Justin with his lustful gaze towards me pressed me down on the bed. If he wasn't only behaving in an aggressive way, perhaps I would've appreciated the way his sexy toned body looks as it peaked beyond his unbuttoned shirt."What do you think you're doing, Justin?" my voice trembled at the thought of what might be going on within his mind right now.It left me feeling at least worried for his next move. "Just as what married couples always do." Justin's voice was deep as he buried his face on my neck.This makes things difficult for me. Knowing how persistent Justin would be now, things would really hard for me to prevent from occuring. “Justin, we can’t possibly do this.” I tried to plead him.However, what seemed to be a hopeful move that would eventually persuade him only ended up as something that had agitated Justin even more.“Why, Marga? Tell me, why are you being distant with me?!” His voice was so high, I thought the whole household would hear him now. There was no way I co
I don’t want to cheat myself any further. I knew it was Regina and after how I behaved today, I t would only be normal that my husband would seek what he couldn’t get from me with Regina. Although something in me was still hoping they wouldn’t do it as well.Knowing Regina was sick, I kind of doubt they’ll actually risk doing it either. However, it doesn’t change the fact that my husband would actually seek her company when he and I just had a misunderstanding.“Was it even a misunderstanding? I could see from his face how he saw through me clearly that I don’t want his advances on me.” I held my belly and as I sofly caress it while trying to prevent the tears from falling off my eyes once more, I eventually ended up realizing I was at fault here.What else could I even do? It wasn’t like I could tell Justin that I was pregnant either. My only choice was to drive him away like make him feel that I don’t want it without compromising the child in my belly’s existence. Even if it would
"You seemed to be enjoying home-cooked meals, my dear husband." I was not sure how I was able to say that without bursting out my anger.Looking at them right now still makes me feel so furious. It was only just a good thing that I was still able to control myself despite how I badly wanted to go and attack Regina. At the very least, I still wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be stepping down my level to someone like her.“Marga, it’s not what you think—” Justin was about to tell me.Yet, before he could even begin to explain, I immediately cut him off as I raised my palm forward which meant that I didn’t want to hear any of his words. “I had heard that line just now. So please, don’t try to explain anymore, Justin. It’s pointless. You think telling me that it’s not what I think it was would eventually persuade me into believing that you really have no intention of doing this? Shame on you!” And I finally wasn’t able to control myself anymore. I finally said it before his face as I
[JUSTIN’S POV]I was able to see with my very own eyes how Margarette fell off the stairs just as she was able to free herself from my hold on her.The events transpired at an alarmingly rapid pace, and before I knew it, she was already lying on the bottom of the stairs, bleeding and unconscious.“Marga!” I let out a scream. Immediately, my reflexes compelled me to make a beeline for her and remove her from the situation. As soon as I was able to retrieve her body, I noticed that her head was bleeding from a cut, and it was oozing with a great deal of blood that had already stained her clothes.“Claude! I need help! Can nine-one-one quick!” My voice erupted as soon as I was able to hold Margarette in my arms.I had the sensation that my thoughts were floating in the air. There was no way that I could have possibly anticipated that things would go in this direction. If I had known, I would not have even bothered to make an effort to strike up a conversation with Margarette. I did not
[ JUSTIN'S POV ]The nurses were successful in kicking me out, and yet, even as I was outside my mind was still preoccupied by the thought of Margarette inside.A moment later, there was a middle-aged female doctor approaching the isolated area from where Marga was.She must be the doctor.My instinct told me I should check it out despite knowing that the nurses would eventually try and stop me anyway."Sir, please. it's off limits from beyond this point."Just as I thought. And yet, I haven't even made it inside to see what's going on."I just wish to know what's going on. Let me see her at least." I replied back, and although I was talking to the nurse, I literally louden my voice enough for whoever the doctor was inside to hear me.Not a moment longer, my goal seemed to have worked as the female doctor finally got out of where Margarette was."How is she? how is my wife?" I hurriedly asked as soon as she stepped out.The female doctor slid her hands on her lab gown pockets as thoug
[MARGARETTE’S POV]When I woke up, I instantly felt numbness all over me. But by the time that I tried to move my legs and elbow to stand up, that was when I instantly felt soreness that was intolerable.“Please don’t move, miss. You’ll only hurt yourself.” A woman in white uniform wearing gloves while inserting some kind of a vial into a IV catheter attached to my other hand. A nurse? Why? Am I inside a hospital? I wanted to talk but there was a tube attached to my lungs that was enabling me to breathe. Everything was so hard for me. I wasn’t sure how did I arrive into this situation, why am I feeling soreness all over like I am fragile broken glass that was just temporary put together and had the tendency to shatter at once if I move.Helpless, I obeyed the nurse and rested my back on the hospital bed. And because there was no other way I could do at the moment, I simply had to surrender to what they wanted. As I was lying on the bed, the nurse suddenly approached me as soon as s
