MAEAfter Sin leaves, Ethan tries to talk me into following them and I soon agree to it not because of Sin, but because I want to meet Lily, to understand her side of the story in all of this, and to know why she did what she did. Why did she take the flash drive and go to Aunt Margaret?I freshen up and change into a clean pair of clothes as Ethan and I join Sin on the ground floor. The ride to the mansion is quiet, so quiet that it feels suffocating. I throw secret glances at Sin, his hand tightens on the steering wheel as he makes a turn, his jaw flexes, and his eyes flicker as he grinds his teeth. I wonder what he is thinking about.I kiss my teeth remembering how rudely he spoke to me earlier, why am I even bothering about what he might be thinking? I look outside the window upset at him, at Lily, and the entire situation. As we pull up to the imposing gates of the mansion, my heart pounds in anticipation and unease. I don't know what to expect from Lily or my aunt. Sin looks
MAE"I said what is going on here?" Aunt Margaret questions again after getting no response from any of us."I believe that you know why we are here," Ethan speaks up."If this is about the flash drive, I am their aunt and it is in their best interest that the flash drive stays with me. Like I mentioned to Lily earlier Mae can move in," Aunt Margaret replies but there is something about her tone that doesn't sit right with me."Sin could you excuse us for a moment?" I ask not wanting this conversation to escalate."Yeah I think that's a good idea," Ethan agrees pulling Sin to the side, I see the reluctance in Sin's eyes but he follows Ethan as they walk back to the car leaning on the side."Just come stay with us Mae, you don't need to rely on him," Lily adds diverting my attention back to them, she reaches out to hold my hand. "I cannot believe that you believe her Lily, I understand that she is our Aunt but after everything she has done to us," I try to reason with Lily, how naive
MAEMy jaw drops, and I stare at Aunt Margaret incredulously. "What?" I exclaim."You heard me," Aunt Margaret replies, her eyes unwavering. "Lily and Sin will get engaged. And in return, we'll make an apology video."Lily's face is pale, and she looks terrified. I look back at Ethan and Sin waiting patiently by the car, Sin's expression is grim and I don't know if it's what Ethan is telling him or maybe he just heard what my aunt said. "That's ridiculous!" I protest. "You can't just force them to get engaged!""Force? No one is forcing anyone into this," Aunt Margaret says calmly. "They are both adults.""Sin will not agree to it, so come up with something else," I protest."And why won't Sin agree to it?" Lily asks placing her hand on her waist, she looks at me with a puzzled look waiting patiently for my answer."He won't, we already talked about this Lily you know-""I told you I liked Sin and you took him away from me, the least you can do now is actually allow us to get engaged
SIN"Why am I getting locked up again?" She yells at me, her eyes widened in surprise and anger. "Ryder," I call out to him wondering why it's taking him too long to grab her inside. Ryder also looks confused by my order but he closes the distance between him and Mae."Please Ma'am, don't make this difficult," Ryder pleads with her motioning her to step into the elevator. She rolls her eyes at Ryder and then at me before taking a step back, "You can't lock me up, I am not some pet," She cries out. She takes another step and this time she makes a run for it.She doesn't get far when Ryder catches up to her quickly. He is fast and knows how to handle situations like this. As he grabs her arm gently, Mae tries to pull away. But Ryder is strong and doesn't let her go. "Please, Ma'am, I don't want to hurt you," he says in a calm voice. She looks at him, scared and angry at the same time. She stops trying to escape as though the realization has hit her that she can't escape from me or th
SINLily turned out to be quite cooperative during the meeting, she didn't hesitate to apologize not only to the company clients but to the media. I don't know if she was still taking in my rejection or if she felt being obedient would make me see her in a different light, but it all didn't matter to me. As we exit the meeting, the buzz of the reporters and the flash of the cameras are overwhelming, but there is a sense of accomplishment. Lily's apology has calmed the storm for now, but the real challenge is ahead.Ethan leans close, his voice barely audible over the chaos. "That went better than expected, huh?" His gaze is questioning, searching for my reaction.I nod, my mind already racing to the next steps. "It did, but we're not out of the woods yet. We need to ensure the clients are truly back on our side."As we make our way back to the car, Lily remains silent, a stark contrast to her earlier defiance. Her cooperation has been surprising, but her motives are still unclear t
SINAs I step into her room, I see Mae sitting on the bed, awake. She's handcuffed and lost in thought. She looks up at me, and her eyes are full of anger and fear."You're going to regret this," she says.I don't say anything. I place the tray on the bedside table and stand next to her keeping my distance as I place my hand into my pocket."You can't keep me here forever," she says."I can try," I say.She glares at me, "You're a monster."I shrug, "Maybe I am.""I hate you," she says."You can try to, see how that turns out for you," I reply. If there is anything I've come to understand about her, it's that she is slowly beginning to realize that I am all she has even though she is not ready to admit it. "You can hate me all you want," I continue, my tone even, devoid of any malice or satisfaction from the situation. "But it doesn't change where we are. You are not leaving my sight, not even for a second."Her anger seems to simmer just below the surface, her breaths coming in short
