"Yes, Miss, I understand you perfectly, and it won't repeat itself again," Rose bites out each word, her tone barely masking the resentment beneath her facade. She doesn’t want to do this, I can see it in her face, and feel it in the way each syllable is pronounced. But as long as she stays in her lane, I really don’t care.“You can go now,” I tell her dismissively.She looks down, then turns and walks toward the door, dragging her feet. As soon as she closed it, I let out a deep sigh of relief. When I came into this house, I expected things to go smoothly. I knew everyone here already, after all. I thought this would be a small, quick transition, that everyone would remain as cordial as they’d always been. But everyone’s different now, except for Thomas, who keeps to himself as he always has. He just gets the updates, nods, and goes on with his day.My relationship with Madeline seems to have gone down the drain. We were once close, and now… it’s like there’s a wall between us. Ros
I laugh, even though we both know he’s joking. "Maybe I should start my own business," I joke.But then, I see his face turn serious like he just heard something incredible."Yes," he says, a smile spreading across his face. "You should open your own company. I believe in you, and I know how brilliant you are. You’d be amazing. You should start thinking about it right now.""Are you serious?" I ask, surprised. "Because I only said it as a joke.""Of course I’m serious! Are you kidding?“ “Looking at how excited you are already. I’m starting to get excited too!"His enthusiasm catches me off guard. I can’t help but smile. "I mean, I guess since I already have the money, I wouldn’t need to worry about getting capital or investors.""Exactly. And while it wouldn’t hurt to have some backing from a company like the Blackwinds, it’s entirely up to you.""Oh, please," I say, rolling my eyes. "You’re not serious.""I am." He nods earnestly. "I’ll give you the funding to open the company. And
By the time evening comes, I have spent the day lazying in bed. I haven't eaten anything. Ever since I had brunch with Emerson this morning, I haven't even had an appetite. But as I get out of the house and walk around the garden, I suddenly get an idea. I'm going to surprise Emerson with food. Yes! When...he comes home tonight. How should I surprise him? Hmm... Yes. I'm going to make him a surprise dinner, and maybe tonight we can change our relationship and the rules he has tried building when I got here, although they never worked anyway, because I still remember the heat in his eyes this morning in Eric's office.That decided I go into the kitchen. I'm not a very good cook or not a bad one either. I used to cook when Eric and I were living together, so I think I can cook something decent. Plus I'm sure that Emerson would enjoy the gesture and enjoy the effort. I go into the kitchen and find Madeline.“Hi!” I say to her.“Hi,” she responds, but right now, our relationship seems l
I go into my bedroom and start choosing my night dress. I choose the skimpiest, most seductive nightdress I own, something I know will catch Emerson's attention. The fabric is delicate, hugging me in all the right places. I pair it with a light, elegant robe on top so I can comfortably go downstairs without drawing too much attention, at least not from anyone but him.With a deep breath, I glance at myself in the mirror, feeling a rush of confidence. Tonight, I’m setting the stage. Whatever chaos surrounded us earlier, I’m determined to make this evening something memorable.I take a long bubble bath, letting the warmth soak away the tension of the day as I prepare myself for the evening. Afterwards, I smooth on my favourite lotion, enjoying the light fragrance as I spray a hint of perfume. I put effort into every detail—my hair is styled in a loose, elegant bun, with a few strands framing my face. A little makeup completes the look, just enough to enhance my features without overdoin
I looked up at Emerson, breathing hard, meeting his intense gaze as I ran my hands across his chest, feeling the firmness beneath my fingers. He shivered at my touch, his eyes following my every move, and I whispered, “You want me to stop?”For a second, his face tightened, and he nodded slowly, almost reluctantly. “Why?” I asked, my voice a gentle whisper, feeling the vulnerability in him. My hands roamed over his body, and as I leaned in, I placed a soft kiss on the left side of his chest, just over his heart. He inhaled sharply, catching my hand as if to steady himself, as if he couldn’t hold back.“What?” I murmured, raising my gaze to his face, searching his eyes for answers he wouldn’t say. But the hesitation was fading, replaced by a raw want that he could no longer hide.Standing on my tiptoes, I brushed my lips lightly against his, first a soft peck, a gentle nudge that grew as I kissed his cheek, then his jawline, tasting the warmth of his skin. When I finally pressed my
I froze with my hand on the door. I wanted to turn back and look at him, but I didn’t. I knew what Emerson was like. I stood there for a few seconds as the room grew tenser. And then I smiled. I opened the door and left, not closing it behind me, not making a move to acknowledge his words or acknowledge him at all. I went straight to my room, with a mixture of emotion within myself.I was fuming with anger, but for some reason, I couldn’t explain, I was smiling. And then, out of nowhere, I started laughing. I didn’t even know what was so funny. 'What the hell is wrong with Emerson? What is wrong with him?' I thought to myself. 'He did not just say that to me.' But I knew he did. He just did. I sat on the bed, replaying every second of our night together in my head. It was amazing. It was everything I’d hoped for. So why in the world was Emerson acting this way?Maybe Emerson is just like his son, Eric. Maybe they’re the same. 'What was I supposed to understand from this? That I wa
