She raised one eyebrow and smiled a little at me, but I was ahead of her."It's not about trust but what's the benefits?" “I don't trust anyone, not even someone like Nicolai. It's not about trust—it's about control."Victoria raised an eyebrow, and the eyebrow drooped immediately. "Exactly. Use him like a tool to get what you want. It is transactional and as long as you keep that in mind-“I don't need the reminder," I said, standing up straight, arms crossed."I played this game a long time before Nicolai wandered in with his little offer. If he thinks I am some damsel in distress, he's in for a rude awakening."Victoria smiled faintly, but I didn't flinch. She was nobody to teach me how to play a game."You are right," she said, smoothing her image once more."But don't let yourself get too caught up in his jargon. If you need to, pay lip service. Make him believe he's on top".I would think my smile was made of ice. "I'll convince him to believe whatever I want him to. He may hav
GIDEON’S POVIt was like a thick fog that sank in and covered everything within its sight. A minute to collect my thoughts was a must since my chest had knotted up. Mr. Apollo was our lifeline. He was the kind of investor who could keep us afloat during such times. But now, it was a death sentence for Grayson's company at a time when sales hung by a thread.“Get him on the phone,” I urged, pushing my voice to sound normal, mayhem churning inside me. "I need to speak to him now," I say.I would pace that small office in my head, getting ready to make a pitch to Mr. Apollo. I will convince him that we were still worthy of investment. This period had to end; we had a way of dealing with it. The figures trended upward. I could already see them in my head: forceful marketing, revamping the sales, maybe a new partnership that would set things on fire once again.A knock on the door brought me out of my daze, suddenly. My secretary entered, looking worried. "Mr. Apollo's on the line for you,
Vicky, clearly tired of our exchange, pulled on Nicolai’s arm. “We’re just friends.”“Friends? Haha!” I doubted and laughed.“You cheated on Amethyst. I caught you both!” I accused.He leaned forward, his eyes flashing with the catch of laughter. "You're an idiot, Mr. Grayson," he muttered.“What are you trying to say? Some knight in shining armor? You're just her ex-husband playing hero to save her from herself? The whole thing is pathetic.”I knew that was true; it was a taste, a bitter one, to swallow. Yet I wrestled it back. I was not my mistakes. "I'm not here to save her," I said, taking strength in my voice. "I just caught you two.".That made Nicolai laugh harshly and jolted my nerves again. "Caught? Just like how she caught you?" he said sarcastically. "You are the last person she should bother with. You have broken her trust not me.”Vicky’s impatience was palpable, her annoyance radiating off her like heat. “This is ridiculous,” she said, pulling Nicolai’s arm again. “We sh
Amethyst POVI woke up to my phone ringing, Victoria's name flashing on the screen. My heart raced as I wondered what could be so urgent. I scrambled to get ready, taking a quick shower and mentally bracing myself for whatever awaited me at the office.When I arrived, the sight that greeted me was astonishing. My office was a riot of color—flowers spilling from every corner, vibrant blooms suffocating the air with their sweetness. I stood there, momentarily breathless.“What’s going on?” I asked Victoria, my confusion palpable.With a grin, she replied, “It’s a surprise from Nicolai Montero.”I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is. His obsession is getting out of hand.”Victoria chuckled, but I could see the sincerity in her eyes. “He wanted to show you how special you are, even while he's away. I helped arrange it.”Frustration bubbled inside me. “This is just another way for him to exert control. I want nothing to do with romantic entanglements. My grandmother’s revenge plans are enough
The moment just hung there between us, my order sinking into the air like thick fog. I watched Mrs. Sanchez flinch at my words, as if the title "Ms. Amadeus" had cut a gaping hole in the guise she had so long played at being. It was a jarring reminder of our new reality-one where I stood tall and she stooped over as a subordinate.“Ms. Amadeus,” she whispered again. It was a delight to hear the shift, that recognition of my power."Louder," I said, squinting a little. "I want to hear you say it plain."“Ms. Amadeus”, she repeated, her words a little stronger this time, though her voice still quivered with anxiety.I moved closer to her. She had to look at me. "You forget, you are not here to take up any mothering role. You are here to work and do it my way. I want you to obey me as a professional, not like some parent trying to get their child's love.”She nodded, swallowed hard, and I could see the fight in her. "I get it," she said, her voice stronger now.“Good,” I said, with a rus
GIDEON’S POVThe next morning I woke with a heaviness about my chest-one attached to me like an unwilling shadow. I hardly slept at all, as the raciness in my brain whirled ideas about Nicolai Montero and the apparent betrayal against my ex-wife, Amethyst. Of course, I knew I had no right to this feeling. I was the one who cheated on her, who betrayed her trust. And yet here I was, waking with restlessness and thoughts for her.I rolled over in bed, trying to wash away images of the past: laughter, warmth, and the way she once looked at me. Those were soon drowned out by the look of Nicolai's smirk as he taunted me when we crossed paths. I tried to tell myself to let it go. I was now married to Alexa, and my life with her needed to be focused, but nagging concerns about Amethyst would not let me.Against my better judgment, I dressed, wordlessly left the house to Alexa, and could feel my heart racing against every turn as I moved towards Amethyst's company.I was approaching that buil
