Slamming the door of his car loudly shut, Vincent sprinted up the stairs of the same shabby house he had visited a few days back with Hannah and started pounding on the door.The muscles around his shoulders were painfully strained, his face dark with rage he never knew he was capable of. Clenching and unclenching his fingers, he waited impatiently.His right eye twitched when no one answered the door. Not a single sound came from inside.The frown on his face hardened. Taking a few steps back, he kicked at the door with all the force he could muster.“Open the fucking door!” he yelled from outside, growing more and more impatient, kicking and punching and one time even thrusting his shoulder against the door, almost knocking the poor thing off its hinged.When someone finally did open the door, cursing like a sailor as they did, Vincent gave a rough shove to the person, enough hard to send her stumbling backwards.“What the—” the woman hissed, scrunching up her face as she recovered f
In a small empty room with nothing but a table and two chairs, Ruby sat with a pissed-off look on her face.An officer sat across the small table; his head impeccably shaved.His both hands folded on the table as he stared. As if trying to stare right through her; as if trying to read more than she was letting on. Despite the creepy aura he was radiating, Ruby thought he looked composed enough.Although it was impossible to be certain when the fuck he would lose it. The cops were pretty unpredictable if her experiences had taught her anything.“Ms Spencer,” the man said, his pale face void of any emotions. “Nothing to say yet?”Irritation squirmed across her face. “I already told you what I know.”“Which is…?”“That I know nothing,” she gritted out.The man wiped a hand down his face. “Ms Spencer. There is evidence against you—”“I don’t give a crap about your evidence! It’s all fucking lies.”“Alright then,” the man sighed, poking his cheek with the tip of his tongue as he opened the
In a different interrogation room, a woman in her mid-thirties sat uncomfortably. Fidgeting with her fingers and tapping her feet against the floor, she perched on the edge of the chair, with no one but an empty chair and table to keep her company.After what seemed like an eternity, a man walked in. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he apologized before taking a seat across from her.The woman bit her lip, her chest heaving with how nervous she was. “I…”“It’s alright,” the officer said. “Take your time.”The woman frantically nodded, licked her dry lips, and rubbed the back of her neck.“Feeling better?” the man asked.The woman nodded.“Alright, let’s start then,” he leaned back and sighed. “Explain your relationship with Ruby Spencer.”“She is…” she swallowed, her eyes jumping from left to right. She licked her lips again. Swallowed again. “She is…she is my sister….my sister-in-law.”“Your husband?”“Died in a car crash. Four years back.”The man gave a thoughtful nod. “Ms Ruby Spencer
There was something so sinister about their circumstances, something so outrageous.It was impossible for Ajax to decide if the truth devastated him more or turned him angrier.After all, it wasn’t every day the ground beneath his feet quaked so strongly.It wasn’t every day he lost his faith in people.Not that he had much to begin with.But whatever there was, the sunshine after the storm, it would be taken away with such a brutal force…he could swear, he didn’t see that coming.“I still can’t believe it…” Ajax heard Vincent growl, sounding annoyed and darker than he ever did. “…it was happening right under our nose. For so damn years. How did we not see it?”“Because they were good at covering their tracks, that’s why,” Ajax responded with a sigh.Even after learning the whole truth that had literally turned their whole life upside down, he rang ridiculously calm, even more than it was warranted in their current predicament.While the two brothers stood outside the police headquart
Once they pulled away, Vincent rubbed both his hands down his face, not wanting to admit that he had just indeed cried. Praying to the dear lord his brusque brother wouldn’t point out to make him awkward and butcher this whole brotherly moment they had going on for like five seconds.“Something got in my eye,” he stated before Ajax could. “Too much dust in the air.”Ajax could barely hold back a scoff. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”Seconds after Vincent disappeared from his sight, he came face to face with Noémie.“Hey!” she greeted him softly.The light pink dress clung to her body in a perfect fit, really making that baby bump visible to any foreign eye. Although to him, the sight brought an unfamiliar warmth to his heart, something he couldn’t quite explain it. Not with words at least.“Right back at you,” he said with a small smile but frowned when noticed the goosebumps all over her bare arms. “Ready to go home?” he asked while also taking off his suit jacket and setting it on
