Valerie As I rushed towards Drew's office, with my heart pounding in my chest, a mix of fear and determination pushed me forward. I couldn't shake off the image of what he could do to me and Laura if I didn't make it in time. The urgency pushed my every step faster. The bustling city streets almost blurred as I rush through the pedestrians, avoiding collisions every now and then, that too closely. Sweat beads formed on my forehead as I continued to check my watch, the seconds ticking away like it was countdown. I was sure the Uber driver probably wondered why I had so suddenly abandoned the ride, but I couldn't afford to waste a single second. No one would be able to undertsand the gravity of the situation, how it intensified as I reached the building where Drew's office was. With each step, the fear of being too late gnawed at me. it ate me from the inside. Breathless and desperate, I burst through the entrance, frantically searching for the elevator. The receptionist gave me
Valerie The room felt tense as Drew's words hung in the air. I didn't know whether he was lying or saying the truth but his words shook me. I took a deep breath, trying to maintain my composure but it was of no use. He had to be lying. "Congratulations, Drew. You just proved my point. You're not capable of genuine love. You're just a manipulative, selfish person playing with people's emotions." I spat the words at him, feeling anger and disgust for him. He glared at me, and I could see the rage in his eyes but it could be nothing comapred to mine. "You think you're so smart, Val. Well, you're not going to ruin things for me. I'll make sure Laura will never believe a word you say," he seethed. "Believe what you want, Drew. But deep down, you know the truth. And sooner or later, she'll figure it out too. I won't let you use her as a pawn in your twisted games." I turned to leave, not wanting to engage in any more of his toxicity. As I reached for the doorknob, he grabbed my arm,
Valerie I was never loved for who I was. I couldn't believe the word he had said. I was just a doppelganger, loved for being her shadow. No that couldn't be the truth. The bang opening of the office door had me drew me out of my shock. "I’m going to destroy you for playing with Laura. I fucking love her and I’m going to take her away from you." Aiden shouted entering inside. My boyfriend, Aiden stood there confessing his love for Laura. The revelation hit me like a ton of bricks, and I felt emotions of betrayal, shock, and deep sadness. The person I thought loved me turned out to have other motives, and now I was caught in the middle of a web of lies and betrayal. As Aiden's words hung in the air, I could feel the weight of the truth sinking in. It wasn't about who I was as a person, I was just a substitute for someone else. “I’m not going to let you marry her,” his voice was filled with determination. The atmosphere in the room crackled with tension as Aiden's declaration
Valerie Through blurred vision, I took in the shocked faces of both the man. The pain I felt right now was million times more than when Drew left me. I felt vulnerable, with my broken heart. I wanted to rip my heart and mind for believing that I could be loved again, that someone was meant for me. Being loved under the illusion of some other person took my own self away from me. It took my identity away, swarmed my mind with doubts. Was I ever loved? Or both of the bastards imagined Laura under them whenever I was under them. Who they were, within their mind me or the illusion of me being Laura? My brain wanted to explode with this discovery, I wished to break things, have things shattered like my heart was. Tears rolled down my cheeks while the memories of Aiden and me yesterday swarm in my mind. Was that a lie too? Was I ever loved for who I am? Awareness of never being loved was a woodpecker knocking tiny holes into my soul. "Val." Aiden's voice made me angry at my own self. I sh
Valerie Crawling myself into a ball I cried for the betrayal I once again faced. Was it too hard to love me for me was the question that haunted me? Why did I have to make the mistake of giving my heart away once again to have it returned shattered more than before? Has it been my mistake to love someone so deeply that they couldn't love me for me? The banging on my door drew me out of my destructive thoughts. The distant voice of Shay reached my ears. I didn't have the power in me to let anyone see me like this, to see me this vulnerable, in a position where ending my life seemed more desirable than facing another day. I sobbed out in the pain I felt, cried in the agony of the burning feeling of this betrayal. "Val, please open the door. Please, my dear. For the sake of our friendship please let me in. I am here for you. Please open it." Shay pleaded. She has seen me like this before but this time, it was worse than before. The pain I burned in killed me from the inside. Yet I cra
Valerie"Val, dear wake up. Shay is going to be here soon!" Dad yelled while knocking at my door. I sleepily raised myself in the hopes of waking up in an instant but it wasn't possible.There was no denying the fact that I felt numb and cold from the inside. From somewhere deep inside I was hurting however cold inside me was turning me a bit stronger day by day. I knew very well that the day I lost the numbness and cold inside me, I was going to break down again. That's why I didn't want to lose the numbness inside of me. Right now it was what kept me alive, had me up working, it flamed my desire for revenge.I wanted both of them to pay and I was going to do that on my terms even if in the end it would be me who would be torn and crushed into nothing."Val!" Dad yelled once again. "You have twenty mins to get ready before Shay shows up," he informed and I heard his receding steps. He sensed something was wrong but he had not said anything or maybe Shay had told him but asked him not
