Elena woke with a severe headache the next morning, her body aching and sore. God! She thought, as she rubbed her temples and sat up slowly, trying to focus around herself. It was taking a lot of time and effort for her brain to make sense of everything that was in front of her, her eyesight blurry as she blinked several times in succession, trying to figure out where she was exactly. “Fuck!” She cursed out loud when she realized she was completely naked under the covers. And then, it dawned on her. The dinner at the Pestovs. Sex with Simon in his car, and then at his place, in his room, on his bed, in his bathroom, and then, on the floor and then, back in the bedroom and then… “Fuck!” She covered her face with her hands, trying to block out all the memories of the night before. How could she have been so stupid? How could she have lost control like that? Ugh. Why would she sleep with the man she swore not to have anything with? Why would she break her own vow? What the hell was wro
“What is it?” She asked him after finishing half of her plate. “You’re beautiful,” he replied simply. No shame. No hesitation. No joking tone. He was completely serious. She felt her cheeks burn slightly, unable to meet his gaze. “Um…thanks?” He chuckled lightly before placing his hand on top of hers, caressing the skin gently with his thumb. “I mean it,” he whispered huskily, causing goosebumps to run down her spine. “You’re absolutely breathtaking.” She glanced up at him for a brief moment, catching a glimpse of something strange flickering across his eyes, but then, it was gone completely, replaced by his usual charming smile. “Thank you.” She mumbled under her breath, avoiding eye contact with him. “I appreciate your compliment.” “I’ll be honest with you.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek tenderly in his palm. “You were gorgeous yesterday in that dress but right now, you look even better.” She arched a brow, not able to help
Richard McDowell stared at the picture the detective had sent him on his number, scowling darkly as he studied it carefully. The image was blurry and taken from a distance, but Richard could still make out the subject clearly enough.Elena, with no one else but Simon Walsh. They were stepping out of his car, him carrying her in his arms and into his house. It was like they were…Anger jolted against frustration in his mind as he clenched his jaw tightly, and barely held himself back from tossing the damn phone across the room.“What the hell?” He growled, dialling instantly for the detective. “When did you take this picture?”“Yesterday,” the man answered calmly, not bothered by the anger in Richard’s voice whatsoever.“Why the fuck didn’t you call me earlier? I could have done something…anything.”“Well, Mr. McDowell, I did send you the text message on this morning.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “And besides, you told me to keep an eye on Elena Matthews. Not interfere wi
Melinda stared at the picture of Cecelia, her daughter on the phone and allowed a tear to squeeze out of her eye, holding back the uncontrollable urge to break down and cry.“Ma’am,” she heard a woman walking through the door of the waiting room, standing in front of her and speaking as gently as possible. She wore a black blazer and matching pants, and her long dark hair was tied back neatly in a ponytail.She looked young, probably in her early thirties or so. Melinda straightened up as she faced her, wiping away her tears quickly. “Is he here?”The woman nodded, smiling cautiously. “Yes. Please, come with me.”Melinda stood up without hesitation, following the woman towards a hallway until they stopped at one of the rooms.She hesitated momentarily before turning towards her again. “Mr Walsh is waiting for you inside.”Melinda thanked her before opening the door and stepping into the room, closing it behind her.It was a large office, decorated elegantly and furnished beautifully.
Detective Cortez stood at the threshold of Cecelia McDowell’s apartment and looked around. The place had to have been one of the most luxurious apartments he had seen before someone decided it needed a little bit of charred makeover and set fire to it.He wondered if the one to set fire was Cecelia herself, or was it someone else trying to destroy something that could tie them to her disappearance. Or well, maybe, murder?Who could tell what happened to that poor woman? Her number had not been traced yet, and neither had they gotten any hits on any of her credit cards.Strange, wasn’t it?From what he had seen and heard about the girl, she didn’t seem like the smartest tool in the box. She was good-looking, sure, but her acting skills were average. Four out of five movies she had done so far had been super flops, and the one that performed better than the others was only because the lead actor was the son of an Academy Award-nominated director, Jeff Frank. The son for whom the father
Elena sat in her office and tried to focus on the piles of documents on her desk.But she couldn’t. Every time she picked up a piece of paper and tried to skim through it, Simon’s words echoed in her ear, as if he was sitting right next to her and not miles away in his own office, doing god knows what.Now that she thought about it, she shouldn’t have said to his proposal. There was no rush to give an answer right away, was there? She could have asked for more time. She could have told him she wasn’t ready. But she didn’t. And now nothing was making sense.It wasn’t as if she was doubting what they had would vanish once commitment came into the picture, but now that she had the time and space to think of him, of her, and then, she realized how little she knew about the man. Except for the fact that he was absolutely hot in bed and that he was a mindblowing kisser, the only personal fact she knew about him came from his surprise visit at the dinner thrown by Pestovs.She knew now that
Elena glared at the door for a long moment, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she tried to calm herself down.She tasted blood on her tongue, and it made her sick.She couldn’t believe Richard had dared to touch her like that, and she swore to god she would kill him if he ever came near her again.Her vision blurred with unshed tears, but she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand and took a deep breath. No. She wouldn’t break. She wouldn’t cry. She refused to shed any more tears for him. He didn’t deserve it.Grabbing her purse and pushing sunglasses over her eyes, Elena walked out of her office without bothering to look back. She didn’t know where she was going but she needed to get the hell out of this place. She needed to breathe. She needed to clear her head.Betty Adams looked up from her desk when Elena passed by, frowning worriedly. “Ms Matthews? Where are you going?”“Home,” she replied curtly without sparing her a glance. “Tell everyone I’m leaving early today.
Elena let out a sigh as she turned to glance over her shoulder, only to find the other side of the bed empty. Simon was nowhere to be seen. She sat up and looked around the room. Everything seemed different in the dark. She spotted his clothes scattered on the floor, along with her dress and underwear. She could hear noises from outside the room, but she was still a little disoriented to know if the conversation outside was important or not. She slipped out of bed and grabbed her dress from the floor, putting it on. Then she walked towards the door and peeked through the gap. Simon stood near the window with his back facing her, talking to someone on the phone. “I don’t care. Just do it.” Do what? What was he planning? Elena frowned, leaning closer to hear him better. “Call me only when you actually have something to tell. Don’t waste my time otherwise.” He ended the call and slid the phone in his pocket, turning around and stopping when he saw her standing by the door. Elen
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