A week after what felt like hell because of being confined for so long at the hospital, I almost thought I wouldn't last long. It was like even though I managed to survive the fall, I still felt like my other foot was already buried beneath the ground. Everything was like a tug of war game with death. But thankfully, I was able to survive that. It was even a miracle I could say that the child inside my belly was able to survive that fall and even my long period of stay at the hospital. The doctors under Aunt Lou’s orders were pretty much hands on in regards to my condition and the baby inside me, making sure that everything goes well.My aunt Lou simply has all the powers to do that knowing her husband was the medical director of the hospital. Without that authority and power she had on back, perhaps Justin could’ve have already learned about the truth of my pregnancy.“Margarette? Is something wrong?” speaking of Justin, he suddenly took away my attention while in the middle of dee
[ JUSTIN’S POV ]I had this bad feeling that what my mother has called me to ask something that has to do with Margarette’s accident. A few hours after the incident that almost took Margarette’s life, mother made a surprise visit at the company to check on the surveillance cameras for reasons I am not aware.I was only fortunate that Claude was even quicker than me to think about destroying the CCTv cameras in my office floors even at the exit connected to my floor so that evidence about Margarette’s fall would never leak out.Now it became a puzzle for me why on earth my mother suddenly wishes to see me and her tone even felt like it was something very urgent that I couldn’t even refuse.“Sit down, Justin.” Mother instantly told me the moment I entered her study. The moment felt insulting as I looked like a little boy who was about to be reprimanded by his mother. Knowing my mother, she would only be agitated if I turned my back on her now. However, as I obeyed her, I immediately
The rain was falling again.It always did on days like this—days that felt like endings.I stood on the edge of the cliffs overlooking the stormy waters of Anacortes, my coat pulled tightly around me, the hood shielding my face from the wind that carried the scent of salt and something older—something like goodbye.Leon stood behind me. I didn’t have to turn around to feel him there. His presence was familiar now, carved into my skin like muscle memory. He’d been my gravity, my storm, my salvation, and my ruin—sometimes all at once.“It’s really over, isn’t it?” I whispered, more to the wind than to him.He didn’t answer right away. His silence was as heavy as the stormclouds above us.“I wanted to fix everything for you,” he said finally, his voice hoarse, like it had been dragged across a battlefield. “I wanted to give you a life that didn’t hurt.”I closed my eyes. The ache in my chest pulsed with every beat of my heart. “You did,” I said. “For a while, you did.”I heard the crunch
I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “I’m not the same person I was before,” I said, my voice firm, unwavering. “And I’m not walking away this time.”The man’s eyes flickered with a moment of doubt, just enough for me to catch. And then, before I could even register what had happened, Leon moved.Faster than I could blink, Leon was in front of me, his hand grabbing the gun and twisting it out of the man’s grasp. The force of it sent the man stumbling back, but he didn’t go down easily. His bodyguards rushed in, but Leon was already a step ahead, disarming one of them with a swift, calculated move.I stood frozen for a moment, trying to process what I was witnessing. Leon—always so calm, always so careful—was ruthless. He was like a force of nature, determined to protect me at all costs.But the fight wasn’t over yet. The man recovered, his eyes burning with rage. “You really think you’ve won?” he spat, his voice dripping with venom. “You’re nothing but a pawn in a game you can’t ev
The sound of boots drew closer, pounding the floor with an urgency that echoed through the cavernous halls of the estate. My heart raced as the reality of what I had just heard crashed into me like a tidal wave. The man who had once been a part of my life—my family’s betrayer, the one who had orchestrated their deaths—stood there, calmly, as if this was just another night for him.Leon’s grip on my hand tightened, but I didn’t let him pull me away. I could feel the air thickening with tension, the walls pressing in as everything I thought I knew began to crumble.The intruders were only moments away.The man—he—smirked, watching us. “You think this will end well? You’ve no idea what you’re up against. My people are everywhere.”I took a step forward, ignoring Leon’s silent plea to retreat. “You killed them. And you thought I would be the next one to fall in line?” My voice was a whisper, but it held a power I hadn’t realized I had. “You were wrong.”The man’s face faltered, just for a
