Elena made a quick stop at the address on the screen of her phone and asked the driver to wait for her there. She got out of her car and looked up the hotel building for a second, before making her way towards the entrance. As soon as she stepped foot inside the lobby, she found herself surrounded by the usual crowd of hotel guests, businessmen and women and tourists alike.She ignored them as she walked straight towards the elevators, pushing the button to call one down to her level. She only had to wait for a few seconds before the doors slid open and revealed the empty compartment inside. She quickly stepped inside and pressed the button for the top floor, where the presidential suite was located.During the masquerade ball, she had received a text from the stranger she had met in Paris, and then Milan and then Paris again. According to his text, he was in New York for some kind of business which she thought she had no business asking. For as long as she could remember, both of them
The next morning when Richard picked up the newspaper, he couldn’t believe his eyes when he read the headlines of the New York Times: “The ‘Love and Disobey’ star, Cecelia McDowell warming bed with her billionaire brother”.“What the hell?” He muttered to himself as he stared at the front page, eyes widening at the images displayed on it. He quickly skimmed through the article, reading about the intimate moment shared by Cecelia and Richard in a hotel room. There was even a photo of the two of them kissing in the hallway, and even though the picture was kind of grainy, he knew the man in the picture was no one else but him.But…what the fuck, though? When the hell did this happen? He didn’t remember anything about kissing anyone in a hotel room, Cecelia or not. And why would he have an affair with his own fucking sister? That made the least sense of all.Sure, they weren’t exactly related by blood, but still. She was the daughter from his stepmother’s first marriage, and it was only a
Elena stared at the screen of her tablet and smiled to herself.The article was out. Everyone in the world now knew about Richard and his stupid mistress. She couldn’t wait until her plan worked out perfectly and destroyed his life forever.She thought back to those days she spent with Richard before disappearing from his life completely. She remembered the way he used to look at her, like she was the only person in existence who mattered to him anymore. She remembered how his touch felt on her skin, gentle and loving. And she remembered how they used to kiss and make love for hours upon hours before falling asleep in each other’s arms.But then he went ahead and betrayed her in the worst way possible. Sleeping with his own fucking sisters, related or not. She couldn’t believe it when she first received the photos through the detective she had hired. The same detective who gave her the keys to the hotel room where her husband was fucking his bitch.It broke her heart into a million pi
Simon Walsh grinned to himself, watching the chaos unfold on the television screen in front of him as he sipped his coffee slowly. “Look at that, little guy,” he said as he nudged his small dog that was lying beside him. “The whole world is going to hell now thanks to that fucking whore. Good job, Elena. You finally did something right.” The dog gave him a small bark in response before continuing to stare at the television, his head tilted slightly to one side as if confused by what was happening around him. Simon leaned forward in his chair and grabbed a bottle of whiskey off his table, pouring a generous amount into his cup before taking another sip and closing his eyes, relishing in the delicious flavor. He loved whiskey. And he especially loved it when he got to watch his dear nephew go down like that. Fuck. He hadn’t expected Elena to be so bold, but apparently, she proved him wrong. She was indeed a formidable opponent to have, and those people underestimated her capabilities
Elena sat by her brother’s bed, watching him as he slept peacefully like he had been since the night of his car accident. She watched him breathe with the oxygen mask strapped to his face, and her heart ached. She hated seeing him like this, so helpless and vulnerable. It killed her inside every time she looked at him, knowing that there was nothing she could do to make it any easier on him.She sighed softly as she ran her fingers through his hair, brushing aside a few strands from his forehead. “Josh,” she whispered while leaning down and planting a tender kiss on his cheek. “I miss you, Josh. Aren’t you tired of being like this? Of all this sleep? You should wake up now, really, it’s too much. Please.”But Josh didn’t reply. Instead, he kept breathing steadily, as if nothing else mattered in the world.“Come on, Josh,” tears pricked at her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Please, wake up. I need you to wake up. I can’t live your life for you, you know. You have a son. He comes to
Richard sat in his office when his father stormed inside.“What do you think you’re doing?” Gerald McDowell hissed.“I’m handling the problem as it should have been handled a long time ago,” Richard said without even looking up from the file he was reading.“Cecelia is my daughter!” Gerald slammed his fist on the desk, making the papers fly around and almost knocking over the cup of coffee Richard was drinking from. “You can’t just go around and declare her missing, goddammit! Are you stupid or something?!”Richard finally looked up and raised an eyebrow at his father. “No,” he said calmly, “I’m not stupid. And neither was I when I decided to do what needed to be done. I tried to talk to your wife, but she only fed me with excuses. So I figured, since she wouldn’t do anything about it, I should.”Gerald narrowed his eyes at him. “You think you know so much better, don’t you? That you’re old enough to make decisions for this family and its members? That you have some kind of power over
