I stood there, waiting. My heart was pounding as I listened to the sounds of him behind me, every small movement.Then I heard it—his swallow.It was subtle and I almost missed it but I heard it, it made me smile knowing I was irresistible to him. Then, in a gruff voice, he spoke words I didn’t catch and I held my breath, waiting for his next move.I could feel him standing behind me. My entire body went on high alert, and my senses heightened. The warmth radiating from him made me lean back ever so slightly towards him.I thought he was going to close the space between us, kiss me hard and probably throw me on the bed. I was envisioning a quicky before we went to dinner.But then, just as suddenly, he stepped back. It felt like being pulled out of a dream.I turned my head, my lips parting in confusion, but he was already walking out of the room, leaving me standing there.I took a deep breath, steadying myself before finishing the final touches of my look. My makeup was flawless, I
We had just finished our brief exchange of smiles when we made our way toward the front door. Suddenly, Madeline appeared out of nowhere, her face bright."Are you leaving?" she asked, her eyes scanning me before lingering on Emerson.Her gaze swept over Emmerson in a way that seemed more contemplative than casual. I supposed she was merely admiring the polished look he carried so effortlessly—a sight most were unaccustomed to seeing him share."You both look very good," she added with a small, appreciative smile."Yes," Emerson replied, his voice polite. "I’m taking Mina to dinner.""Oh, that’s so romantic," she said, her tone light, though there was a hint of something more to it. "I wish you would have told me. I already cooked dinner for you."Emerson’s expression remained unchanged. "It’s fine, Madeline. You can have dinner without us. I assumed Tom would’ve already informed you that we wouldn’t be dining in."She frowned briefly before she covered it with a small nod. "I don’t
The disbelief, I didn’t know how to move or what to say. I could do nothing but sit there, trapped between the past and the present that had just sliced me openIt was like he was saying that what Rita and Eric had done to me had been a good thing. That he thought what Rita and Eric did was actually a good thing. That this child they were having was some kind of fortune, a blessing in disguise because it was going to keep Eric grounded.And as he spoke, I realized—he wasn’t thinking about me. I wasn’t even in the equation. I wasn't in his mind then, he was only thinking about his son.In his mind, maybe Eric cheating, maybe Eric getting my sister pregnant while he was married to me, was ultimately for the best. Even if he wasn’t celebrating it outright, some part of him, deep down, was happy that it had happened.After all, I couldn't get pregnant. I couldn't ground him.I stared at Emerson. I could feel my pulse pounding in my ears, drowning out the noise of the restaurant. I couldn’
I felt the heat crawl up my neck as Trey’s eyes lingered on me longer than they should have. My cheeks flushed and I tried to wipe the smile on my face.Emerson cleared his throat sharply. I turned to him, and the look on his face made it obvious—he wasn’t amused by what was going on. He narrowed his eyes at Trey. But I was too angry with him for his earlier words to think anything wrong had happened here, so I looked away.Tina, oblivious to the tension at the table, leaned forward with a friendly smile. “So, Mina, are you back at work?” Her voice was warm and inviting, but there was curiosity there too.I shifted in my seat as I answered her. Emerson had told her I had quit. “Yes, I’m back,” I answered simply.“Why did you quit?” She hesitated. “I hope I’m not being too personal. It’s just…when we worked together, you were always so driven, so smart. I admired how focused you were. Hearing you left surprised me.”I forced a smile, brushing my fingers against the edge of the table.
"Please take your seat, Eric," Emerson tells him, his voice calm but edged.Eric, still chuckling, ignores him.As the waitress approaches, Eric grins like a child who’s just thought of the perfect prank. He turns to her and asks, "Hey, beautiful. Now I need your help with something and all you have to do is look and tell me the truth. Your honest opinion. Who do you think these people are?" Eric says as he gestures towards the four of us The waitress blinks at him, startled, her eyes shifting nervously. “Excuse me? I don't understand what you mean”“Come on. Honestly,” he says, gesturing broadly at our table. “Who do you think we all are? Who are they to each other, how are they connected to each other?”Her gaze darts between us. She is nervous and anyone can tell she doesn't want to be on the spot. “I...I don’t know.”Eric presses on. He’s never been one to back down from anything once he’s started.“Come on, take a guess. I’m serious. It’s just for fun. We are just playing a l
“That was business,” Tina said, a smirk playing on her lips. “And this dinner? This is for family.” Eric’s grin grew wider with Tina's words, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Yeah, you could have been my godmother, you know.” His tone suggested a joke that only he found amusing, and he chuckled to himself. Tina smiled, but a flicker of curiosity lingered. “ I think I know everybody at the table,” she said, her eyes sweeping across us. “Although, I just don’t know one person here.” She gestured toward Rita with a genuine brightness in her voice. “Is this your wife, Eric? Mina’s younger sister?” Eric sat up straighter, his chest puffing slightly like he had just been handed the mic at a grand event. “Yes, Tina,” he announced, “allow me to introduce you to my beautiful, pregnant, loving wife.” I rolled my eyes so hard I felt like they might pop out of my skull. Why does he keep reminding us that his wife is pregnant? I thought. We can see it. But I kept my mouth shut and wat
I narrowed my eyes at Eric, wanting to ask what he meant, but I didn’t. I restrained myself. Every nerve in my body was screaming for an explanation, demanding answers, but I kept my mouth shut. I glanced at Tina. It seemed she hadn’t been ready for the answer she got either, but she wasn’t about to let it go."Huh, what do you mean by that?" Tina asked, her tone light but I could tell she was very interested. "I’m sorry if I’m prying. I just love a story that has a happy ending, don’t you?"Eric smiled like he had been waiting for someone to ask him this forever. "You’re absolutely right, Tina" he began, leaning forward. "I met Mina because her father and my father were close friends. We spent a lot of vacations together, and weekends at each other’s houses. We practically grew up around each other. And since Mina was closer in age to me than Rita, I never really saw Rita in that way. She was just a kid then."He paused, before continuing."When Mina and I started dating. We hit it
After Eric’s statement, the entire table seems to be still, as if someone pressed pause. Trey is frozen. Tina sits as if she’s turned to stone. I glance over at Emerson. His face remains neutral, but he’s grinding his teeth in the way he does when he’s holding back. So, Eric must have said something wrong.If I’m not overthinking it—and I might be—I’m almost certain Tina’s husband is dead. Trey’s father. This would make Eric’s comment about fathers taking wives not just tasteless but also cruel.Rita shifts uncomfortably next to Eric, clearly aware of the misstep. Her eyes flick toward the others, her expression pleading for him to stop. “I am not your wife.“ I snapped.Thank God for the waitress, who arrives just then with Eric and Rita’s drinks and hands us menus.No one speaks. No one even looks at each other. It’s as if we’ve all retreated into our own minds, each of us wrestling with our own thoughts. And for once, ever since Eric arrived, he’s silent. Maybe he knows what he’s d
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.