"Do you really have to go?" Damien hated that Lila was whining over the phone. "Am I whining again? Why am I acting like this?" she muttered to herself and before he could say anything, she was speaking again. "When are you going to be back?" she asked."In two days and once I am back, I am going to run to you.""Okay then, you want me to go in the evening to check on Daisy?" she asked. Daisy was a dog that he had adopted and she hoped that soon she would join them at the house. Although staff were allowed in the house now, she wanted to still go over to his place; if she could not see him, then at least she could see the dog."Yes, can you do that?" he asked."Of course I can," she said and he took a deep breath."I gotta go down. I will call you as soon as we get there but it might take a while," he said and she nodded. She had to be understanding; as much as she wanted to cling to him, he had to have a life or else she would be known as the woman who sucked the life out of her boyf
"It makes no sense that you suddenly do not want to get married; we had agreed that we were going to have a wedding this year," Lila said as they drove out the party. "And the year is not even yet half done, so I do not know what the rush is about," Gavin said, rolling his eyes. They were just leaving the reception for a wedding. Gavin knew that Lila always got like this whenever they attended another wedding. She would calm down in a few hours; at least by the time they got home, she would be better. "Half the year? You haven't even asked me to be your wife yet," she scoffed as she crossed her hand over the seat belt. She hated having this conversation with him more than anything, and yet they had it at least once a month. He was constantly getting invited to weddings, and as if he were just trying his best to torture her, he took her to every single one of them, and in each one someone always asked her when she was getting married. She had been together with Gavin for six years
THREE YEARS LATERLila looked up at the sky; she had not seen the wall out of the prison in three years; it felt like a whole new world out here. She was expecting that Gavin would come today but no luck. He frequently visited her during the first six months of her being here, but shortly after that, he suddenly disappeared, claiming that he was expanding and could not be there again. Her only hope of seeing him was through the images on the television screen once in a very long while. "Helen's estate," she said to the cab driver as she entered the cab. As the cab moved down the road, she could vividly remember that day three years ago when she stood before the judge. He had sentenced her to seven years in prison because she was unable to pay the fine, not because she did not have it but because both her husband-to-be and her brother refused to bail her out. "You are foolish," her brother proudly said to her face. He knew very well that Lila was afraid to drive at night and would mo
There was no way that Lila thought of this that made sense to her; how could Gavin think to marry another woman after he put her in jail? She served the time she did not deserve, and even though she came out after three years instead of seven for being a model inmate, the scar was now on her for life. "Maybe this Evangeline is crazy and does not know what she is saying; Gavin is going to show up with a perfectly good explanation for everything," she murmured as she paced the living room. She would have gone in but she wanted to see Gavin as soon as he came in. There was no way she was trying to miss him. She had hoped to come home to a warm, nice shower and good beds where she could lie down, but now she had to stay seated until he came in. "Lila?" Gavin's voice was too shocked. He must have received the circular stating that she was coming out today, so why was he so shocked? "Gavin," she stood up so happy to finally see him in flesh and blood after all this time. "What are you d
"Boss, that woman is out of prison." Damien looked up from his table and took his glasses off his face. "She is out?" his voice came out rough. He cleared his throat and his assistant nodded his head."Yes, she is out." "But she was given seven years, and she has only spent three," Damien said, and the boy in front of him nodded. "She got out for good behaviour and being a model inmate," Gray explained. "Are you telling me that our system is so fucked up that they let a murderer leave because she acted like she was sorry?" Damien asked, slamming his fist to the table. "She was not even given the maximum punishment, and she was still let out early?" he was shaking furiously in his seat. Gray stood there anticipating whatever requests or orders he might want to give him. "What should I do?" Gray asked when Damien did not say anything but sat there in silence, probably thinking about his wife-to-be, who was killed by this woman who was now freely roaming the streets."I wanted her cl
"What have you got on her?" Damien asked Gray, who was standing at his table side. It had just been twenty-four years since he got the news about Lila's release and he had told his assistant to get information on her. He knew that the best way to bring her down was to first get closer to her and then bring her down one way or the other. He had to make her suffer for taking a life; it should not be that easy for a murderer to get free from jail."Basic information and current information""Tell me," Damien gestured, leaning into his seat and taking off his glasses. "Lila Carson, the only daughter and heir to the Carson empire, left home when her father died when she was eighteen years old. She got into a relationship with Gavin Holt; the car that was being driven by Lila that night belonged to Gavin. Gavin is now married to one supermodel, Evangeline Mark." "What is her relationship with her family?" "She is closer to her brother than she is to her mother. Her mother is barely in th