SINEvelyn?How did she get my new number? I had given her Ryder number recently in hopes that she would stop calling, her frequent calls and messages were starting to annoy me. "I have been trying to get to you through Ryder but he is always claiming that you are busy but now it seems you have been avoiding me," she says. I checked the caller ID again to be certain I saw an unknown number before placing the phone back to my ear. "I have been busy Evelyn, not all of us spend time just pressing our phones," I reply walking into my room. "So, are you saying all I do all day is nothing?" She questions. "No, Evelyn," I say, my tone even. "I'm not saying that. But I've been dealing with a lot lately, and I haven't had much time to talk to anyone," I add opening the door to my room. I place the phone on speaker and place it on the bedside table as I take off my clothes. Today has been a long day, a good shower should help."Well, now you do," she says. "And I have something important
SIN"She didn't -""Really? You expect me to believe that, I am aware that she has been in communication with you secretly.""Okay, well she has. Is that a bad thing? She is only worried about you, about the family's reputation and -""My family's affair should be less of your concern Evelyn," I cut her off, my voice firm yet calm. The last thing I need right now is Evelyn meddling in my personal affairs under the guise of concern, especially when it feels like an orchestrated attempt to weave herself back into my life using my mother's help.I run my fingers through my hair reminding myself to speak to my mother about this, I had overlooked her communications with Evelyn because I felt it would come to an end over time but it seems my judgment had been wrong. They seem to be closer than ever, my mother would never speak about my personal affairs with any woman but in Evelyn's case it seems not. "And it's not just about Mae," I continue, picking up the thread of our conversation. "I
NOAH"Noah, I know what happened. I remember everything. And I know you saved my life. But that doesn't give you the right to leave me without a word. To break our engagement and walk away. You need to understand, I thought we had something real. Something worth fighting for," she says, her voice cracking with emotion.I nod, feeling a pang of regret. Of course, what we had was real, I sent her 500 million without batting an eye, all I wanted at that moment was her and it still is, but I..."Aria, I know I made a mistake. I owe you an explanation. I just... I don't want you to get hurt because of me, I don't want your parents to..." Aria closes the distance between us placing her hand on my cheeks, I feel the warmth of her hand zapping away the frustration and anger building up inside of me from what had happened that day and how things could have turned out worse."So, what? You are going to be a coward by allowing Melissa to get into your head.""She killed two women I was involved
NOAHI thought falling in love was complicated, no, it's loving them from a distance that is quite complicated, seeing them and being unable to hold them, touch them, or even talk to them.I've been away for two weeks, trying to clear my head and make sense of everything. The investigation, Melissa's arrest, Aria's coma... it's all been too much. I know I shouldn't have left without talking to Aria, but I couldn't bear the thought of hurting her more than I already have. I've been watching her from afar, making sure she's safe and recovering well. But now, as I'm back in town, I know I will need to face her soon. As I step towards my car at the airport, I'm bombarded by reporters. "Noah, how does it feel to be back?" "Noah, what's your response to the allegations?" "Noah, are you dating anyone new?" I ignore them and rush to my car, but one of their questions strikes a nerve in me, "Do you think Melissa will have the new person in your life killed?"I turn to stare at the reporter
ARIA"Where is Noah? Is this a joke because I do not find it funny," it's been one month, one fucking month, and the first thing he decides to do instead of being right here with me, holding my hands and comforting me is to run away and give them some stupid rule over what? "What did I do? If anyone should be keeping any distance, it should be me, his psycho friend tried to kill me," I yell."A lot of Noah's flings have all suffered their fair share, Melissa has been secretly fucking up their life. The moment she finds out they are involved with Noah," Arthur explains. "The investigation found out that two of the girls died, they were able to trace it back to Melissa," he adds.I feel a chill run down my spine as I process this information. Noah's flings? How many girls has he been involved with? Two of them are dead? And all this happened while I was in a coma.My mind is racing with questions, but before I can ask any of them, Arthur drops another bombshell."Melissa had the inten
