“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
Simon Walsh.The name echoed inside her head over and over again as Elena sat quietly opposite him. She tried to wrap her head around the fact that her mysterious no-strings-attached and Richard Walsh’s uncle were actually the same person this whole time.But it was so hard, though. So hard to comprehend. It just seemed too unreal. Too far-fetched. Like a damn cliché plot of some cheap erotic novel. And yet, here she was, sitting directly across Simon Walsh himself, watching him closely as he did the same to her.They haven’t spoken a single word since Elena found out his true identity. They just stared silently at each other, waiting patiently for the other to say something. Anything. But neither of them seemed willing to break the silence, and honestly, she didn’t even know what to say. Hell, she didn’t even know if she wanted to say anything at all.Part of her wanted to jump off her chair and slap him across the face for lying to her all this time. For pretending to be someone else
Elena was speechless. Completely and utterly speechless. She couldn’t believe what she just heard. She couldn’t believe he actually admitted to being the one to show her the real face of her husband. The same husband who broke her trust, her heart and her soul. The same husband who cheated on her with another woman.But even though she could be grateful for what he did back then, she still felt angry. She didn’t know why but she was growing restless by the minute. Somewhere deep down, deep inside her chest, she felt as if everything was wrong about this man. Simon Walsh was not just an arrogant rich asshole. He was something else entirely. Something dangerous. Something dark. Something Elena had never seen before.And yet, she felt drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Like a magnet to metal. Like a drug addict to drugs. She needed him. She craved him. She wanted him. And he knew it.Perhaps that’s why despite her efforts to be mad at him, he seemed unbothered by her anger. He simply s
Elena stormed into Danika’s changing room and flopped down on the couch as if it were nobody’s business.Man, she was pissed. Pissed beyond belief. How dare that asshole call her a coward? Who did he think he was? She was no coward. She was anything but that. And who was he to put a tag on her? She wasn’t his property. She didn’t belong to him. She never did. And she never will.Elena groaned loudly, covering her face with her hands. She hated feeling helpless. She hated feeling weak. And most importantly, she hated feeling manipulated. And that smug bastard had done exactly that. He manipulated her. He let her believe what she wanted to, never saying a thing, never admitting anything, never giving her any clue regarding who he was.But maybe it wasn’t exactly his fault. He let her believe what she wanted to, maybe because that’s what she needed. At the time when they had met, she wasn’t looking for anything serious. No. She was looking for a distraction. She wanted to forget about eve
Detective Cortez stared at the body in front of him and watched as the forensic team took pictures of it while collecting samples of evidence.It was another suicide. Another victim of drugs. A young woman, barely in her twenties. But unlike the previous victims, she didn’t kill herself because of the drugs. No. She killed herself because she couldn’t take the family pressure anymore. She couldn’t take the society pressure anymore. She couldn’t take the peer pressure anymore. She was sick and tired of everything. And the only way she saw herself out of that mess was by killing herself.It was written in her suicide note.He sighed heavily, rubbing his temple tiredly.He hated cases like this. Cases involving minors, teens, students—people who were struggling to survive in society. These were the worst kind of cases. These were the ones that made him question his profession. Made him question his purpose in life.Did he really have the power to save these people? Did he really have the
Elena closed the door of the car and looked out of the window, watching as the streets of New York passed by. She had just come out of the police station, after being called for questioning by Detective Cortez, who wanted to know about her relationship with Cecelia McDowell. Elena told him the truth. She hardly knew Cecelia. She had no connection whatsoever to the girl. And she definitely didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance.But, somehow, Detective Cortez seemed to think otherwise.Probably because of her own stupid mistake. But was it really a mistake?If she had admitted to the fact that the night she caught Richard and Cecelia in the hotel she did more than just threaten the two—she had hit Richard so hard in the head, that he lost consciousness and was admitted to the hospital—she had a feeling the detective wou
Elena watched Richard’s car leaving the mansion from the window of her room, frowning to herself.Why did he come here? What did he think would happen if he showed up unannounced like that? But most importantly, how did he find out about her? The fact that she lived here? Did that mean he knew now that she wasn’t just any Matthews but the daughter of one of the richest industrialists in the country?This sudden disappearance of Cecelia sure ruined her plans ever so gracefully.She sighed into her chest, running a hand through her hair.She needed to be more careful now. Needed to stay away from Richard and his toxic family. And maybe focus on her brother now. He was the only one who mattered. Josh and Caleb. That’s it. No one else.Elena returned to her bed and sat down, taking off her heels, one by one. She was tired. Exhausted even. Just wanted to rest. Sleep. And forget about the world for a few hours. Maybe when she woke up next time, things would be better.But she knew that wasn
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