DELIA HERRERA POV "I have the video" Julie got out all of a sudden and I widened my eyes in shock as I let out a fake gasp. Was she finally threatening me to my face... Did the murderous look in my eyes scare her to the point that she was no longer going to hide her deceit? Julie was fun. "Oh my goodness" I slapped a hand to my mouth and leaned toward her. "You do? I am so scared right now. What the hell am I going to do? What if you release it to the press? I'll be ruined. I'll spend my life in prison. Please don't do it. Please don't..." I trailed off as she watched me.Her brows furrowed as she looked at me and I burst out laughing, the look of distraught on her face comical. "What are you..." She started to say and my hands crashed against her cheeks. Hard. Her head whipped to the side and I watched as she dazedly raised her hand to her cheek before she slowly turned her head in my direction."Wasn't the five billion enough, Julie? Are you so greedy that you are already trying
CELINE HERRERA POV "I know how to shoot," I told Belshar as we stood at the shooting course. "I also know how some defensive tactics" "Did Xavier teach you while you were with him?" he asked, genuinely curious and I nodded. "You were always the target. Xavier hated your gut" He chuckled. "He knows I am going to kill him. That's why""He's been watching me... Watching us. You saw the pictures. He also sent you that note. He wants you dead Belshar"Belshar aimed at the target. "I am going to gouge out his eyes for daring to look in your direction. For making you afraid" he vowed and pulled the trigger. I watched as the bullet hit the target square in the forehead.Forcing myself not to bask too much in his masculine aura, I turned to face the target in front of me. I held my gun steady, took a deep breath, aimed, and pulled the trigger. I hit the target in the chest. It was exactly where I'd been aiming for. Feeling proud of myself, I lowered my gun, a grin tugging on my lips. I co
KAIL NESSAR ABED "We are going to kill Belshar tonight," I told Séda as the last attendant stepped out of the room, leaving just the two of us. Séda admired herself in the mirror, then met my gaze. "We are going to kill Belshar tonight? What happened to the plan that we made before? What happened to prolonging Belshar's suffering for as long as possible by using his wife against him" she asked, her hand playing with the pearl necklace on her neck.I got up, walked to the mini bar, and poured myself a drink. "That was before. Now I want him dead tonight" I said, placed the glass to my lip, and swallowed the dry burning gin."And what about Delia? I thought she had to get what she wanted before we could kill Belshar. Do you no longer have a deal with her" "What is with the questions, Séda... do you suddenly have cold feet? Are you unable to kill your favorite son after all" I asked, walking toward her. Our eyes clashed in the mirror for a second. "Is that what this is about" Séda st
DELIA HERRERA POV "Did Enoch send the divorce papers yet?" Grandfather asked as I fixed his drink. I glanced up from what I was doing and gave him a small smile. "I already signed and sent them back to him. We are no longer together and good riddance to him. He has embarrassed our family enough. I told you he was a bad choice right from the start. You should have listened to me." Grandfather grunted. "But did he really beat you, Delia? You didn't lie to me about anything did you?" My hand froze for a second, and I glanced at him. "I would never lie to you, Grandfather. Enoch was not a nice man. I tried my hardest to love him, but there is only so much I can take. You saw the bruises, didn't you? Do you think I made them myself" He looked away from me. "Enoch's character just doesn't..." "Enoch's character. Are you kidding me? Do you think I made the bruises up" I got out and dropped the glass on the table in annoyance."Of course not. I just want to be sure that was what truly h
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED Séda looked worried even as she walked up onto the stage. The confident look that always gleamed in her eyes was gone and in place of them was a look of anxiety that didn't go unnoticed by me.Kail was nowhere to be found and I knew that it was killing her inside. Séda cleared her throat, our gaze clashing for a few seconds enough for me to give her a knowing smirk.I watched as she clenched her fist, her chin jerking up as she turned to face the crowd who had gone quiet and were eagerly waiting for what she had to say.I crossed my arms and watched her address everyone."Thank you all so much for showing up to this great gathering" Séda started, a fake smile plastered to her lips as her gaze moved over the eager-looking people. "Today we celebrate the return of my son's wife, Celine Belshar Nessar Abed after months of thinking she was dead" She raised her glass in Celine's direction, her smile widening. My gaze followed hers and I watched mesmerized as Celine re
DELIA HERRERA POV I drove away from my grandfather's mansion while listening to the news about Celine's homecoming party. Nearly all the channels were talking about it and it drove me fucking nuts.That party should have been mine. It was so unfair that I was not even given a chance to have Belshar see me in a new light.Yes, it was wrong of me to kill his wife. It was one of the reasons he could not stand the sight of me but the major reason he would never give me a chance was because of Celine. She came out of nowhere and managed to take everything I liked for herself. My whole life was ruined all because of her. I didn't even have a Grandfather anymore.She was the one who pushed me to commit all the bad things I've done so far. I had to take all the money out of the company to start over because my life as a Herrera was practically over. Enoch left me and the man I truly loved wanted nothing to do with me. If Grandfather had found out the extent of the damage I'd done, he would