Lila wanted to escape this man, but he stood by her side. Somehow she thought that her brother would come to her rescue, but instead of doing that, he was chatting away with people from the party. She looked at him and sighed; he was such an outgoing person, and she wondered how he did it. She had barely had a full conversation and felt like her social battery was dead. If she had needed to make small talk, she would, but she especially did not want to do that. How could her brother be so cruel and push her out of the house just after she had gotten home from jail? She now hated crowds and gatherings like this so much because every day in that prison yard felt like a big sad and lifeless party she was forced to partake in. There were no foods, jesting, dancing, or laughing; only brutal fights and bullying, which she managed to so very much escape every time. "So I have never seen you around?" Daimen started the conversation, hoping to get something out of her. Everyone knew her bro
Lila took slow steps to the door with rage filling her body. She was not sure if it was because she was possibly drugged or if it was because of Gavin that she was angry; all she knew was that she had to get out of that place as soon as she could."The nerve of that guy—who could he be? How dare he?" She murmured to herself as she approached the entrance, trying her best to make sure that she did not blame Gavin for the rage she felt. He might have betrayed her, but all he did was in his best interest. And one can only love adequately when they are in the best possible shape."What are you thinking so much?" Joseph asked, snapping his fingers in her face. She looked up, and the frown on her face turned to surprise and admiration."Joseph," she gasped at him, and he nodded. "Oh my gosh," she added."It is you, the infamous Lila Carson," he said, holding her hand."It is me," she said, and a laugh escaped her lips. "I did not expect to see you here.Why not?" he asked, and she shook her
"Do you really have to go?" Damien hated that Lila was whining over the phone. "Am I whining again? Why am I acting like this?" she muttered to herself and before he could say anything, she was speaking again. "When are you going to be back?" she asked."In two days and once I am back, I am going to run to you.""Okay then, you want me to go in the evening to check on Daisy?" she asked. Daisy was a dog that he had adopted and she hoped that soon she would join them at the house. Although staff were allowed in the house now, she wanted to still go over to his place; if she could not see him, then at least she could see the dog."Yes, can you do that?" he asked."Of course I can," she said and he took a deep breath."I gotta go down. I will call you as soon as we get there but it might take a while," he said and she nodded. She had to be understanding; as much as she wanted to cling to him, he had to have a life or else she would be known as the woman who sucked the life out of her boyf
Lila stood in front of Damien's office; surprisingly, since Gavin was put behind bars and they had publicly declared their relationship, he felt free and began to go to work. Lila wondered what he had done to her; she wasn't the kind of person who would randomly show up at his office on a Monday morning but he had been out of town all weekend, meaning they didn't get to spend time together and since he was so busy with a product launch, he came to the office straight from the airport. She was supposed to be at work but should go to work after seeing him.She cleared her throat and walked into the office. The lobby was littered with people going in and out and some small groups of people talking. She tried to look at them; ignorance is bliss; if she did not check them, she wouldn't know if they were looking at her or even talking about her. She stood by the elevator with some other people and got in as soon as it stopped. She was going to the last floor so she made herself comfortable
"Do you really have to go?" Lila was standing at the airport as they were seeing her mom off; she could not understand the reason her mom was in such a hurry to leave them. She stayed until the end of the wedding ceremony and then began to talk about leaving to continue her world tour.Lila and Tessa were just getting close but Tessa knew it would be short-lived; if she stayed a bit longer, then both of them would be at each other's throats in no time."Yes, if I don't go, then we will fight Tessa replied with a blank expression on her face."Spo why don't we make conscious efforts to make sure we don't fight?" To Lila, the question made sense because if they were to make an effort, then maybe they could stay together."I would like to try but I...""You don't want to try, you just want to make excuses" Lila understood and she was sure not to try and bring me up again. Her mother was not willing to try; she had better things to do and that was okay. Even if she would miss her, she at