“It’s been a whole damn week, and there’s still nothing about Cecelia,” Danika said with frustration, her voice tinged with disbelief as she flopped back on the couch and swirled the whiskey in her glass. “It makes no sense though. How could she just disappear?”“Or maybe she didn’t disappear at all,” Elena sighed, her brow furrowing in thought as she scrolled down her tablet, her eyes scanning through emails with a mix of concentration and concern. “I told you, she’s on the run. McDowells probably shipped her to some remote island of sorts, waiting for this whole mess to blow over, which it obviously won’t since her asshole brother went public with everything. This entire thing they are doing is all a pretense. It always is with them. They aren’t even looking for her in earnest. They are just saying that so they can save face, so they don’t look bad in public.”Danika scoffed in disgust. “What a bunch of idiots!”Elena raised her glass to her lips and took a sip, savoring the strong
Elena wasn’t sure what she was doing.Except for the fact that she had finally decided to pay Mr Walsh a visit.If she were to be honest, it felt like she was going on a suicide mission, because even though Danika had told her that there was still hope for her, Elena seriously doubted it. She was convinced that Mr Walsh would deny helping her after what happened between her and Richard.Hell, he might even refuse to see her altogether, thinking that she was here to seek revenge on his nephew and destroy his family completely. But regardless, she needed answers, and the only way to get them was to ask Mr Walsh himself.The only reason she was still considering asking Mr Walsh for help was because she owed that much to her brother. Whatever happened to him that night, whoever was behind the ruthless accident, he deserved justice. And if there was even the slightest chance that Mr Walsh could give her that justice, she had to try.She’d be a fool not to.That’s why Elena found herself st
Hey lovely readers,First of all, I would like to say a huge thank you if you’ve made it to the end. It wasn’t an easy journey, I know, but you stayed, and that means everything to me. :)Secondly, let me get straight to what I said I would be talking about in this note.I know a lot of you (probably all of you) must be wondering what happens with Josh next, and what about Angelina, Betty, Caleb, and the other kids.No worries—the reason I decided not to continue their stories here is that I’ll be exploring that story arc in a new book. It will probably be published soon (I’ll do my best, I promise). I realized that Josh’s story needed its own space because there was so much I wanted to write for him, and that couldn’t happen alongside Simon and Elena, who were obviously nearing their happy ending.But yes, it’s impossible to write about Josh without Elena, so Elena and Simon will be making appearances in the new book as well. Maybe sometimes more than I intend, because God knows I lov
After their little party was over and everyone went back to the guest rooms to rest, Elena laid their sleeping daughter in her crib and tucked her nicely.A pair of warm hands slid around her waist from behind, a kiss landed on her shoulder. “Thank you for today. How long have you been planning all this? And how the hell did you manage to invite Josh? I didn’t take him for a party person. Not these days.” He whispered into her ear, making her skin tingle.“You have to ask me how I got your brother to attend? I have my ways of making people do what I want.” She grinned as she turned in his arms and looped hers around his neck.He grinned as well. “Is that right? Do those ways include threatening? Do I want to know the details?” He said jokingly, knowing how Elena is, and she was very much the kind of person who’d go out of her way to make the things that were important to her, happen.“Oh, I think you don’t really want to know. But, I just had to do it for you.”She gave him a light kis
Simon woke up in the middle of the night, his heart racing.He looked around himself, patting his hand around in search of the person he was hoping to find. But to his dismay, there was no one else on the bed with him.“Elena?” he said out loud, frowning at the darkness.His hand patted the sheets and pillow again, trying to feel for her body, but he found nothing. Where was she? Where did she go?“Elena?”No response.He was starting to worry now. Where was she? He could feel a sense of dread slowly filling up inside him. He needed to find her. He needed to know if she was okay.Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming from outside his room. He quickly got out of bed, put on his sweatpants and a t-shirt and opened the door.There was no one in the hallway. It was eerily quiet.He frowned, he could swear he heard someone walk by just now.“Elena, are you here? Please say something, darling. It’s me.” He said as he walked slowly to the end of the hallway, bare feet.Just when he thought he