Next Morning at the Estate Archives. The basement was cold and damp, and the air smelled of mildew and secrets. Old boxes lined the walls, labeled in my father’s tidy script. Financial records. Land deeds. Correspondence.Leon sifted through a crate of documents while I dug through another.Then something caught my eye.A faded folder labeled: Project Thornfield.I opened it slowly.Inside were blueprints—plans for development across coastal land that was supposed to be protected forest. There were signatures from multiple board members, including names I recognized.And then, one I didn’t.N. Vallis.Leon leaned over. “You know that name?”I shook my head. “No. But look here—he signed off on the project two weeks before my parents died.”Leon pulled out his phone. “I’ll run a background check.”I kept flipping through the documents—and found something that made my blood run cold.An aerial photo.Of the cliffside. Our property.With a giant red X drawn over the coordinates where my p
THREE WEEKS LATER...The investigation moved faster than I’d expected. With the board fully on our side now, the paper trail unraveled like a thread pulled from an old sweater—each piece of evidence exposing the next. Shell companies. Forged contracts. Witnesses who had remained silent out of fear but were finally coming forward.Still, no one had seen him since the day of the summit. He had vanished without a trace. No flights. No offshore activity. No messages. It was like he’d disappeared into smoke.But Dorian didn’t believe in ghosts. “He’s hiding,” he said as he handed me a thick folder. “And this—this will force him out.”I flipped through the documents. Bank records. A property registered under an alias. Hidden deep in the woods outside of Anacortes. I felt my stomach twist.Leon stepped up behind me, his hand grazing my shoulder. “Let’s pay him a visit.”The cabin was barely more than a shadow tucked between trees. No lights. No car. Just silence and the thrum of insects in t
Sunlight crept cautiously through the cracks in the blinds, casting golden slivers across the hardwood floor of the safe house bedroom. I sat curled up on the edge of the bed, a blanket draped around my shoulders and the journal heavy in my lap. The cover was cracked, worn with age and secrets. My fingers hovered over the first page for what felt like an eternity.Leon was nearby—he hadn’t slept much, either. He stood at the window with a mug of black coffee, watching the world outside with quiet alertness. When I finally opened the journal, he turned slightly but didn’t speak. He knew I needed silence for this.The first entry was dated nearly two decades ago.July 14th. We signed the contract today. Two families, one future. The woman from Delmar Holdings is more cunning than I expected. She knows we’re desperate—and she used it. I told Mariana to trust me. That this was the only way. God help me, I hope I’m right.My breath hitched. Mariana—that was my mother’s name.I flipped thro
MARGARETTE'S POVBefore we could react, the door behind us burst open.Three armed men rushed in, dressed in black, their movements precise and rehearsed. Leon shoved me behind him, drawing his gun up in an instant. Dorian, who had been lingering near the entrance, took cover behind a cabinet, gun already out.“Elise’s father wasn’t bluffing,” I breathed, my heart hammering. “He had backup ready.”Leon fired the first shot, catching one of the intruders in the shoulder and sending him crashing to the floor. Chaos erupted. Dorian ducked low and returned fire, narrowly missing another attacker who retaliated with a spray of bullets that shattered the windows.I crouched behind an overturned table, the sound of gunfire drowning out my thoughts. The locket in my palm dug into my skin, its edges sharp—a painful reminder that I couldn’t afford to lose control now.“Elise’s father!” I shouted to Leon. “He’s escaping!”Through the haze of smoke and broken glass, I saw the man slinking toward
The sound of footsteps pounding in the hallway was the last thing I heard before the door slammed open.I barely had time to react before a rush of armed men poured into the room, their eyes scanning every corner, landing finally on me. There was no mistaking the intent behind their cold stares.“Get down!” Leon’s voice crackled through the earpiece again, but there was no time to obey. I couldn’t allow myself to hesitate—not now, not when the truth was within reach.I raised my gun, my hands steady despite the chaos unfolding around me. I wasn’t going down without a fight, not after everything I had lost. Not after everything Elise’s father had taken from me.Before the first man could react, I fired. The sound of the shot echoed in the confined space, the bullet finding its mark in the man’s chest. His body crumpled to the ground with a sickening thud, but the others didn’t hesitate. They moved in faster, their guns drawn, but I was ready.I ducked behind the desk, using it as cover
Dawn came in silver slivers through the cracks in the window. I hadn’t slept—not really. My mind was too loud, looping the footage over and over like a broken reel.Leon sat across from me at the table, sipping his coffee like it was the only thing keeping him grounded. Neither of us had said much since the footage. We didn’t need to. The truth had cut so deep, it didn’t leave room for small talk.But I had questions.And I needed answers.“How long do you think he’s known I survived?” I finally asked, voice hoarse.Leon didn’t look away from his mug. “Long enough to start covering his tracks. But he didn’t expect the locket to resurface.”My hand instinctively reached for it. The locket was warm now, like it had absorbed my grief and fury. Inside was a picture of my mother and me—her arm around my tiny shoulders, her smile soft but tired. A photo I hadn’t even remembered until last night.“He killed her,” I whispered. “He killed my father. For what? A project?”“Not just a project,”