I’m dead tired. I want to throw my body on the bed and sleep for ten hours or more. It’s three in the morning and I can barely keep my eyes open. I can’t wait till I get home and take off my clothes. I just want to cuddle with my pillows.
“You don’t look tired at all,” Nathan teases me and I let out a small laugh.
“I don’t know how you manage to stay awake and full of energy after gatherings like this,” I tell him, turning my body a little to look at him.
“I’m used to it,” he shrugs. “You never told me before that you worked for Elijah Kalligan before,” he tells me.
“It never came up,” I say. “He taught me a lot, but I knew that if I really wanted to make my own money fast to start my company, I had to knock on the freelancing door,” I continue.
“You’re getting ten million dollars when all of this is over, don’t you think you should take a rest?” Nathan suggests. Henry suggested the same thing too, but I can’t do that. I know that resting for
On a scale from one to ten, how much do you hate Julian? Published on January 4th, 2022
I hold her protectively in my arms even after she stops talking. Externally, I’m calm, but internally, I’m raging with fire. How did he dare to hurt her like that? How did he manage to hurt a beautiful person like her? If he wasn’t happy with her, he could have easily broken up with her, but he chose to torture her. That sick bastard! The way she literally threw herself in my arms when I offered says a lot about how hurt she is. She looks vulnerable in my arms and I feel special for how she is allowing me to see this side of her. That means she trusts me and I value this trust more than she can imagine. “Len,” I say and she hums, looking up at me. I love looking at her eyes. They’re a piece of art I have never seen before. So unique and mesmerizing. “When you took me to my room when I was drunk after our fight, was I mean to you in any way?” Upon remembering that night, fear throttled me. I didn’t want to be another addition to her trauma. She doesn’t deserve that. I
I'm good at go-karting, but Nathan let me win. He insisted that I was not easy to beat and I won by my efforts, yet I know that he was lying. Nathan is a good driver and from what I saw on the track, he went easy on me, too easy that it was very obvious. He didn't know this, but while we were on the track racing one another, I purposely left some spaces in order for him to pass me, yet he didn't. He chose to stay behind. Although Nathan was trying to be nice and cute, I felt like winning in that way wasn't fair and the competitive side of me decided to demand another match. He won. After we were done with go-karting, we had lunch; we stuffed our tummies with junk food until we couldn’t breathe. Deciding to enjoy our day to the max, we decided to go play air hockey and in that game, I managed to beat his ass. His ego prevented him from admitting that I won on my own and he said that he let me win, because he felt sorry for beating me at go-karting; we both know
“Sir, I can assure you our system is impeccable. There’s no need to run that security check,” the IT department manager, Mr. Caldwell, tries to convince Nathan. “But if this is your wish, I’d be happy to assist your wife.” I hate how he keeps referring to me as ‘wife’. I have a name. I have my own identity. “You can call me Linnea or Mrs. Rodriguez, Mr. Caldwell,” I correct him, offering a very tight smile. I don’t want to lash at the old man. “Apologies.” He presses his lips together. “You’re so young to run a security test over such a big enterprise, Mrs. Rodriguez. I can’t wait until you impress me.” He is politely undermining me. “You can ask Nathan for my resume. I’m sure it will impress you,” I confidently say, walking towards one of the devices to start my work. Today is a challenge. Mr. Caldwell wants to prove to Nathan that their system cannot be breached, but his defensiveness is what I’m not fond of. If he’s that confident about his job, he shouldn
Nathan has been weird since the business dinner we had yesterday. I don't understand what's wrong with him. I'm quite flustered and I'm not sure if I should press more and see what he has to say or give him more time. He called me a while ago telling me he's going to be late. I didn't ask where he was going, but he told me. He's going out with Asher. After having dinner, I start working on a new project, but Nathan is consuming my thoughts and I can't kick him out of my head. I pick my phone and ponder if I should call him or not. Sighing heavily, I let go of my phone and force myself to focus on what I'm working on. Why does my love life have to be so complicated like that? Why do I have to fall for someone I'm not destined to have? I get up from my place after a while to make myself some coffee and just when I reach the kitchen, Nathan wakes in. The way he looks reminds me of the night we fought. I don’t want to fight with him. “Hey,” I say with a s
