MAEI place my hand on my chest, my heart racing. I can't go to jail, especially for something I didn't do. How could Lily confess to my involvement in all of this? Sin's expression is one of conflicted emotions. He runs his fingers through his hair, he sighs, "Relax," he says placing his hand on mine. "This scandal could destroy everything, the company, my reputation, but we need to prioritize. Your freedom and clearing your name comes first. I will get my lawyers and speak to Evelyn. We'll resolve this issue, okay?" "I am so sorry Sin, I can't believe that Lily will do something like this, I don't even know what has gotten into her," I say, my voice breaking under the strain. The room feels unbearably tight, the walls closing in as the gravity of the situation sinks deeper.Sin squeezes my hand reassuringly. "We'll figure this out together. I know you, Mae. You wouldn't harm anyone, let alone orchestrate something this destructive. We just need to get to the station and figure thi
MAEThe drive to the station is tense, As the police car navigates through the congested streets, the sounds of the cars of the reporters are hot on our chase and it only makes it evident that someone must have tipped them about this. There is no doubt in my mind that it is Evelyn, no one can convince me otherwise. She knew I would be cornered if she made it to the penthouse just in time to keep us occupied until her plans were in order. The annoying part is Mrs. Hayes also believes her.My jaw flexes as I look outside the window, I try to control my racing heart and the desire to burst into tears in front of the officers.No! I need to control myself, I need to remain strong. This is what Evelyn will want me to do, to break down in front of the whole world and just prove to them how guilty I appear. But I won't give her that satisfaction.The police station comes into view, and the car slows to a stop. As we pull up to the side, the media's presence seems even more overwhelming. T
SINMy lawyer showed up just in time, we tried speaking in the hallway while I waited for Mae but he insisted we go to my car instead.Ryder remains outside the car, while I listen to my lawyer explain his findings regarding the case, and according to him, Mae is likely going to get arrested alongside Lily for leaking the sex video of me and Evelyn.He believes they should be looking at getting sentenced to jail for about three to five years. That's how serious this is.I clench my fists, frustrated. I am not surprised if Lily is involved in any of this, but Mae, No, she can't be, because I had left her back at the office with Ryder watching over her. If she had left his sight, even for just a moment, Ryder wouldn't hesitate to inform me."Are you absolutely sure there's no mistake in the evidence?" I ask my lawyer, still confused by the darn evidence that Lily is claiming to have that connects Mae to the crime. He shakes his head slowly. "The evidence provided by Lily is pretty sol
SINI agree and hang up, my mind racing with possible outcomes. My lawyer, sitting quietly beside me, gives a nod of approval. "I guess, I should make sure Mae is alright," he says."I will appreciate that, keep me updated on anything that might be helpful to the case," I say.He gives me a slight nod before stepping out of the car, he and Ryder exchange a few words outside before Ryder steps into the driver's seat."Where to boss?" Ryder asks, turning the car engine on."Evelyn's house," I reply.Ryder pauses for a moment, our eyes meet in the rearview mirror but he doesn't say a word. I know he wants to say something, but instead, he nods his head.As we drive towards Evelyn’s house, my thoughts wander back to Mae. I try to piece together how things escalated to this point. How Evelyn suddenly showed up and Mae got caught in this bullshit. The thought clenches my heart, seeing Mae being handcuffed by that police officer, had angered me.It took me everything to not punch him in the
SINI'm taken aback by her request, my mind racing with disbelief. "You can't be serious," I say, trying to keep my tone even.Evelyn's expression is deadpan, her eyes gleaming with a sinister intensity. "I'm completely serious, Sin. You want me to drop the charges? That's the price."I feel a surge of anger, my fists clenching at my sides. "You're trying to blackmail me into sleeping with you? That's not going to happen, Evelyn."She shrugs, a cold smile spreading across her face. "Why? It's not like we haven't done this before," she says placing her hand on my cheeks. "We used to do it everywhere remember, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, everywhere, and I was your girl."I shove her hand off my face, and she chuckles. "Come on baby, don't you miss me?" "You are nuts, Evelyn," I mutter, more to myself than to her. I know we shared a relationship in the past, and I was drawn to her because of the sex but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that she would turn out to be like thi
SIN"Your parents will never approve of her," Evelyn snaps, her eyes blazing with fury. I chuckle, "Was that your plan, Evelyn? To ruin her image, to make everyone hate her, including me. I thought you were smart, but you are dumber by the day," I say. "All it would have taken was a couple of days, a week, or better a month to execute a proper plan. One which I wouldn't have fallen for regardless because I know Mae, I know what she is capable of, and not. But you couldn't wait, could you?" I question. "You couldn't wait just a week to plot your plan, it just had to be immediately when you arrived. That's how stupid you are," I continue."Get out of my house," Evelyn mutters, her voice low as though she is debating if she really wants me out, or if my words are just getting under her skin. "Gladly," I reply. Her presence already annoys me, and I wished I never had anything to do with her in the first place, "I will skin you alive, Evelyn, if anything happens to Mae, know that," I a
MAE"My day couldn't get any worse," I sigh stepping into the cell to find Lily sitting on the bench by the wall. I stare at the officer ushering me in, he doesn't say a word but it feels like this is another setup yet again. Ain't they supposed to separate us? Hours back, I tried my best to convince Daniella, the officer interrogating me, that I was innocent, but she provided me with text messages between me and Lily, which was fabricated no doubt.It wasn't my phone number.But she didn't believe me, or maybe she was also part of this scheme. She intended to make sure I didn't step out of the station, she said I was a suspect and would remain in police custody until otherwise.The officer removes the cuffs from my hand and closes the cell, leaving me alone with Lily in the cell. I look around the cell and I am not surprised when I find a camera on the wall.I walk past Lily and go to sit on the floor. She looks at me with big, worried eyes. She hasn't said anything since I entere
MAE"You are free to go," Daniella announces, she opens the cell door and gestures for me to step out immediately.I don't know if I should be relieved or worried, that this isn't over completely. I head for the door and Lily gets on her feet as well following behind but Daniella raises her hand in the air to stop her. "Not you, Miss Lily. Only your sister," Daniella said."Wait, that can't be possible," Lily mutters sniffing in and cleaning the tears from her eyes. "You said -""I never said anything Miss Lily," Daniella cut her off, and from the look in her eyes. It seems they have some sort of agreement, but that's the least of my concerns right now. "Miss Mae, please step outside," Daniella said. I nod, still trying to process everything that's happened. Sin's eyes lock onto mine, and I can see the concern and anger simmering beneath the surface. As I reach the door of the cell, I feel Lily's hand on my arm, she holds on so tight stopping me on my track. "Please Mae, don't lea
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