Before I knew it, I was avoiding everybody in the house. I was living like a parasite, and I didn’t even know how it came to be this way. I was avoiding Madeline, so whenever I needed food or anything in the kitchen, I had to make sure she wasn’t there. I’d sneak in, grab what I needed, and then disappear, or I’d have to ask Thomas to bring my food to my room.I was avoiding Rose, too. Of course, whenever I passed her, she didn’t say anything. But we all know the look, she was giving it, pretending she wasn’t, but I could feel it on me, every single time.And then there was Emerson. After the way he kicked me out of his room, I was in no state to see him. I wasn’t ready to talk, wasn’t ready to let him look at me with pity or apologies, or whatever expression he’d have on his face. I just couldn’t. The last thing I needed right now was anything from him, so I kept my distance. I was running low on motivation, on happiness, and it wasn’t just him; it was everything. I was just down, f
I smiled as I sashayed slowly towards him like a cat on the prowl. I reached where he was sitting as he looked up at me, frozen, with no words, nothing to say. I removed my robe and I could see him sucking on his saliva as he blinked a few times. He opened his mouth and I could feel a protest coming from him, so I put my finger on his lips and shut him up. I took the laptop from his hands and put it beside the bed. I put my legs on top of his thighs and sat on top of him. I looked at him and it was silent between us for a minute. “I….. I….“ he began, but I stopped him again. “Shhh…..“ I told him slowly as I kissed him tenderly, swiftly into his soft lips and then I kissed his nose and then I kissed both his eyes and then I kissed his forehead. I pulled his head towards my chest and just hugged him there. I had missed him and it felt good to smell him. He smelled divine and I realized how much I've been missing him, how much I've been missing this. I went towards his ear and whisp
I looked at my mother, and then I found myself looking at her again. The way she was acting towards me—it wasn’t the way a mother should have acted, especially during a heart-to-heart talk like this. She was telling me hard things to digest, things that cut deep, things that felt too raw to be spoken aloud. And yet, she was speaking them without hesitation, without care.I expected something different. Maybe I was asking for too much from my family, but I couldn’t help it. The words left my mouth before I could stop them."Why haven’t you ever loved me?"She froze. Her lips parted slightly, her body stiffening. She stuttered, unprepared for the question. I had caught her off guard again tonight. She hadn’t been expecting it.Neither had I.I had thought about it before—late at night, in quiet moments when I was alone with my thoughts. Mostly as a kid growing up. But I had never said it out loud. Not to her. Not even to myself. But now, standing here, with all the painful truths she h
My mother didn’t back down. "I kind of thought you were marrying him for the money too, but even after you married him, there was no money there to see, and I don’t think there was ever any love between you two. Did you really ever love him?"I was fighting to hold myself together, what the hell was she even saying? "I loved him, Mom, okay?" I snapped back. "I loved him. I loved Eric. He was my whole world. I was working hard for him in everything. I worked hard at home. I worked hard at work. I did his work for him. I worked hard to get pregnant, and I never was….. I…..““ And that was such a blessing." My mother interrupted with a smile.I paused, my throat tightening. "It was such a blessing because when your sister started seeing him, she was happy. Eric was happy. They got pregnant even without trying so hard, the way you were doing with injections and all those tests and the therapies. They just got pregnant naturally, when they weren’t even looking to have a baby. They were
"I’m not saying that, but I did not dictate how she grieved her father. I did not want to be in that commercial!" I clenched my fists, trying to keep my calm. "You’re always acting so high and mighty. You know how much money I spent on your kids? on your education, and then, even after you were all done, you got married to an important man, a rich man, and you still did not want to take care of me. You left me and Your sister to fend for ourselves, after all I did for you…"Her words hit me like a slap. I had already been through this, hearing the same complaints again and again. "I asked you to just give me a month's allowance to help me out in the house, and you send me what? A thousand dollars? What am I supposed to do with it?""Mom," I said, forcing the words out through my frustration. "The money I had...““You had already gotten a good job, you were married to Eric. He moved you into a big house in a good neighbourhood. He even promoted you at work and you were working all th