“How do I look?” I ask Nathan as I twirl around, showing him my outfit. I opt for black jeans and a peach coloured sweater along with camel boots. “Gorgeous.” He pecks my lips and I beam. It's noon and we are expecting our families at any given moment. We haven't told them yet that we are dating, but they're going to catch on with the way we're acting. Nathan doesn't miss a chance in which he can kiss me or call me a sweet nickname. “You look handsome too,” I tell him. I told Thalia a couple of days ago that we started dating and until now my ears hurt from the amount of squealing I received from her. She was so excited and told me that she expected that. She went on three dates with Asher and from the way she speaks about him, she seems like she really likes him. I'm happy for her because Asher is a great guy. Now I'm wondering when he's planning on asking her to be his girlfriend. Thalia isn't patient at all and she's probably waiting for him to ask her to
“Why are you so determined to work with him?” I exhale, running my hand through my hair. “I don’t know what’s new! We had this conversation before, Nathan. You're the one who's acting like we haven't discussed this before,” she exclaims. “Yeah, but that was before we started having an actual relationship. Everything is different now, Len,” I point out. “Our relationship won’t be an excuse to make me cancel projects you’re not comfortable about!” she folds her arms over her chest. “You don’t get to decide for me.” “I’m not trying to control you, Linnea, but I really don’t like the guy,” I try to get her to understand. “Shane is extremely professional with me,” she defends him, making my blood boil. She thinks I’m trying to have the upper hand in our relationship, but it’s not like that. I know Shane Pierce better than she does. He’s an asshole and more manipulative than anybody can imagine. “I’m trying to protect you here, Linnea!” I sn
“Are you sure?” I ask Thalia, trying to get my heartbeats to slow. Terror takes control over my body and I fist my hand to prevent it from shaking. “We were together a while ago. We were around the area of the explosion because she had a job at Bert Enterprise and according to the news, this building has been terribly affected. It is half damaged and I'm not sure if she's there or not. I have been trying to call her, but she’s not picking up.” She is hysterical over the phone. “I'll look for her. I’ll tell you once I find her. Bye, Thalia.” Quickly, I hang up and call Henry to inform him. Delivering such news to him isn’t the best thing in the world, but I’m going to need his help. Hospitals are going to be hectic now and I won’t be able to find her on my own. We decide not to tell their parents anything. There's no need to make them worry when there's still a slight chance that she may not be there. I rush out of my office and run to my car. I drive s
I'm holding the mortality list in my hands and I'm petrified of looking at it. What if her name is there? If her name is here— God forbid— I’m never going to recover. Our last conversation could never be a fight! I shake my head and do my best to bring myself to read it. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I reach for it. “Did you find her?” I ask Asher once I pick up. “Yes, she's here. She's injured, but nothing too serious. She’s a bit dizzy and she passed out a while ago, but I saw her and I talked to the doctor who treated her!” he tells me and I immediately sigh in relief. “What's wrong with her?” I ask as I hand the receptionist the list back. “She's alive. I found her, thank you,” I say, rushing out of the hospital. “Mild concussion, bruises, a gash on her head, and a fractured wrist,” he fills me in. She's alright. Nothing that bad. I quickly get in my car and call Henry, telling him that Asher has found her. I can't believe that
We are actually married, yet we’ve taken this whole repeating-our-wedding thing incredibly seriously. Nathan wasn’t joking when he said he wanted to give me the wedding of my dreams. I thought he would oppose the theme I have always wanted, but surprisingly, he liked it. A winter-themed wedding. When I talked to the wedding planner about everything I had in mind, she showed me amazing pictures that I fell in love with. I loved how Nathan didn’t throw everything on me. He was there every step of the way. He was there while choosing the decorations, during the cake-tasting, and choosing the venue. He tried to be there when I was shopping for the dress, but as I said, we took everything seriously. If he saw the dress before the wedding, it would be bad luck. I think we both have had our fair share of bad luck and I wasn’t going to risk anything. Luckily, Henry and Zoey had their wedding three months before our wedding anniversary, so we managed to have o