Amethyst POVThen only the ringing phone distracted my deep concentration-provoking thought while I was browsing spreadsheets. Expecting this one also to be another boring one, I slowly picked it up. But then a face appeared on the caller ID, Mr. Gideon Grayson, my ex-husband."Ms. Amethyst Amadeus, receptionist over the phone replied, "Mr. Gideon Grayson is looking for you."A frown pulled up my eyebrows. "Busy," I curtly bit off, my heart racing in that tight mask. Without hearing an answer, I dropped the receiver, the feel of which was hot in my hand as though it had scorched it.Victoria sat across the room. Her eyes looked up from the computer screen. "What's wrong?" she asked, a genuine concern written on her face.I sighed as frustration boiled forth. "My fucking ex-husband, Gideon is looking for me. Not now do I have for this,” I snapped saying my words with more poison than I wanted to unleash. "He can seek my time if he had something important to say in his mouth.”A smile c
I went home, sent one of the maids out for chicken soup, and then sat quietly in my room. It was a warm smell around me, like being blanketed with a warm, encompassing blanket. So sharp was the contrast as my body began to freeze as well. That small little smell was some form of consolation as I endeavored to shake off the load of the day.After a quick shower, warm water enveloped me, and I hoped it would wash away some of the troubles that stuck to my mind. Even as I stood there, with steam swirling around me, my thoughts kept floating back to Gideon.His voice boomed in my head, yelling and squeaky, demanding my attention when I was unwilling to let him have it. It galled me that so much sway he had over my emotions even when he didn't know a thing about it. “It has nothing to do with him,” I said to myself, acrid resentment churning beneath the surface. A fever crept through my bones like a reprimand for letting his opinions mean a little-only to me.I slipped into the soft robe,
The door to my office slammed behind Nicolai, his presence still lingering in the air like a storm cloud. I stood there, fists clenched, heart racing, as the sound of his footsteps echoed down the hallway. For a moment, I thought I might collapse under the weight of his words. “You owe me, Amethyst. You’re not getting out of this.”I tried to steady my breathing, tried to push the anger and frustration aside. I was done with him. Done.But even as I forced my thoughts to calm, I could feel the storm inside me building. Nicolai hadn’t come to talk—he had come to control, to make sure I stayed trapped in a deal I had made in a moment of weakness. He wasn’t going to let me walk away, but that didn’t mean I had to roll over and let him take everything.I grabbed my coat, my movements sharp and deliberate as I marched out of my office, my heels clicking on the floor with the same intensity that burned in my chest. As I reached the elevator, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Nicolai’s eyes
As the finality of the words echoed in my mind, I slammed the phone down onto the passenger seat, my breath coming in sharp, uneven bursts. The engine hummed louder in the quiet, but it did nothing to drown out the storm brewing in my chest. My grip on the wheel tightened until my knuckles were white, the car speeding through the dark streets as though the road could outrun my thoughts.Gideon. Nicolai. Both of them seemed to be haunting me, lurking at the edges of my mind, tugging at the threads of my past like they thought they had any claim to me. But they didn’t. I wouldn’t let them.I had promised Nicolai I would marry him. I hated how his words echoed in my mind, how they pushed into my thoughts no matter how hard I tried to ignore them. He had helped me bring justice to my mother, had fought alongside me when I needed it most. And in exchange, I had given my word—my promise—that I would marry him. A deal sealed in the chaos of a moment, but a deal nonetheless.I closed my eyes
As I drove through the empty streets, the cool night air creeping through the cracked window, I focused on keeping my grip firm on the steering wheel. The hum of the engine was a dull noise against the thundering thoughts in my head. My pulse still raced from the confrontation with Nicolai, but my mind was more preoccupied with the man who had shown up uninvited: Gideon.I shook my head, trying to clear the confusion swirling in my chest. It had been so long since I’d seen him, and yet, here he was, right when I least expected it.Gideon. I could still feel the weight of his gaze, the way his presence seemed to fill every space between us. But no matter how much he tried to be the hero in my life, I wouldn’t let him back in. Not after everything.The past was filled with too many scars, too many broken promises, for me to entertain the idea of letting him slip back into my life. What he did to me, what we had, couldn’t be undone. I wasn’t some helpless girl waiting for him to save me
