Larissa's viewpointI'd never truly had a reason to ignore my friends. Yes, we had fights, and we argued a lot, but I always found a way to talk to them. I was always the one to speak first like the fight never happened. And even if they took it seriously, I didn't and would make sure they talked. I won't call what they did a fight, but it just hurt me. I was always there for Neo when he wanted to talk about Starliss, and I was her shoulder to cry on whenever he hurt her by being with this girl or the other.I had been their middle woman for years, been both their emotional supporter and rooted for them since like, forever. Then something happened and they both suddenly decided to shut me out, both decided to suddenly tell me to stop disturbing their love life. It stung. Maybe I shouldn't be hurt, did I have the right to be hurt when they were hurting themselves? No, and that's why I did try to reach out to them for the rest of the day, but they made it clear that I shouldn't. Starlis
Larissa's viewpointLeave it to my boyfriend to drop a huge bomb on me.I fidgeted in my seat, my smile stuck to my face. I mean, I wanted to meet his family, but not his entire extended family. I knew his mother had a huge friend circle and her friends were her family so that technically makes them her extended family. It meant I had to meet and know all of them, which might be too much for my poor mind to take. I was dreading meeting the rest of his siblings, let alone his aunties and uncles. Meeting a guy's family is a big deal to a girl. It shouldn't matter but what if they don't like me? What if his sisters hate the way I dress? What if his other brother hates me? What if they think I'm too poor?What should I wear? Should I dress to impress them? Should I change myself to please them? What if nothing I do pleases them? What do I do then? What if he dumps me if his siblings don't like me? No, Zayne can't leave me, he can't.Zyaire must have noticed how I was starting to slowly pa
Larissa's viewpoint"This is a stupid idea," Star complained for the umpteenth time. School was over for the day and it was time to go have fun with Zyaire. Star still believed it was suicidal to go for a swim after I almost died, but I didn't see what was so suicidal about swimming, and I didn't almost die. Starliss was overreacting and Odette knew it, that's why she decided to come along to prevent Star from sucking the fun out of me.So there we were, waiting by Zyaire's car, my hands in the pockets of my boyfriend jeans while she complained about how stupid the idea was. Odette and I gleefully ignored her. I almost breathed out a "finally", when I saw Zayne walking out, pulling Zyaire out by his ear while his friends trooped behind them. What did he do this time?I pushed myself off Zyaire's car as they approached us, arching a brow in confusion. Zayne pushed Zyaire forward, leaving me to catch him with a little effort before I let him fall flat on his face. "And what did he do th
Larissa's viewpoint"Oh my goodness, this place is amazing!" I shouted, clinging to Zyaire's arm. My other hand rested on my hip, my eyes fixed on the beautiful blue lake before us. Zyaire laughed."I don't see what's so beautiful about this place," I sighed, slowly turning my head to stare at Zyaire's girlfriend, Gabby. I didn't like it when she showed up, but I didn't have a say in it.Gabby, Zyaire's girlfriend, and baby mama. According to him, they started dating when he was almost fifteen, but a year later, he knocked her up. They couldn't abort the baby, so she kept it. They weren't married, but Zyaire made sure to visit her every day and care for their daughter. He loved Gabby, but it was so obvious Gabby didn't.Maybe there was a time she used to, but it was clear to everyone except Zyaire that she had fallen out of love and was only with him because of their child. Gabby dyed her hair orange and always had orange eye lenses on so I didn't know her real color. She was a walkin
Zayne's viewpointI messed up.I ran my hand over my face, still not understanding how I ended up doing that, how I could do that to her. I didn't mean to, I wasn't thinking. I swear, I was just thinking about her body, and the next thing I knew, I was consumed by rage that wasn't my own and acting on it. How could I do that to her? How did I even do that to her? I hurt her, she left me and went home with her friend. I don't blame her, but I blame myself.Sighing loudly, I tossed my backpack on the table of my mother's secretary, gaining her attention. What's her name again? I looked at her name tag, Olive. Whose wife is she again? Ah, whatever. Olive blinked her eyes slowly and flashed me her signature heartwarming smile. "Good evening, you're here to see your mother I presume,""Yes, is she busy?""Not to my knowledge. She's in her office, and so is Zachary." I furrowed my brows. Zachary is here? When did he come? And for him to go straight to Mom's office, something is definitely w
Larissa's viewpointSighing with exhaustion, I pushed the front door open and walked in. The day was emotionally and physically exhausting. I was worried about Zayne, worried that he would be beating himself up for what he did. Yes, I was upset, but I already knew enough from their mother that when the younger quints act irrationally for no reason, it means one of the eldest is really furious and emotionally unstable. Trust me, it creeped me out, and I didn't believe her until I saw it for myself.Zayne wouldn't get angry for no reason, and since he was complaining about his older siblings, then it had to be them. It felt like I was dating his brothers and sisters too. It was exhausting, but right now, he needs me to support him, not be at loggerheads with him. I still planned to punish him for what he did, but that didn't mean I couldn't worry.I felt bad for leaving afterward, but I was late for work anyway. I couldn't leave the kitchen, for some reason, Lily kept telling me that st