FIVE MONTHS LATER"I know I was happy that you were joining my family but I still can't believe you are marrying my brother," Lila murmured as they waited to be called in."I would have you know...""You love my brother." Lila cut Arietta off before she could complete the sentence. "I know you do; I understand that you do but I still cannot...""If you can't understand it, then I suggest that you let it be." Arietta knew it was playful banter but she was getting nervous; she wondered what was going on in the hall and why it was taking so long for her to get called in. She wanted to tell Lila to go check what was going on but she knew if she showed fear, Lila, who was far more nervous than her, would freak out.She opened her mouth to continue the banter when someone came to tell her that her father would be there any moment to walk her in. Matteo came in almost immediately and it had Arietta wondering why they had to send someone when he was right behind her."Oh my goodness!" he excl
Lila waited for her mom to be out of the room before she said a word. She could not believe that she had just stood up to her mom and it had worked. It made her begin to think of all the times she could have done the same and maybe it would have worked too. She was still trying to process what had happened when she felt her feet leave the ground and dangle in the air. Alarmed, she looked down to see Damien holding her up. She looked down at him with wide eyes."What are you doing?" she asked with shock all over her face."I have missed you so much. I can't believe we began dating and we had to stay away for so long," he said, not answering her question. She felt butterflies swell in her stomach. It felt good hearing a man say words like that. It was never that way with Gavin for her, at least the side of him he decided to show her."I missed you too," she replied. She could not help but say, looking down at his face after hearing such words was enough to make her blurt them out withou
Damien spent the next few days shuffling between his office and the police station; somehow getting Gavin behind bars made him feel like a huge burden had been lifted off his shoulders. He could finally stand face to face with Kevin and Rosa without feeling bad. He and Lila had been communicating via text messages only and the words sounded as formal as they could be. She had told him that she was going to wait but first Gavin had to be securely behind bars because she feared what he might do.Even though Damien swore to protect her, he could still understand her paranoia. Every time he went to see Gavin with a lawyer, he was screaming in his voice and breaking out in a sweat, demanding Lila. Of course, Tessa was never going to allow Lila to show up there; it was still scary to see how much Gavin was not willing to give up even though he saw that there was no hope for him again.Gavin was glad that at last, it was the final hearing; he wondered why the court was dragging out the trial
Damien sat across from Oliver, wondering what he wanted to say; it was not like he was completely oblivious to whatever he was going to say; it was just that he had expected that all of this would blow over and Gvain would be safely behind bars before they talked about anything."You deceived me," Oliver said at once; there was no time for him to be beating around the bush. Damien had not thought too much about it before he decided to deceive him."I did," Damien replied with a head nod. It was not a false accusation after all and he thought that the faster he admitted to doing it, the faster they got to stop talking about it. "I wanted revenge and since I did not have the facts, I ran with what I had.""So all the while I was helping you get revenge against my sister and even after spending time with her, you did not realise that you were wrong about her?" Oliver asked. Lila was the kind of girl you would not believe would ever hurt a fly, even as her brother he had to say that nothi
Lila stood behind a glass watching Gavin get questioned; she wanted to run in there and scream in his face now that she was sure there was no way he would escape from there. She watched him get flustered even though he tried to act cocky. They were yet to bring up Amber and the evidence they had gotten. She knew he would lose his mind once he saw the evidence because that would point directly to her. She was the only one who had that evidence so he would know immediately that this was her doing but she did not care. There was no escaping for him for this one.She turned to Oliver, who was standing beside her. Tessa had said that she did not have a need to stand in the room and watch him get interrogated and the chief of police had taken her to his office so she could sit and get some coffee to drink. "I think I have seen enough; I want to go home," she announced, turning slowly to Oliver."I told you there was nothing to see here but you wanted to see," Oliver replied, his voice devoi
It took a while before the officers came to release all civilians from the room they kept them safe, the criminal was found and even transferred from their station to a more secure one. It was then that Lila knew that her mother and brother were standing outside the entire time. By the time they came in, Kevin was already speaking with the officers about how he would like to keep Gavin in there until there was evidence.Tessa did not pay any heed to Lila but walked straight to Kevin, who was arguing with the officer he was speaking to. "Mr. Voss," Tessa said as she approached him. Kevin turned around to see her and smiled with the base of his lips."Mrs. Carson, it has really been a while since I saw you," he said, turning to her."Can we talk a bit?" Tessa asked and he nodded. "Can we have some privacy, please?" she asked the officer who was still standing by them. The man looked flustered but his expression changed to gratitude because he was happy that he had found a way to escape.