Nicolai groaned, shaking his head, clearly dazed from the punch. Blood dripped from his split lip as he glared up at Gideon, struggling to get to his feet. “You think you can just show up and play the hero? You don’t know what’s going on, Gideon.”“I don’t need to know the details,” Gideon shot back, taking a step closer to Nicolai, his presence towering over him. “I just know you’ve hurt her enough. And I’m not going to stand by and let it happen again.”I stood frozen, still reeling from the shock of the scene unfolding in front of me. Gideon. Gideon was the one who had intervened. It had been so long since I’d seen him, let alone spoken to him, and now here he was, protecting me—when I least expected it.Nicolai, still on his knees, wiped the blood from his chin and glared up at both of us, his voice dripping with venom. “This isn’t over,” he spat. “
“Meet me at Marble diner,” I replied.Later that evening, I found myself waiting in a quiet café downtown, the place I had arranged to meet Nicolai. It was a small, secluded spot—ideal for a conversation I had no intention of backing down from.My phone buzzed in my pocket. Nicolai’s name flashed on the screen. My thumb hovered over the notification for a long moment. Should I answer? Should I make him wait?Finally, I clicked open the message.I’m here.I took a deep breath and stood, my posture straight, my expression set. No hesitation. I wasn’t about to let my emotions get the best of me.It didn’t take long before he appeared, cutting through the crowd like he owned the room. Nicolai’s eyes locked with mine instantly. Despite everything, I could still feel the old pull between us—but it was no longer enough to make me falter.He reached the table, his usual confident stride faltering for a split second when he saw the steel in my gaze. I didn’t move as he sat down across from me.
Days had passed since that conversation with Nicolai. The days felt like a blur, a haze of conflicting emotions and unanswered questions swirling in my mind. Every time I tried to focus on something, my thoughts inevitably drifted back to the phone call with Gideon, and the way Nicolai’s voice had cracked with emotion when I’d confronted him.It was almost like I was living in two worlds. There was the world with Nicolai, where everything felt so close to being perfect, where I wanted to believe in us again. And then there was the world with Gideon, a world full of regret, accusations, and a past I couldn’t seem to outrun.I tried to push it all aside, to focus on the present. I had to move on. I couldn’t let Gideon’s words—or Nicolai’s mistakes—ruin everything.But when I arrived home that evening, something felt off.I pulled my car into the driveway, the sound of the tires crunching on the gravel a familiar comfort. I grabbed my purse and walked towards the door, my mind still tang
The days that followed were suffocating, each moment heavier than the last. Alexa moved through the house like a shadow, her presence only a reminder of what we had lost, what I had lost. She continued her routine—making breakfast, cleaning, pretending that the life we had built together was still intact. But the more I watched her, the more I realized it was all just a charade.I stayed distant. I couldn’t bring myself to be near her, not after what had been said, not after the truth had finally come out. I kept to myself, retreating into the silence of my own mind, where the weight of the last few days pressed down on me like a physical force. The house felt colder than it ever had before, as if it were rejecting me, as if I were rejecting it. And Alexa? She felt like a stranger now.One morning, I found her sitting at the kitchen table, the same spot where we used to share coffee and talk about our days. Her hands were wrapped around a cup, her eyes distant, lost in thought. I stoo
“Alright,” I said, the words slipping out like a vow I’d made to the devil himself. “But after this, it’s really over. No coming back. No regrets.”The relief that flashed across her face was brief, almost imperceptible, but I caught it. And then it was gone, replaced by the resolve that had brought her here in the first place. She pulled out the papers from the pocket of her robe and set them on the desk with a crisp rustle. The sound echoed in the room, loud and final. I glanced at them, the ink on the page both freedom and a death sentence.With a steady hand, she signed her name, the motion so deliberate, so final, that it made my stomach twist. My heart squeezed in a way that made no sense, as if the world were shifting beneath me, changing forever.“It’s done,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.The weight of those words settled deep into my bones, and I stood there, rooted to the spot, as she turned and walked out of the room. The silence she left behind was deafening,
The tension in my chest was suffocating as I stared at the bartender, the question ringing in my ears: Was it worth fighting for?My jaw clenched, the stinging ache of regret and desire coiling deep inside me. I took a deep, shaky breath and looked at the amber liquid in my glass, the fire of the whiskey biting at my throat, numbing the chaos in my mind.Amethyst. Her name brought an ache that felt like it would crack my chest open. She deserved so much better than me. And yet, the thought of losing her forever was unbearable.I knew it was stupid, reckless even, but I couldn’t stop myself. I would fight for her, no matter how many times Nicolai pushed his way into her life, no matter how many times I screwed up. She was worth every battle, every scar. But I was running out of chances, out of time.“It’s worth fighting for,” I finally admitted, my voice barely more than a whisper, raw and vulnerable. “But I don’t know i