Valerie As Shay and I reached the club, we headed straight for the bar. I was set in the mood to be wasted and so was Shay. We went for the shorts right away, had them kept coming our way until I could feel myself go lose. The beats were good enough to make me want to lose myself. I wanted to be free, calm, and wild. As I looked at the crowd on the floor, it made me smile. I wanted to be lost in the sea of bodies. Taking one last shot I dragged Shay to the dance floor. Our bodies swayed with the beats of the music. I was lost. I was free. I was whatever I wanted to be. My body swayed with every beat, I closed my eyes and let the music consume me. I didn't care who I danced with or whose body was next to mine, nor who grinded against me. I was in my own world. My hands my legs my hips they all tuned themselves with the beats. Carefree, wild, on my own with no burden on shoulders. It made me feel myself, as if I was in control of myself after so long. I wanted that, no I needed th
Valerie I didn't look away, I held onto his stare. The guy behind me nipped my ear trying to gain my attention, but all my attention was on the brown-eyed guy who tore me apart. I grind against the guy behind me, raising my hand I reached for his hair giving me the permission to seduce me. My back to his front, my hips swaying to the beats and eyes on the man with the brown eyes. The mixed emotions of jealousy and sadness looming over his face made me feel better. The guy behind me trailed soft kisses from my ear down my neck. His hand roamed over my abdomen, just beneath my breasts. I enjoyed every second of it not because of his hands and lips, but because of the anger fuming in the eyes of Aiden. I wanted more, I wanted to hurt him more. "Water," I said huskily to the guy while stepping away from the guy. The guy nodded in agreement understanding me. I was thirsty but no amount of water could fulfill mine desire for revenge. I walked right next to him. Our eyes never breaking co
Valerie "I feel like a whale," I told to Shay, who sat at the end of the sofa while I laid on the couch with the remote for the tv. I was going to be around nine months pregnant in a week and this little buddy was going to come out soon. A lot has changed in last six months. I was no longer living in my apartment. Bryan had bought a new house which was closer to Travis and Aiden's house.The nursery was ready with hues of yellow and blue. Aiden and I had grown close but there had been nothing more than kisses and holding each other. The new house had many rooms and one of them was Aiden’s but he usually slept with me. He didn't go to his apartment often and just stayed here with me. He didn't want to miss any part of the baby and me being pregnant. He had warmed up to my heart, but hadn't been able to get that place back in my heart. His relationship with his mother was still rocky but they were at least talking. Whereas Laura and Aiden had drifted worlds apart.Laura had a breakdown
ValerieGod, this had to happen with me only. I groaned internally. this was right embarrassing. I felt Aiden sleeping on my legs with his hand feeling heavy on my belly. Besides it, I realize one more thing which was that I was going to puke. I felt it was coming, I knew it was and before I know I quickly pushing Aiden away and rushing to the bathroom kissing the porcelain seat. I puked and puked then brushed my teeth, gargled with mouthwash to get rid of that vile taste of bile. Being pregnant was not an easy task. "You have been caught red handed Aiden." It was Shay who was talking when I reached back to the living room. Aiden was on the floor rubbing his head. In my run to the bathroom, I might have pushed him a little too hard. Carmen stared at him while Shay busy staring at his share of uneaten food and smoothie. "I think we should have clicked the picture of the two together first," Carmen spoke without caring about the food. "Carmen she was eating mozzarella sticks and d
Aiden held my face and kissed me. I was stunned. I should have pulled back but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I was responding to his kiss, tasting our tears in it. Our kiss was passionate, our lips hungry for each other. It was a kiss filled with love and passion but yet soft. I could feel every part of my body needing his touch. It was wrong and yet it felt so right to do it. I was being lifted and pushed on my back. Our kiss never breaking. His torso in between my legs and my legs wrapped around him. His face in my hand and he took control over our kiss. Our tongues danced in sync. I was breathing heavily, I was feeling a need and then suddenly out of nowhere Laura popped up in my mind and the moment was lost from my side. My body stilled. My lips no longer responding to his and we break apart from our kiss. His eyes looked into mine searching for what stopped me. "What happened Val?" He asked concerned and worried. I closed my eyes and touch my lips. I knew that kiss we just had wa