Ajax patiently waited for her to continue while he wiped the tears off her face.Noémie swallowed. “I said so many awful things to you. You must hate me.”Ajax wanted to laugh at that statement. Silly girl, he thought to himself. “I don’t think it’s humanly possible for anyone to hate you.”“Because I’m pregnant? And it’s cruel to hate a pregnant woman?”“No.” This time, he couldn’t hold back and huffed out a low chuckle. “Because you’re adorable. And kind. And wonderful. And just…perfect.” There were no other means to say it.The way she looked at him, he could tell she didn’t believe a word he said.“You like me,” she said, as if it had just now dawned on her. Her eyebrows curiously pulled together. “Don’t you?”“I’m glad you noticed,” he quipped, and had to choke back another laugh when she rolled her eyes.“Since when?”“Since always.”“No!” she sounded surprised.“Yes.”“How’s that even possible? You were always so…”“A prick? Asshole? Workaholic? Pain in the arse?” he offered.“
“I do,” she gave him an affirmative nod. “I think I’m ready to hear it.”Good for her. But was he? He asked himself.What if reminding her of that night made her hate him? What if she took it all wrong? What if it ruined everything he had achieved with her so far?Ajax sucked a sharp breath, his temples suddenly pulsing with a terrible ache.“Before I tell you…” he said, swallowing down a great deal of saliva and feeling his shoulders sag and tense at the same time. “I want you to answer me something honestly.”There was no hesitation in her eyes when she urged him with a nod.“Do you still have feelings for me?” he asked, averting his eyes towards the other part of the room, not quite able to match with hers, too afraid to find rejection in them.Noémie said nothing.Ajax could feel the dread in his heart spread like cancer. Rising up his throat and down his chest. Boiling in his stomach and making him want to throw up real bad.But then something else happened.He felt the pads of h
The next morning, in the bedroom of some lavish penthouse, the man grumbled with pristine irritation when the phone on the nightstand kept going off.“Ah, fuck it!” he yapped groggily, turning to his other side and stretching his hand out to reach over the phone and shut it the fuck off.“Come on!” with his eyes still squeezed shut, haphazardly he patted his hands around, trying to feel the damn phone, only to knock over something and jolt awake when it crashed to the floor.Snapping his eyes open and now blinking at the broken glass of water, he made an annoying sound from the back of his throat.The phone went off again.“Damn it!” he cursed aloud before he ignored the mess on the floor and grabbed the phone instead.Before he could open his mouth to say something, the person on the other side rained him with words after words.It happened in five seconds. His eyes snapped wide while colour drained from his face.“Are you sure?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder and for the first
Claire hadn’t expected Vincent to prepare the contract so soon. It took her by surprise when the same delivery men appeared at her grandma’s place the next day and brought her back to the old Halest Villa.According to the giant clock hung in the drawing room, it was exactly 9 o’clock in the morning. The old Halest Villa was dreadfully quieter than the previous day. The maids and guards were the only people she noticed since the moment she walked in and took a seat on the couch, waiting for Vincent to make an appearance.Claire was nervous. Her legs were shaking with anxiousness after every passing second. The conversation she had with Marvin the previous day didn’t make her feel any better either. It made her feel even worse. She knew she shouldn’t be hiding something so important from Vincent—especi
[Nine Months Ago]A man in a white lab coat punched a six-digit code and waited calmly as the heavy metal door groaned and slowly slid open. Behind him, two tall and hefty men stood. One of them carried an unconscious woman in his arms.The door revealed a restless lab, with men in similar lab coats bustling here and there. The pungent scent of chemicals and something acidic hung heavy in the air.As the three men entered the lab, the man in the lab coat paused and lifted a hand to guide the two large men.“Take her to cube number five,” the man said, and without waiting for a response, headed in the opposite direction.The two hefty men followed the order and stationed the unconsci
Marvin pursed his lips, settling back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine. Let’s talk about something else, then.”Just by the shift in his tone, Claire could tell what was coming next.“Would you like to explain that video about your pregnancy?”“Not really.”“Claire!”Claire groaned and held her head in her hands. “Why do you even care?”“You’re doing that to get that Halest boy, aren’t you?”“So what?”“You need to let him go!”“I can’t. You know I…I can’t do that.” How could he even ask her such a thing?“It’s not fair to him, Claire. He doesn’t know—”“He doesn’t have to know.”“Claire!” He leaned forward, his gaze hopeful and brimmed with concern. “Don’t do this. You’re just hurting yourself. And him. It’s not fair…” He reached out and cupped the back of her hand with his. “…to you, too.”Claire yanked her hand away. “Drop the act, Marvin. We both know you don’t give a crap about me.”“I don’t know what I’ve done to make you feel like this.”“Are you serious?