I blinked at her, stunned by her words. “Get rid of him?” I repeated, my voice filled with disbelief. “What do you mean? Like, kill him? Like in the mafia? You think this is a movie?”I forced a laugh,“Call off the engagement,” she said, her voice Brooking no argument. “Call off the wedding. I want you to break up with him, Nina. End it. Now.”Her words landed like a slap across my face. I stared at her, trying to process the sheer absurdity of what she was saying.Then I thought about how she had begun this order,“Mom,” I said slowly filled with both anger and disbelief, “are you threatening me?”She met my gaze without flinching. “I don’t know how you want to take it,” she replied, her tone icy. “I’m not threatening you. I’m just telling you the truth. Nina, the life you’re building with Emerson is an embarrassment. It’s a disgrace to your father’s memory. He was Emerson’s friend, for God’s sake. They were the same age. He is older than me. Me!”She wasn’t done.“And let’s not eve
She motioned for me to follow her. “We’re still in the process, of course. We’re not done yet. As you can see, we haven’t touched upstairs yet. We’ve started downstairs. The workers are working on the kitchen right now.”She gestured toward the dining area as she spoke. “But it’s a great thing. Look at this,” she said, walking toward the dining room. “We’re done with this area, the seating room, and the tea room. Everything is coming together so nicely. Do you like the dining room? Do you like the setup? I chose it myself.”Her excitement felt oddly misplaced, and her next words made me blink.“Maybe it’s not too late for me to become a decorator of houses, you know, a home makeover guru or something,” she said, half-laughing.“It’s nice,” I said cautiously. “But why? Why change this house? It’s so unrecognizable.”She didn’t respond immediately, so I pressed further. “By the time you’re done with this, I don’t think I’ll even recognize my home. All the memories we had here, as a fam
I knocked on the door a second time. I was expecting my mother to answer the door, her stern expression greeting me, perhaps with a disapproving comment about why I was here so early on her doorstep. But no one came.Maybe she wasn’t home. Maybe this was a mistake altogether. I shouldn’t have come here. The thought suddenly appeared in my head as doubt crept in. I didn’t even know why I was here in the first place. If she did answer, how would I react? Would I stammer? Would she shout? God, I wasn’t in the mood for a shouting match, not today.I sighed and turned around, deciding it was best to leave before I regretted knocking at all. But as my foot hit the first step down, the door creaked open behind me.I froze and turned back. But instead of my mother, I was greeted by a man—a shirtless man.He was young, not quite my age but not far from it, probably a bit older. He stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His hair was tousled, the kind of messy that suggeste
I sighed,"Honestly, I want to go to bed, okay? You're not an angel. You have gotten on my nerves a lot tonight. I have been mad at you a lot tonight. All I want is some space and sleep," I said, my voice sharp and filled with exhaustion.Then I pulled my hand away from him and started heading into the house.It was really late—so late that I wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake. I opened the door, stepping into the quiet house. Thomas, of course, would already be asleep at this hour. I didn’t bother turning on the lights. My only focus was on making it to bed, without further interruptions.But then, suddenly, the lights flicked on, and Madeline appeared right in front of me."Mina! What's going on? Why are you back so late? What happened? Is everything okay? Is Emerson okay? Where is he? Where's Emerson?" she asked frantically, her eyes darting around and looking behind me as though she expected him to walk through the door any second.Her questions came in rapidly, each one louder t
I had to think quickly, "Because when I got there, the nurses told me that I couldn't leave him alone," I said, exhaling deeply. "He had a concussion. He's not supposed to fall asleep. So I was just there giving him company, and I must have lost track of time. And as you can see, I'm very tired, so I must have dozed off." "And holding hands?" Emerson shot back, "Okay, I cannot take responsibility for that," I replied, holding up my hands defensively. "I was not holding his hand. Maybe I fell asleep before him, and he took my hand, but I was in no way holding his hand. Okay, Emerson? I really need you to trust me right now." His expression softened slightly. "All right, Mina, I trust you. But still—what are you saying? You're saying that this is all over, and you’ve forgiven him? Is that what you're telling me?" I hesitated, knowing how this was going to sound. "I don’t know. But since we’re going to be working together, I don’t think it’s very good for us to have hatred towar
Emmerson hesitated, his words faltering.“What?” I demanded. “What did you find, Emerson?”“I misspoke,” he said quickly, shaking his head. “I’m just tired.”“No,” I argued. “Finish what you were going to say. After you found him doing what?”He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. “After I found him kissing you.”“You mean when you found us kissing?” I gasped my voice filled with sarcasm.“I misspoke,” he said again, his words coming out in a rush. “I’m sorry. I’m just so damn tired, Mina. But after seeing you holding hands with him, you can’t fault me for wondering what’s going on.”I stared at him. The exhaustion on his face, the frustration in his voice—it all felt too much.“You don’t trust me,” I said quietly, more to myself than to him.“That’s not true,” Emerson said, his voice softening. “I trust you, Mina. But right now, I need to understand. I need to know what’s really happening here.”I didn't say anything. So, he continued."What's going on? Mina, talk to me.