Elena stood outside the doors, clutching the bouquet tightly in her hands. She was shaking, and she knew that anyone who could see her right now would notice, including her brother, Josh.“You’re not a very confident bride, are you?” he teased.She rolled her eyes, wanting to punch him but refraining from causing any casualties at her wedding.“I’m just nervous, that’s all.”“Understandable,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Trust me, you’re not the only one.”She looked up at him, unsure of what he meant. “What do you mean?”“Simon probably feels way worse. I mean, did you see him before he went into that room with his friends? He was sweating bullets.”She shook her head. “You’re making that up.”“I’m not, I swear!” He chuckled. “He’s just as scared as you are, if not more. And that’s a sight I never thought I’d see in my life.”She smiled a little. “I guess you’re right. He is pretty intimidating.”“Exactly. So you have nothing to worry about.” He patted her shoulder. “You’ve got thi
Richard whistled, and Danika watched as Greg, standing outside the room, appeared and uncuffed him.“What the fuck?” Danika was shocked. “How did you… How did you do that?” She turned to face Greg. “You… you work for me, not him! Cuff him back to the door, you giant imbecile!”“Sorry, miss,” Greg said in a deep voice, “I don’t think I will. Mr. McDowell here paid me a lot more money than you to change sides.”“What?!”“That’s right.” Richard stood up, rubbing his wrists. “This is over for you, Danika. Let’s just end this before anyone gets hurt.”Shocked and now furious, Danika was not someone who would give up so easily. Her fingers tightened around the scalpel in her hand. She would fight. She would not go down without a fight.“You think you can win, Richard? You think you’re so smart, don’t you? Well, you’re wrong. I’m not going anywhere. If I can’t have Elena, then no one can.”Without warning, she lunged at Elena, swinging the scalpel towards her throat. But before she could eve
“Is everything set up?” the first man who carried the unconscious bride asked.“Yes,” Greg, who stood outside the operating theater, nodded. “The room is ready. All the equipment is working fine. Just leave her inside, and that woman will handle the rest.”“Sounds good to me,” the other man said, wiping the sweat off his forehead.“Yeah, me too. I just want to get this over with as soon as possible. I don’t want to be here for too long. My wife and daughter have been going on and on about this wedding, and if they come to know I was part of it, they’ll never let me hear the end of it,” the first one said.“Don’t worry. You’ll be paid handsomely,” Greg assured, opening the door for them. “I’ll make sure of that. We just need to do our jobs and get out of here. Simple as that.”“Fine,” the two men said in unison.Danika was waiting for them next to the table, a smile on her face. “Ah, there you are. Any trouble?”“No. Everything’s fine.”“Excellent. Place her on the table, please.”They
Danika was so damn ready for the final stage of her revenge.She had planned everything meticulously, and now all her efforts were coming to fruition. She was smiling to herself when the phone rang, and she picked it up, already aware of what she was about to hear.“We got her,” the man with the deep voice said. “On our way now. Will be there in twenty.”“Perfect. See you then.”She hung up, unable to stop the grin from forming on her face. Everything was going according to plan. And it was just getting started.She looked around. She was standing right in the middle of an abandoned hospital, the perfect place to host her little celebration. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Simon’s face once he realized his bride was gone. And this time, for good. He would be devastated, broken, destroyed. The thought alone was enough to make her laugh.“What’s so funny?” Richard asked as he walked into what looked like an operating theatre.“Just imagining Simon’s face once he realizes I’ve taken
Simon was pacing outside the bridal suite, restless and nervous. One of the servers had informed him that Elena wasn’t feeling well, and he had dropped everything he was doing to rush over and see if she was okay, or if they needed to cancel the wedding. Because he totally could. Nothing was more important to him than his soon-to-be wife’s well-being.“Come on, open the fucking door! Let me in. Just once. I swear, I won’t even say a word.”“Not yet, Simon,” came the familiar voice of Diana. “We talked about this. You can’t see the bride before the wedding.”“Fuck that. This is a fucking emergency. She’s not answering the phone. What if something’s wrong?”“Relax. She’s fine. She just needs a few minutes alone. The excitement is getting to her. But she’ll be out soon. Don’t worry.”“Diana, I swear to God, if you don’t open the door right now, I’m breaking it down. I don’t care if I have to chop the entire thing down.”“Go away, Simon. Or I’m going to tell Elena what you did the other da
And while celebrations and laughter were being shared in one part of the world, in another corner, a different kind of gathering was being planned—a more sinister, dark, and twisted celebration.“I knew I’d find you here,” a familiar voice whispered in his ear. Richard glanced over his shoulder, frowning at the face he hadn’t seen in a while. But there was no mistaking it. The woman was actually here, and the first thing he wanted to do upon recognizing her was to wrap his fingers around her throat and squeeze until she stopped breathing.“What do you want?” he growled, turning back to his drink as he sat at the bar of one of the elite clubs.“Why? No welcome? Where are your manners, Richie?”He hated it when she called him that.“What are you doing here, Danika? I thought I made it clear you were not to contact me again.”“And I thought I made it clear that I have no intention of backing off until you realize that we both have the same enemy. Until you agree to work with me.”“You are