The second the elevator doors of Grandma’s apartment building opened, Claire groaned at the sight of Marvin, her older brother. God, what was he doing here? she thought to herself.After the intense conversation with Vincent, the exact delivery guys dropped her back at the place they picked her up from.“What are you doing here?” she asked exasperatedly as she shuffled out of the elevator while rubbing her temple.At the sight of her, Marvin peeled his back off the wall and stood up straighter. “I’ve been out here for almost an hour,” he grumbled. “Where have you been?” Adjusting the collar of his shirt, he demanded with a deep frown.“First off, that’s not the answer to my question,” she paused in front of him to fix him with an annoyed look. “And second, why are you outside again?”In response to her question, Marvin only sighed deeply in his chest, scratching the back of his neck. “She won’t let me in,” he muttered with a shake of his head, clearly talking about Grandma. “I would h
“Not to me, but to yourself.” Stepping away, he yanked her hands away from his shirt. “You always tell yourself these sweet lies and find comfort in them, Claire. You think you’ve changed, but you’re still the same.” Turning on his heels, he ran a hand through his hair. Frustrated.“Vincent…”“This time you went too far, Claire. Too far. You dragged my family into this. I’m not sure if I can ever forgive you for misleading them with your fucked-up lies.”“Don’t say that, Vince. I did this for you. For us.”“Stop it, Claire!” He snapped, wanting nothing more than to yank his hair out. “Just stop it!”Rushing to him, she hugged him from behind. More tears flowed through her red-rimmed eyes. “I know what I did
Claire knew she had gone too far. She knew what came out of her mouth was bound to fuck everything up. Even more than her situation already was. Vince would hate her. He didn’t have to spell it out for her to know she was only worsening her impression in his eyes.What other choice did she have, though?She was running out of not only time, but also options. Patience was her least remarkable character trait, after all. And when it came to Vincent, her patience grew even thinner. So much time she had already wasted in coming to her senses that now every second she had to stay away from him felt like a stab of the knife straight to her heart.Perhaps that was the reason that when Ajax dismissed her and she was led out of the study by a maid, she wasn’t surprised—or let out even a squeak in protest—when Vincent grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the closest empty room.
[Six Months Ago]After seeing off her husband at the airport for a two-days business trip, when a woman named Susan Green returned to her apartment, she barely kicked off her shoes and filled herself with a glass of water when a knock on the door arrived.Unsure of who it might be at the lunch hour, she opened the door only to find no one outside.Susan frowned. She was pretty sure she had heard the knock. Not once. Not twice. But thrice. Someone had knocked at the door thrice. Wondering if the kids in the building had once again picked up the bad habit of annoying the random neighbours, she closed the door and locked it.However, just when she hoped to get back to the kitchen counter and grab herself a glass of water, her gaze fell on the yellow manila envelope on the floor. It looked like someone had slipped it inside from under the door
Claire did as she was told. Quietly, she pulled the back of the chair and sat down with her fingers tightly laced with each other.For a long minute, no one said anything. The only sound in the room seemed to be the ticking of the clock. The tension in the room felt tighter and thicker than she had ever experienced. When someone did speak, it came from her left where Sonia Halest sat.“Is it true?” The older woman asked with a frown.Before Claire could clarify what the question was regarding, Vincent beat her to it.“Of course, it’s not!” He snapped, pounding a fist on the desk and glaring at Ajax. “Did you even hear a word I said? It’s all a lie. There’s nothing between us.”“Vince…” Claire tried to say when he spun his head and glared at her.
Claire sighed into her chest and felt her back slump against the door. Her heart ached to see him this mad at her. She wondered what could she possibly do to make things back to normal between them.On second thought, things had never been normal between them. Perhaps that was the reason she felt so clueless and hopeless and helpless. She did not have a single clue what could she say or do to make him love her the way he did once. Had she taken too long to come to her senses? Was it possible that he liked someone else now?Claire hated the idea of Vince being with some other woman. No. That would not do. He only belonged to her. He only loved her. Sure, he was refusing to admit that right now, but she wasn’t planning on giving up on them soon. She would make him hers, no matter what price she had to pay.With that determination in her heart, she sucked in another deep breath