here, you can't sleep any longer, wake up!” Damian insists. And another eye opens. A hand goes up slowly. “Damian? Aren't you a dream?” he asks hoarsely.I quickly get a glass of water and give it to Damian. He puts it against Aziel's lips. “Drink something, it will make your throat feel less coarse”, he encourages the obviously absent-minded Aziel. There's a sip and another. I go to the other side of the bed and help Aziel sit up straight. “What have you done to yourself? Why didn't you come to me like you always do, Aziel? Running away from problems doesn't solve t
Fellogan's Rolls Royce now comes into view. Little can be recognized of the expensive car, it is a total wreck. Obviously, he flew into the guardrail lost control of the wheel. The paramedics are quick to respond, as is the fire brigade. Because emergency workers are running to the spot, there is little to see of the accident for a few seconds on tv. Until the journalist on-site announces that they have managed to get Fellogan out of the vehicle and he is still alive.“Yes, the assholes in this world have seven lives,” Archer curses. We see Fellogan being transported to the helicopter on a stretcher. His face is bloodied, his head is supported with a clamp. It's clear he's in a lot of pain, but he's holding his ground.We drive on. "Let's hope this doesn't become another obstacle in our friends' relationship," Damian sighs. “Those setbacks always follow each other. What the two need is peace, in their relationship, in their life.”
“Man, this is bad. How did we lose sight of them? This was inevitable, Aziel simply succumbed”, Damian sighs. “We should have been alert when they arrived. Ever since the funeral, we should have forced him into therapy.”We look at each other with guilt.“These two clearly belong together. And that Fellogan also pulled some tricks, which certainly didn't work well on their relationship. Why do I feel like that idiot did it all on purpose?” Archer grinned. “I never liked him. A cheater can never have high morale.”We're going at high speed, the speed cameras have already caught us a few times. But that's for later concern. Virginia is our target and we want to get there as soon as possible. “Archer, turn on the television. I want to see what the media has made of Loraine's case," I ask him. He zips some channels until we do see breaking news. The reporter tries to get the medical staff to talk an
What follows is total chaos.Somehow the press learned that Loraine would be transported by ambulance and amassed outside the house within minutes. Fortunately, her garage is covered, allowing the ambulance to be ushered in and cut off from the outside world. This way we can protect her privacy as much as possible.Meanwhile, Damian and Kenjal have arrived.Kaylah and I ride in the ambulance with Loraine while the others follow with their own transport. The paparazzi follow behind us, it's a madhouse. “Kaylah, would we rather not have transported her per helicopter services? This is crazy!” I ask distraught. The paramedics gave Loraine first aid and placed her under anesthesia. She's pretty weak, she's been on the bed for days, the nurse said. I hit myself on the forehead, why didn't I act sooner? I never thought Aziel would leave, I thought he had the situation firmly in hand. Not so.“We'll handle this, don’t worry.
Andre's POVBoth Loraine and Aziel are out of reach.Their phones are off, they haven't been seen in the workplace for days. Lorrich also asks about his parents, I can't give him an appropriate answer why they haven't called him these days.This is a bizarre situation. In any case, they would have told me if they were leaving the country, even if it was on a business trip. Nor have this couple ever neglected Lorrich, even now that he lives with me. Since we arrived in New York, the two have been struggling with serious relationship issues, and Loraine got her memory back. Attempts by me to mediate failed hopelessly, Aziel could not vent his heart towards me. And as it turns out, not with Loraine either. This won't end well, I can feel it coming at my toes.I have avoided alarming our other friends about what’s happening these days. I know how emotional Kaylah reacts to everything Loraine regards, Rick and Kenjal are Aziel's buddies. No
I have been very restless all day.Yes, I am sexually frustrated, Aziel has been sleeping next to me for days without touching me. But that's not my biggest problem.Aziel is not only physically inaccessible to me but also mentally. He shuts me out completely, when I want to lean against his chest as usual, he turns away from me, when I reach out my hand to touch him, he keeps himself out of my reach.Mentally I'm broken too. What is certain is that we cannot continue like this, we have to solve tense between us ourselves. We can't live without each other, breaking up is not the answer to our problems.Dordrich is to blame, I swear!Very finely, he set up the plan to separate Aziel and me. It already started right at my return at the airport by completely ignoring Aziel. He clearly had a hand in the screenplay set up there. And the news items where I'm in his company are broadcast longer and more often from an angle where we seem to b
Aziel's POVI meant what I said that night.The debacle of my children, the rape, the kidnapping of Loraine and everything that happened after that could have been prevented if I had been more alert. It's all my fault, period!And that Fellogan keeps peddling it in the press, he’s on a mission. I hardly dared to look Loraine in the eye for the past few weeks at home. She noticed the change in me, I see that she suffers a lot. Late at night I even hear her crying next to me in bed.After my confession, everything in the house has changed.Even Lorrich sensed it, he was having a hard time dealing with the changed atmosphere. Andre has come a few times to persuade me to discuss what is troubling me. But I'm not ready to talk about it yet, I have to come to terms with myself first.I feel Loraine's pain, but there's nothing I can do to ease it now. She's mentally too far away from me. We hardly communicate, just sitting at th
The memories return in full force when Loraine enters the house with Lorrich on her arm. She quickly falls on the couch and holds her head. The last days leading up to her amnesia, the stress of Aziel's lawsuit, distraught watching Aziel suffer from the attacks from the media, everything resurfaces.Also, the day she was lured from the hospital by the head nurse and Danner who was waiting for her in the parking lot. “Mommy, what is it?” Lorrich asks concerned when he sees her pained face. She looks at her son, she knows he is too young to understand the evil ways of adults. Aziel, who has just entered, sees Loraine's gray face. "Angel, are you feeling well? You look terrible" he asks concerned. She beckons him to sit next to her and buries her head in his chest. “Everything is back. I have my memory back, my head is pounding", she whispers.A stabbing headache begins to set in, she massages her temples in the hope that it will pass. Quickly, A