"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
"I do not want you to nurture that thought in your mind," Sam said as they sat at the back of the Mercedes-Benz that was driving them home. "Why are you taking my car home when you did not come in it?" Damien asked, ignoring the many things Sam had been saying since they got into the car. Sam knew at once that Damien had approached this girl intentionally. There was no way he just managed to stumble on her; his goal was to avenge his fiancee's death, and Sam could not tell how far he could go. He was afraid his friend might end up in jail for doing what he should do. "Amber would not..." The words were barely out of Sam's mouth when he was backed up to the corner of the car. His back to the door and Damien's hand on his neck, choking him and staring deeply into his soul. "Come on, man," he let out in a strained voice as he coughed and tried to free himself, but the grip was strong and painful. "Take Amber's name out of your mouth," Damien let out slowly. "Why? Just because I mana
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.
Gray nodded and then turned to Damien. "I have something to report sir"Damien looked up from his phone, he could not understand Lila's response for some reason it felt as if she was suddenly closed off. He did not understand how he was able to feel it but the feeling was there and he could not shake it off."Go on" Damien nodded switching off the screen and putting the phone on the table. "What is it?" he asked when it felt as if Gray was trying his best to gather his thoughts together."You asked me to keep tabs on Mr Voss and his assistant just reported that they are currently at the station but are not being allowed in because a serial killer broke lose in the statin""So he can't..." Damien trailed off with his eyebrows knitting together, he looked to Gray hoping that he would tell him that it was not what he thought and all was well. "Is Lila?""Yes sir, she was already in the station before the incident"Damien stood up, his heart broke at the news. He had been against her goin
Lila stared at the screen; she knew that she should not pick up but her heart was doing a number on her. She pressed her lips together and watched the phone screen go off after the call ended but almost immediately his call came in again. How was she supposed to ignore his calls after what happened between them last night?The call stopped and then a message came in. "Are you busy? Should I call later? Is now not a good time?" The messages poured in and she read them in her head; she could hear him saying it to her.She slid her hand across to open up the chat; all she wanted to do was to tell him about what was going on but how could she? She took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, I am; let us talk later." She pulled together all of her willpower and sent the message out. It was lacking but that will do for now.She knew he would be confused with her reply and would want to reach out again; she heard commotion outside but she thought nothing of it; after all, this was a station and it
As soon as Lila stepped outside, she felt the need to call Damien. She did not know why but she felt that as soon as he heard his voice, all of the worries and fear in her heart would automatically disappear. She walked towards the toilet. The first thing she did was check through the entire bathroom stall to ensure that no one was there before she suppressed all she was feeling within her. She called her mom first even though her finger itched to call Damien instead. "What do you mean he knows?" "I mean that Gavin seems suspicious of me and thinks he is getting a hunch that we are trying to play him," Lila explained, even though she knew that her mother understood what she meant. "I understand that I am asking why you are calling me instead of doing something about it." Her mother's words shocked her. "You want me to think about something on my own and do it?" she asked, biting her lips afterwards because stringing the words together in her mind did not make sense and it even ma
"Lila, you must think that I am a fool.""Gavin Holt, do you want me to call you a lawyer or do you want to sit there and accuse me of something so absurd that I have no idea?" she asked. Gavin was sure of what he had put together in his mind but seeing how she was acting, his thoughts began to jumble up in his mind. It was as if all of his thinking was becoming distorted and for what reason? It made no sense to him at all."Are you saying you did not go to Kevin with the evidence from that day?" "Why would I go to him with it? I already told you that we are going to get married and be together for a long time so if I want that to happen, why would I go to him with the evidence and make you get locked up in here?" she asked. She was sure that sitting in the cell with nothing but thoughts in his mind had made him overthink and, in some way, figure out what was going on but she had to stay calm and assure him that nothing was wrong, especially from her end. "Are you just a pawn in t
Gavin felt agitated in the cell; it was as if something was off with the situation. Why would Kevin suddenly want to put him in jail? Something must have triggered him to do that. Suddenly it began to make sense to him that he was getting played by the Carson's. He knew in that instant that all of this was to put him in jail. They could have tucked him away a long time ago but the fear, especially from Lila, had been what he would do to their son. He could not do anything to harm his son but he would rather be safe so he used his life as a threat to her and surely enough, she fell for it because she was the type who fell for things like that so easily. He had asked Lila if she was going to send a lawyer and she told him that she would but now he knew that she would send him the worst, the kind that would make him end up in jail for a long time. He racked his mind trying to figure out who he would call to help him out but no one came to mind. He realised that he was all alone; they
Damien held her face with a smile on his face as he pulled her closer. She had never seen him like this and she very much liked this version of him. She held his face too, striking her finger over his face. He kissed her with so much passion that she felt heat even in places she was not supposed to. She wondered how she made him feel as well. Was he getting tortured by him? "Want to get out of here?" he murmured again over her lips. She wondered how her mind was able to place what he meant."I want to but Jason is up there and he would be searching for me first thing in the morning as soon as he woke up," Lila replied. She was surprised at how much willpower she had grown for herself over the year. It was kind of great because she knew that if she was the same person from three years ago, she would have gone with him. He frowned because he did not like her answer. "Moreover, it is our day one and we have such a long time to go so why don't we take it slow and easy?" She asked, rubbi
Damien was shocked but he did not lean away; he held the side of her face and took control almost immediately. Lila snapped back to her senses and wanted to pull away but Damien did not seem like he was that interested in pulling away. Even though her brain was telling her how bad this was for reasons she could not tell, her heart was thanking her. It was as if someone rubbed an ointment onto her skin. It was so soothing that she wanted to bask in the feeling forever. She could feel the eyes of the security judging her but at that moment she could care less. She melted back into the kiss and wrapped her hand over his neck. She wanted to draw closer to him but the centre console between them was making it harder for her. She was thinking of climbing onto his lap but she was already giving the man outside a show; it would be better if she just behaved properly.After a while, Damien pulled away breathlessly; she tried to look at her eyes but she was not sure what she was seeing. His e
Lila stared ahead of her into the dark outside as his image became sharper in her eyes. She wanted to speak, but her mind was not answering as it should. She heard him saying something, but she could not string together the words to make a simple statement. "Lila, are you listening to me?" he said when he waited for her response, and she responded with silence. "Hmm?" She jerked back to reality when she heard her name. For some reason, his actions touched her greatly. It was as if someone finally did for her what no other person could. "I said..." he trailed off when he saw her turn and walk away. He was a bit startled and wondered why she was acting that way. "Lila? Where are you going?" he asked but her puffing was the only thing that responded. He knew that she was coming out and it was obvious she did not hear anything he said earlier because he told her that he just wanted to make sure she was okay and nothing more. The door opened and Lila crept out; she walked to the gate an