ARIAThey say a near-death experience is different for everyone, I have read that some people wake up not remembering anything leading to their accident. The last thing I remember is seeing Noah's face before blacking out, but the memories are still sharp in my head.I wake up to the beeping of machines and the antiseptic smell of a hospital, which I hate. I try to sit up, but a sharp pain in my stomach makes me wince. I look down to see my stomach is bandaged, I look around, disoriented, and see my mother sitting in a chair beside my bed, her eyes red and puffy from lack of sleep.She gasps as she sees me awake and trying to sit up, "Aria, my child, you are awake, you are awake" she yells standing on her feet, relief washing over her face.I try to speak, but my voice is hoarse and barely audible. My mother rushes out of the room and I can hear her screaming at the top of her lungs for the doctors to come, she soon comes back in with not only the doctor but my dad and Arthur. "Ari,
NOAH"Can you make a reservation at the Haute Cuisine?" I ask, making a turn into the road leading to the cabin."Is it a business meeting, Sir?" Brian questions. "I can have it set for -""It's a date Brian, not a business meeting," I interrupt him, parking the car right in front of the cabin. For a second the phone goes silent on the other end, Brian probably wondering why I am having a date in an expensive restaurant downtown and canceling my schedule for the day."A d-date?" Brian finally says stuttering. "I mean yes Sir," he says and I am sure he is already scribbling away on his note. He has always had a thing with jotting every single word I say, well it has always been useful for him especially since I love my things done almost to perfection. "A date at Haute Cuisine tonight, what menu are we looking at?" "Do not place an order?" I am not sure what Aria would like, it will be best if she makes the order instead. Anything she orders is fine by me as long as I get to look at h
ARIAMelissa stands in the doorway, a stern expression on her face. "Well, what do we have here?" she says, her voice firm but polite. What the hell is she doing here and how did she get in? Did Noah not close the door? I am sure he wouldn't have made that mistake, to keep the door open."What the hell are you doing here and how did you get in?" I ask, my voice getting loud with each word.Melissa chuckles and walks into the room, her eyes scanning the space as if searching for something. "I have a spare key, what? Did you think you are the only one Noah has brought to this cabin?"Rolling my eyes, I kiss my teeth not answering her question, it doesn't matter who has been here before. Although, I am jealous of the idea of him sharing this space with another woman, but he has made it clear that I am all he needs in his life and that is enough for me. "Anyways," she continues. "I wanted to see Noah, I have been trying to reach him since last night but he wasn't picking up my calls."O
ARIA"This should fit just fine," Noah says handing me one of his T-shirts from the wardrobe, I don't know how he convinced me to spend the night in the cabin, if anything I should be heading home to be alone, and think about the proposal but I want to be here with him. Whenever I am with him, every other thing seems meaningless. Noah had suggested spending the night at his house first, but I was against it, at least for now. His mother would just have us married at sight, if anyone wants us paired together other than Noah, it's her.I put the towel on the hanger and wear the T-shirt over my head, the T-shirt fits like a dress, big and just above my knee. I check my face in the mirror, packing my hair into a ponytail before leaving the bathroom. I am not surprised when I find Noah in his pajamas standing by the door waiting patiently for me to come out. His eyes light up the moment I step out, his eyes falling from my face to his T-shirt on my body. "Noah, you're staring," I say, t
NOAHDammit!I have placed her in a spot, look at her eyes, I can see the desire to say yes, but also the confusion at how soon this is all happening. I knew I should have waited a bit, but I don't think I can.The thought of someone else and not me being her life is going to completely wreck me. I always have this ring, it has been in the family for ages, all I had to do was ask my mother for it. She was stunned when I asked, "Are you sure Noah? I mean I am happy you are finally asking for the ring, but are you sure you want it?" She asked."Aria, you don't have to say anything right now," I say, not wanting to get rejected. Her rejection will hurt more than her silence. "How about you think about it? I don't want to pressure you into anything okay?" I say holding her hand and placing the ring in her hand. "Y-You want me to think about it, while I hold on to the ring?" She stutters. "That's a lot of pressure Noah, and... And this ring looks like a family heirloom."Of course, she d
ARIA"So, what's it with you and this cabin?" I ask as he offers me a glass of wine before joining me on the couch. "Do you bring all your girlfriends here?" "Girlfriend?" He chuckles taking a sip from his wine glass. "I don't do girlfriends Aria, you are the first."First? I don't know if I should believe that or not. "The cabin is just a safe space for me, away from everyone," he continues."Well, the reason I wanted us to meet was because of my parents," I begin, taking a sip from my drink. He raises an eyebrow, " Your parents? Are they fine?""Yeah, they are but my dad suspects foul play, he thinks someone might be on to him and my mum. He said the accident was caused by the brake failure," I explain. "He wants his recovery with that of my mother hidden for now, he hopes this will hopefully lure out whoever is behind it."Noah takes a sip of his drink, nodding his head, "You want me to hide seeing him and your mother?""Yeah, for now of course," I say."You know, you could have