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED The tension was thick in the air. Séda watched me, her eyes boring into mine. I could see the wheels turning in her mind. She couldn't quite decide if I was joking or serious. Her right eye twitched and she opened her mouth to speak. "Oh my goodness Celine" a voice exclaimed and both of our gaze jerked to see who it was that dared to interrupt. It was Julie Ping. Celine's friend. She rushed toward Celine and took her hand. "I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you all night, but I kept losing you in the crowd" Celine glanced down at their hand, her brows furrowing. "You have?" "Of course" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "I really need to talk to you about something. It's really important" she said, then let go of her hand. "I know things have been a bit crazy for you, we even planned to have dinner and all, but it didn't happen" Celine eyes widened a bit. "Oh, right. We planned to do that. Sorry, I totally forgot about that Julie..." She waved her words
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED POV "Enough" Séda shouted. Her eyes clenched shut for a second as if she couldn't believe what she was witnessing, then she took a deep breath and opened them. "How dare you do this, Belshar. We hosted a party to celebrate our family reunion and you want to ruin it by killing all these men and your own brother. Do you want people to take us as a joke""Wasn't that your plan for tonight though? Weren't you both going to kill me off and have Kail take over" I stated as I walked toward Kail, grabbed his hand where they were clenched on the armrest, straighted them out, and yanked the nail off his middle finger with the pliers in my hand.Kail's shout of pain was quiet and to keep from squealing like a bitch, he bit down hard on his lips. Séda's breath hitched and I could tell she was starting to feel the pain of the poison. Her gaze fastened on Kail's bleeding thumb, but I could tell she was totally unaffected by it. After all, it was her favorite method of punishme
BELSHAR NESSAR ABED POV "We need to join them at the table," Celine murmured against my chest, where she had her face pressed against."But I quite like it here. Just the two of us, dancing under the moonlight"Her arms wrapped around me. "Me too," she sighed, then glanced up at me.Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the iridescent glow of the moon. I wanted to get lost in them."It feels so good to get away from everything, doesn't it""Yeah," I nodded, then caressed her cheek. "How are you feeling. Has it been difficult with Sadie""Not too hard since you help out a lot... Antonia has also been a good help to her. Thank you for getting her. You were right, she's really good at her job"I grinned. "I am happy to hear that. If it gets too hard, tell me okay"She nodded. "I will"Celine gaze darted to the hall as the music coming from inside changed."Do you think they'll notice that we've been gone for a while?" she asked, meeting my gaze."Kail is keeping them busy with his MC skills. We
CELINE HERRERA POV Giving birth was a nightmare, but as I stared at my beautiful baby girl's face, I couldn't help my heart filling up with joy and love. I glanced up at Belshar who was grinning down at the baby in my hand."She's so tiny" he got out, his voice filled with awe. "I know, right? After all that food, I thought she'd be a lot bigger"His grin stretched, his eyes crinkling at the side. "She's perfect," he said, then looked up at me. "Just like her mother"Color filled my cheek and I leaned toward him. "And she's strong just like her father," I said and pressed a kiss to his lips.His eyes were moist with tears when I pulled back.My heart squeezed; the feeling of too much happiness in my chest suffocating. But I loved it. I loved everything I felt when I was with Belshar."You're going to be a great father Belshar"He took my hand. "I promise to always be there for you and our daughter. And our other kids that we are going to have very soon," he grinned."Hey, what's tha
KAIL NESSAR ABED POV "Oh," Karen gasped, then pulled away from the kiss.I stared at her, my heart pounding as I took in her flushed face and swollen lips."What's wrong?" I asked as I watched her try and catch her breath."Celine. Celine and Belshar are here. They were the ones who told me about where you were. I was scared to come alone, so they came with me"I shook my head as I sucked in a deep breath. "I know," I said, then turned, and pointed to where Celine's phone was peaking through the hallway by the side of the wall.The phone soon disappeared and I chuckled. She probably noticed me staring and pointing at it."You two can come out now! Your cover has already been blown" I yelled and waited.Celine was the first to come out. She smiled as she gave a small wave. "Oh my God, Kail, it's been how long since you vanished," she said, The guilty smile on her lips stretching the closer she got to Karen and I. Belshar followed behind and stopped by Celine's side when they reached u
