There were too many cameras.The annual charity gala was a gathering place for celebrities, influencers, models, businessmen and women, politicians, philanthropists, artists, and others to flaunt their wealth and success. Every year, it was held in a luxurious mansion belonging to one of the organizers, who was always eager to show off their riches.This year, it was the turn of the famous Hollywood actress, Jasmine Milano, to host the gala. Jasmine was one of Elena’s idols, someone she had looked up to ever since she was a teenager. Aware of her obsession with the older actress, her father once launched a product in collaboration with Jasmine, and Elena was ecstatic when he invited her to the launch party. But she was sixteen at the time, too shy and awkward to talk to her idol, so she stayed hidden behind her mother and didn’t dare to approach Jasmine.However, now Elena had grown into a beautiful woman herself, and she wasn’t the same naive teenager anymore. She had moved past seek
Elena stormed back inside, her chest so tight she could almost not breathe.It was only when she reentered the room among the faces, which were nothing but a blur to her blindingly troubled mind, that she felt somewhat safe.She knew there were chances for Richard or any other member of the McDowells to show up at the Gala, but what she had not expected was to be dragged away by her ex-husband, as if she had no will of her own.The thought that he still had the audacity to treat her as if she were his to control made her angry. It made her want to push him away until he disappeared from her sight. It made her want to slap him so hard he would know better than to even think he had that kind of right over her.Because he didn’t.It took a cheating husband, a quick and greased divorce, and months of crying in her room at night for her to understand that she deserved so much more than a man as self-centred and as much of an asshole as him. That she deserved someone who did not make her fee
“I’m sorry,” Elena mumbled, not sure if the man even deserved her apology.What’s with the scowl and always looking at everyone with such disdain? Would it kill him to be nice? To talk like a human and not some angry bull who only knew how to shout?Derek narrowed his eyes, letting go of her waist, as if she disgusted him. Elena arched a brow, offended by the rude gesture. She wanted to snap at him, tell him to fuck off, but she held herself back, knowing that fighting with him would bring nothing but trouble.She cleared her throat, smoothing out her dress, and averted her gaze, intending to leave.She just wanted to leave and go home.However, before she could walk away, Derek grunted something under his brother, and she couldn’t help but raise a brow.“Excuse me?”“I said, you should be careful, Ms. Matthews,” he repeated, his tone clipped. “Accidents happen, and I don’t want you to fall flat on your ass and blame it on someone else.”Elena scoffed, glaring at him. “Accident happens
Elena could hardly think, hardly breathe, knowing what she was suddenly up against.After Simon dropped the bomb on her—that Derek Pestov was the man who visited Shelly—she stood by the side for a long time, not caring if she appeared like a creep. She just wanted to see Derek with her own eyes, trying to see the signs she missed, to understand the kind of guilt he carried with himself if it was the case.She stared at Derek for a long time, observing his every move. Every frown, every scowl, everything. He stood with his brother, Roman, the latter talking to a charming blonde woman standing next to the pair, while the former listened, all the while staring at the delicate glass in his hand. He seemed to be lost in his own world. That, or he simply didn’t care about anything happening around him.Elena sighed, forcing herself to avert her gaze, trying to understand if it were the right time for confrontation. Probably not. She should wait for the perfect timing; confronting him now in
Elena bit the inside of her cheek, trying not to snap at him and tell him how much she would rather die than spend any minute with him either. It wasn’t as if she wanted to do this. She just did not have any other choice. He seemed to be in the possession of something she wanted. The truth about the night of Josh and Shelly’s accident. And if he was under the impression that he could get away with being an asshole to her, he was sourly mistaken. She sighed. “I saw you at the Shelly’s grave—” “So? What of it?” Derek cut her off, thick brows pulled together. His voice sounded a tad more subdued now, but the tension around his shoulders remained the same. The good thing was he hadn’t denied anything, and that gave her some hope that he might just cooperate enough to give her something of use. “What were you doing?” “Visiting, obviously. What else do people do when they visit graves?” he sounded annoyed, but that was expected of him. She tried to ignore the itch of her own annoyance, h
Elena wasn’t sure what she was doing or where the hell she was going. Once she left the Gala and got into her car, they only managed to drive a few kilometres when Elena asked the driver to pull over to the side. Once the driver did as he was told, Elena threw the door open, gave the driver some money for the cab and then slid behind the steering wheel, wanting to drive the car herself. She needed to clear her head, needed to know that she was still in control, because God knew she was losing it. She was losing it fast. Elena didn’t know how long she had been driving, nor did she know where she was heading towards. She just drove and drove and drove, not knowing what else to do. Derek’s words continued to echo in her head, his hateful words that made no sense to her. Josh wasn’t like that, was he? He wasn’t a scum like Derek made him out to be. No, he wasn’t. Her brother was one of the good guys. Then why? Why was she so restless? So angry? So confused? Her grip around the steering
Elena stopped the car and got out of it. She took in a deep breath, welcoming the cold air that brushed against her skin. She closed her eyes for a second and ran her fingers through her hair, her eyes roaming around the place. It was dark and quiet. Elena could see nothing but the sky and the trees surrounding the place. She wasn’t sure why she was here or how she ended up in this part of the town, but she was glad she did. She walked along the gravely path that led towards the hill. She hadn’t been here for almost a decade, but she could still remember everything as if it was yesterday. She remembered walking the same path with her mother, holding her hand. She remembered Josh tugging at her arm and making her run with him, making her laugh and chase after him. She remembered her father telling her that he loved her and that she was the most precious thing in his life. Elena swallowed the lump that formed inside her throat, tears burning her eyes. She missed them. She missed them
“You’re still a terrible liar, Elena. Always have been.” Those words rang inside Elena’s ears, bringing back memories from ten years ago that she had tried so hard to forget. Her father was right. She was a terrible liar, always had been. She couldn’t lie to save her life. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, it was just that she sucked at it. And that was exactly the reason why she hated herself at this moment. Because she knew that he saw right through her. She knew that he knew that she was lying, that she wasn’t here because she wanted to see him. She was there because she needed someone to tell her that Josh was nothing like what Derek had painted him to be. She was there because she needed someone to tell her that her brother wasn’t some monster but a good man she grew up knowing him to be. And who could be better than the man who sat in front of her, the man who spent his whole life worshipping the path her brother had carved for himself? Who better than her father to tell h
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