Larissa's viewpoint"The mischievous one is Elias. This," Tristan changed the picture, "is his wife, Ginger Dale," the woman in question had ginger hair and reddish brown eyes. I sighed. I was already getting tired and it was just the beginning."Elias was Zillah's dance instructor during her early career. Jerónimo is their first child. That's all I know," I nodded. He flipped the picture, causing another sigh to leave my lips."These are the main circle of Zayne's mother's friends. The men are like brothers to her, especially Ferris and Gael. Then there is Arthur. Arthur is married to Lavender's secretary, Olive. So if you are introduced to any with that–yes, here's their wedding picture." I nodded, peering closer at the picture. They had a son, four years old.I threw myself on the chair with a loud sigh by the time we were done. I, honestly, had a headache. Tristan was done eating. He closed his laptop and exhaled too, but from satisfaction. We remained in the dark, thinking.His f
Larissa's viewpointFor the least, I was expecting that, and I prepared for it. I folded my arms lazily, ignoring her question. She continued. "He kept asking us where you were and begging us to call you with our phones, but we didn't because we knew something was up. What happened?""We are not on talking terms and he started it. I'll forgive him later.""What did he do?" Star asked curiously. I wanted to tell her that it was none of her business, but I bit back on my tongue. Instead, I sighed and shook my head. "If it's bothering you enough to ignore him, then it has to be serious,""I'll settle it on my own in time. For now, just leave it. I do NOT want to talk about it." I said firmly. She opened her mouth to speak, but Odette kicked her leg, silencing her and saving me from telling her to fuck off. I wasn't going to tell her anything about my relationship, not anymore. Tristan ran in now wearing his jacket."Just don't… please, remember your health, Larissa, okay?" She mouthed, s
Today marks a year and seven months since Larissa went into a coma. The project to fasten her healing remains a failure. There has been no positive result since. So far, the doctors still deem her survival impossible and the medicine to help the impossible become possible is nothing but a failure. The agreed number of experiments I can carry out is getting close. I promised my parents that after the number is three hundred, I will not carry out any more experiments. Even if they are condemned criminals, even if they throw away gangsters from the assassin association and mafia, they are still humans. Or so Mom said. Almost two years isn't enough to heal the wound in my heart, or anyone who truly loved her. I miss her. I miss everything about her. The world has no colors without her. I caught him, the bastard who made this happen. It's a shame he died from the third experiment. I would have loved to put him to more use. Larissa's parents welcomed a new baby last
Zayne's viewpointI tapped my foot on the floor, my hands clasped and pressed to my lips. I silently prayed with my eyes closed for a good result since we didn't have the time or anyone to test it out. It wasn't something dangerous, that we were sure of but anything could happen. It'd been almost nine hours since the operation began. There had been no news from Dad or the doctors. We weren't allowed in there.Savia huffed for the umpteenth time. She had been pacing for four hours without a break. Neither of us could sleep. Serenity slept off thrice and woke up with a scream. She had nightmares. Zyaire slept off along the way, but unlike Serenity, he did not wake or shake, he cried in his sleep. None of us could be bothered to soothe each other's pain."Argh!!!" Savia screamed, ruffling her hair and shaking her head wildly. "This is driving me crazy!""Relax, Savvy," Aunt Rylee said softly. She accompanied us to the hospital along with her husband, Uncle Phineas. We kept Mom's conditio
Larissa's viewpointI looked around the house, walking in slowly while Neo went in to get something. It was strange. He told me it was an apartment and his Grandpa was sending him away but for someone who was leaving, they put a great effort into the interior design of the house. Note that I said house, not apartment. It was undoubtedly a beautiful home. The taupe gray, silver, and cream theme with a bit of brown was lovely, along with the furniture and the styling."I'm back," he announced, drawing my attention to him. He walked to the cream camel back sofa with a bottle of Beaufort a Ambonnay Grand Cru Doux Rose, two white wine glasses, a big plate of Swedish meatballs, and dark chocolate almond barks. He dropped the tray on the table and sat down."Shouldn't you be using champagne glasses for those?" I joined him."I broke them," I picked the bottle first. It was one of my favorite wines. "So how are you doing? Since you got out,""Not good. My grandparents are shipping me off to I