KAIL NESSAR ABED POV "What the hell do you want?" I groaned as I stumbled out of bed, my feet studding against the bedframe and jarring me awake as pain shot up my body. "God damn it"I grumbled as I walked out of the room. It was probably room service. My head throbbed and I barely managed to avoid tripping on the bottles that littered all over the floor. Just how much did I drink last night?"I told you not to fucking bother—" The words died on my lips as I yanked the door open and came face to face with Karen.I stared at her, my heart stopping for a beat."Karen—" her name escaped my lips as my heart kicked up in my chest, and then I clenched my eyes shut. "God, I am going crazy," I groaned, then chuckled under my breath as I rubbed my hand over my face. "I must be drunk out of my fucking mind. How long am I going to keep seeing your face, Karen," I muttered to myself, then pulled my hand away.My brows furrowed as I stared at her. Why was she still standing there? On a normal da
CELINE HERRERA POV "Absolutely not," Belshar said, then faced Victoria, who quickly looked away and shrugged. "You cannot travel in that condition""Why not? I already gave Karen my word that I was going to be her wingwoman," I pouted, and he scoffed."You are not going to be traveling, Celine, and that's final. Call Karen and tell her that you won't be able to go with her." He said then paced for a bit before turning to face me. "Did you forget what you went through in the past months? The doctor said no stress"I crossed my arms, my brows furrowing hard as I frowned. "Travelling is hardly any stress and you owe me this much after everything that happened"Belshar let out a sigh of frustration and then glanced at Victoria again. "Are you not going to say anything. Tell her just how dangerous traveling is in her condition" he said and I looked at her, my eyes daring her to say anything that was not in my favor She sighed as she dropped the towels she was folding. "If it's just for a
CELINE HERRERA POV THREE MONTHS LATER "What's wrong. You've been spacing off for a while now" Karen turned to face me and then shook her head, her eyes squinted to avoid the glare of the sun."Nothing's wrong," she answered, and I gave her a look because even a blind mind could tell by her aura that things were not right."You know you can always talk to me right"She forced a smile. "I know that"I couldn't help becoming more concerned. "If you're still traumatized about the whole thing you went through, I can fix you an appointment with the therapist that helped me when I experienced something similar"She sighed and came to sit beside me. "No, you don't have to do that at all. I promise I'm really fine."I nodded even though I wasn't convinced. There has been something off with her ever since the rescue and her refusal to talk to me was starting to make me worry.I already felt bad that she got dragged into our family's mess and had to go through something so horrible, so why wa
KAIL NESSAR ABED POV I watched as they wheeled her away, my heart burning in my chest.Belshar walked toward me; his face was grim and emotionless. He stopped in front of me and my jaws clenched, the anger in my chest poisoning my blood."You sure took your time, Belshar"He scoffed, his gaze moving over me. "That's what you think but I didn't take a rest for the ten days you both were captured, kail. I did everything possible to make sure you didn't have to die In this dump""If it was Celine, you would have made sure you rescued her in time" I roared and grabbed his shirt. "Do you have any idea what Karen went through in there? She's probably going to be traumatized after this" I gritted and saw red when he smirked."What the hell is so funny" I gritted out, the urge to punch him in the face becoming impossible to resist."I didn't think I'd see the day you would be concerned for someone else. I thought you were angry for yourself, but it turns out it's for Karen. You're down that
KAREN POV I started to get up and stopped when he reached out, his gaze intent on mine."Don't" he started, then swallowed, his gaze darting away from mine. "You don't have to get up"My face flushed and the prickly feeling in my neck intensified despite the frigid air. "Don't you like me anymore?" I asked and he shook his head, even though the action caused him a bit of discomfort."I like you a lot, Karen. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to have you so close and not be able to do anything" he said, his gaze pinning mine. "From the moment I laid eyes on you at the cafe, you consumed my thoughts. I couldn't help but watch you... I must have scared you"I bit down on my lips. "You did scare me at the start but I knew you weren't going to hurt me"A flicker of a smile ghosted across his lips, then he became serious. "You told me at the cafe before all of this happened that you loved Enoch. I told you how I felt about you and that was your reply"I twiddled with my thumb,
KAREN POV "I used to really hate Belshar, you know," Kail got out as he turned on his side to face me."Why?" I asked, staring into his grey eyes. "Because father and mother used to pay more attention to him than me. It was almost as if I didn't exist back then. They always had their eyes on him, so I had to go the extra mile just to get them to notice me."He paused, and I watched as a wry smile played on his lips. He looked so sad, it hurt my heart."I started to bully him because of that. I took pleasure in causing him pain since he took all my joy away. Father and mother soon noticed, and instead of getting in trouble, they told me that they were proud of me. So the pattern formed. It was only when I hurt him that Mother smiled at me, so I did it more times than often. But that feeling of finally being noticed soon faded because it was still because of him. I hated him so much all I thought about was killing him""And Belshar never fought back," I asked. It was a bit surprising