Valerie "You... you what?" I finally managed to choke out."I didn’t know what else to do," he said, tears streaming down his face. "She was crying, Val. She was so upset, and I just wanted to make it better. I thought if I agreed, she’d be happy, and things would calm down. But I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to marry Laura. I don’t want to be with anyone but you."His words swirled around in my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of them. He had agreed to marry Laura? How could he do that to me, to us? I felt a surge of anger and betrayal."You agreed to marry her?" I repeated, my voice shaking. "How could you, Aiden? How could you do that to us?""I didn’t mean it," he pleaded. "I was just trying to calm her down. I don’t want to marry Laura. I love you, Val. You and our baby are everything to me.""But you said yes," I said, my voice rising. "You told her you’d marry Laura. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do you even care about what I want, what I need?""Of course, I car
I waited for Aiden to speak something. I wasn;t a patient being but with him I was trying to be. I could see he was fighitng a battle on the inside buit I couldn;t do anytging until he spoke himself. "Mom dropped by the office today," he began. "She demanded to know when I was marrying you," that was literally nothing new. Why ouldn;t the woman get the hint that it wasn;t happening. "I told her it was none of her business, and she went ballistic, telling me that wasn’t the way I should speak to her." I still hated that woman. Travis had made sure she left me alone, even cutting ties with her. Aiden had tried to do the same, but she was his mother, and it was hard for him. I didn’t want him to cut her off for my sake anyway. He had a mother, and although she was mean and self-centered, no son should be separated from his mother. I wouldn;t want my child to be serpated from me like that. "Then she said that if we weren’t getting married, I should marry Laura." I was stunned. I looked
ValerieAs the doorbell rang happiness surged inside of me. At last, my angel came.Opening the door wide my whole concentration was on the packets in his hand rather than on him. Taking the packets for him I just went inside straight to the kitchen without a hello or anything.I just wanted to devour what was inside that packet before Carmen or Shay caught me. Carmen would literally fry me if she knew that I was busy eating fried mozzarella sticks that too with a vanilla chocolate smoothie. I heard the door close and him coming to the kitchen.This had become our norm, I would rush to the kitchen with the food and set each of us with a plate, mine always had a little a more than his. Whatever I ate, he had to eat that too, it was a part in a way for him to become the part of my pregnancy. I hadn;t lied to him when I had said that he would be a part of this preganncy in every step. As I looked up to see where he was I found his near the kitchen door. He stood there smiling at me wi
Valerie Two months later..................."Why," I questioned. "Why now," I was almost near to pnaick. "Why?" My father asked. "What do you mean by why. We are just going to meet each other and Bryan called me here to meet with him, Valerie. I think we should have talked to each other months back." Dad said while standing at the entrance of the house and by dad I meant Travis. I called them both dad but this was going to be first freaking time they were going be together face to face. I won't lie this whole dad one and dad two concept was so confusing for me. I have already told them if they ever were in the same room I will call them by their name rather than Dad. I haven't let them meet each other until now. If you remember when Bryan met Laura's father he beat the shit out of him. I don't want a recap of that with Travis. Gosh I still cringed thinking how beat up Laura's father was after Bryan's beating. "I'm having a bad feeling about this." I really was not going to tend t
Valerie "I.. never knew." a tremble in his voice made me believe that he really had no idea that what had happened."When my father came to know that I wasn't his he decided to hurt my mother by having affairs and dangling them in front of her," I paused taking in deep breaths. "My mother loved my father a lot but she understood what she had done," I continued even though all the memories were painful."She knew that she had hurt him too much, betrayed him. So she decided not to fight with Dad, she fought with the pain she suffered but she didn't give up easily. For four years she lived on knowing how her husband was cheating and hurting her. She lived for me until the day it became too much to handle." A tear escaped my eyes as I remembered finding her dead. The memory was ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life. Looking up to Travis I saw his eyes turned away from mine. He couldn't even look at me anymore.If only he had been brave enough to do the test last time this wouldn'
ValerieI waited for him in the cafe near my office, and let me tell you it was torture. The smell of coffee was in the air and it was hard to not have it. So I did the right thing and ordered one latte for me. I googled and even my doctor said a cup a day won't do any harm but under the watchful eye of Carmen, Shay, and dad I couldn't even have a whiff of coffee. One little sip of it was heaven for me. It had been six days since the thought of meeting him has been taking over my mind. The last I had seen him was a week before.Last night I had asked Aiden for his number when he came home with me. Aiden did really give me space and time. He called before even thinking of coming and he apologized times and again because of his mother showing up here. I really didn't say much about what happened between me and his mother. The only words that slipped my lips was that I didn't like her and he had promised that she won't disturb me anymore. I had called Travis and asked him to meet me at t