Larissa's viewpointI stood at the airport, listening to my Dad nag about how he'd like to return home and meet his house the same way he left it. It was the day after the wedding. My Dad and Mikayla were officially married. Zayne got me the VIP pass to the hotel I asked him to. I still couldn't shake off the grin on my face from the way my parents reacted. Though it was a gift Zayne spent effort on, it was still from me. Dad made sure to rub that on my face but Mikayla was sincerely grateful. I wish I could exclude him from the honeymoon."And you cannot throw or attend any party in our absence. Odette and Tristan, if I find out you broke anything in another argument again, I'll destroy your souls, use your flesh to make leather, and wear them as boots—""Dad, that's not—""Boots!" He snarled, daring us to correct him again. "Larissa, I promise you, I will hunt you to the end of the earth even in death if you dare redecorate my house," he growled, glaring daggers at me. I gasped. How
Larissa's viewpoint"Are you hurt?" The expected question. He needed to stop worrying about me. It was sweet of him but also unnecessary. I wasn't like before. If it hurt, I'd let him know."I'm fine, don't worry,""I’m still going to… fuck me," he groaned when my walls clenched hard around him. He fell over, using his hands to hold up his weight from compressing me. "Damn. I'm going to go a little stronger than before. Please don't hesitate to–""Tell you if it hurts or if I can't handle it, yes, I know. Can you move now?""Remember to—""For goodness's sake, I will," I laughed, a bit impatient and lust showing in my tone. "I promise I won't foolishly take more than I can handle so please continue or I'll flip us over and fuck you myself. You know, that was the plan when I wore this underwear. The plan was to tie you up and have my way with you," Zayne chuckled and put strength in his arms, holding back his desire (as always) to destroy my insides recklessly, and the result of that w
Larissa's viewpoint"I've arrived!" I shouted, kicking Zayne's bedroom door open. He spun the giant white ball chair around, revealing the red interior. He looked at me flatly and I grinned in response. "Zaddy, I'm home!" I shrieked again. Of course, we were at his private house. We agreed to meet there, but he didn't have the large chair the last time I came."That door is worth someone's yearly salary, be careful with it," I nodded, swinging the bags in my hands happily. "You're wearing a coat," he stated."For dramatic reveal," I replied, dropping the bags on the glass table. "And no, I'm not bothered by what my mother said to me. If anything, I feel sorry for myself," he stretched his hands out, gesturing for me to come closer. I planned to go over to him anyway. "I feel pity and disappointment for myself. I allowed the fear of what I might be like if I became anything like her to torment me for years. I feared becoming like her the most but seeing her right now, I'm forced to won
Larissa's viewpointI exhaled through my nostrils, rubbing my throbbing forehead. My body felt heavy and in desperate need of a massage or to shut down for three straight days. It's been two weeks since Zayne left school. We barely saw each other. I couldn't be selfish and bother him with my fantasies and loneliness, so I focused on work and my parents' wedding. A lot of things were going on. I'll start from the beginning.I felt bad about what I said to Neo and wanted to make amends but I never got the chance to. Proof of illegal dealings was found in his father's office. I was greatly appalled when the truth behind their success was exposed. Neo's father owned a secret organization for prostitution and slavery. People were illegally smuggled into the country by will or by force and worked as sex workers. There was also a section for children for sick bastards who couldn't enjoy normal sexual relationships with adults. There were a lot of other illegal sexual activity, including rape
Larissa's viewpointI nervously walked into the house and the moment I did, I felt the dark and gloomy energy inside the house. The energy made a chill run down my spine, making me hug my body tightly. I looked around the house and just then, Zyaire walked into the living room, scratching the scruff of his neck as he yawned. The first thing I noticed was that his hair was a mess and his eyes were red and swollen. Zyaire had been crying."Zyaire," he halted, then slowly raised his eyes to look at me. His eyes looked lifeless. "Hi," I greeted. He looked at me coldly, then quietly continued walking."Zayne won't be able to see you now, he's busy. You can wait in his room or wait here if you wish,""What is he doing?" I asked, walking over to join him on the couch. "He sounded very miserable on the phone– your Mom, how is she?""She's alive for now,"I smacked his shoulder scoldingly. "Don't say it like that. You'll make me nervous,"He chuckled. At least I managed to pull that from him.
Starliss' viewpointIf I already didn't have a goal for my future, I would have considered becoming an actress. Masking my emotions, and pretending to be someone that I am not is a huge part of me and I'm greatly skilled at it. I'm not blowing my own horns here, I am proudly stating facts.I watched as Larissa's eyes darkened involuntarily. She was incredibly softhearted when it came to Neo but she was merciless if anyone touched Odette. Anyone being able to hurt Odette and Tristan was the height of her rage. She might not always react with anger, but she always makes the right decision when they are hurt in any way. The moment I saw the dark expression on her face, I couldn't fight back the smile I knew she wouldn't notice.Larissa turned around and walked out. I followed her quietly but stopped at the door, making sure to hide myself but look between the cracks. She knocked on the window of Neo's sports car and tapped her foot impatiently. It was something she did unconsciously when