“Babe, there’s something I want to talk to you about.” I look up from the book I’m reading and meet Nathan’s eyes. The surgery was ten days ago and it was a success. None of us is facing any problems. Well, medical problems, because I’m dealing with another problem called Nathan. He has been so protective. He doesn’t let me do anything and even when he’s at work, Malory stays with me and she’s just as bad as her son. He has alarms for all the medicines I need to take and he even monitors what I eat. But I can’t be mad at him for taking care of me because if I were in his shoes, I would be just as bad as him. “what is it?” I wonder. He’s sitting in front of me on the couch. “Madelyn wants to meet you.” I frown. I don’t know a Madelyn. “Your biological sister.” “Oh,” I mutter. “Why would she want to?” There’s nothing that connects us except for the woman who gave birth to me. I can’t even call her a mother. She’s a monster that I have zero compa
She’s going to be okay. I know she is. But that doesn’t prevent me from worrying about her. She is in surgery. She has just entered the operating room. The doctors told us that this may take up to eight hours. What would they do for eight hours? What am I supposed to do until she’s out of surgery? Wait? Pray? “You’re going to pass out if you stay like that,” Thalia says, handing me a cup of coffee. “I can’t just calm down. What if a complication took place and they couldn’t find a solution? Have you seen Grey’s Anatomy? Complications happen out of the blue! When you least expect it! A woman once died because of hiccups and another one died because the resident forgot to check her throat and there was soot in there!” I exclaim. “Can you guarantee that they won’t make mistakes?” “Wow… She made you addicted to the show and it ruined you,” Thalia comments, and I frown. Am I going out of my mind? “Linnea is going to be more than fine. She’s our fighter. She has be
I wasn’t the only one who was tested. Zoey, dad, Nathan, Thalia, Asher, and I all got tested, but I was the only one who turned out to be a match. “There are no dangers on her life, right? She’s going to walk out of this surgery in good health, isn’t she?” Nathan asks the doctor. “She’s not going to walk out of the surgery all fine. She will need time to recover, but her liver will grow back to its normal size in about a year. It will function normally though after two to four weeks,” the doctor explains everything to my worried husband. “I will be fine. Stop panicking.” I look up at him. “It won’t hurt to be more sure,” he mumbles. “I also have to let you know that there will be a scar that will fade by time, but it may leave a trace. You can always get it fixed through plastic surgery though,” the doctor says. “I don’t care about the scar. I just want Henry to be okay,” I say. “We will run some tests and if all is well, we wi
I have been too caught up with Nathan to ask about Henry. I feel like a horrible sister. But my world completely stopped the moment my eyes fell on my husband. I was petrified of losing him or having him terribly hurt, so when I saw him in front of me, I was finally able to breathe. Asher told me that my parents, Zoey and Malory were here. Are they with Henry now? I have millions of questions running through my head right now and I don’t know if I should dump them all on Nathan. “Baby, sit down,” he says, gently pulling me to sit beside him on the bed and I do. “Henry and I were in the car. We were running some errands before coming to pick you up. Yes, I’m at fault, I was on the phone, but I swear I was still paying attention. The phone was even connected to the car. somebody was driving their truck quickly and they weren’t paying attention. They passed the red light and they crashed into us, sending our car flipping in the air.” A gasp escapes me as Nathan recounts
“What happened to them?” I gulp, wrapping my cardigan more around myself. I think my heart may stop at any given moment because of how fast it is beating. “There’s been an accident,” Thalia reluctantly says and my breath hitches in my throat. “We don’t know how they are. We found out first by total coincidence.” “When did it happen and how are they?” I feel sick and I want to cry. “I was on the phone with Nathan and one minute he was talking to me, telling me that he was on his way with Henry to pick you up, and next thing I heard Henry yelling and there was a loud crash. This all happened less than two hours ago. They have been admitted to the hospital and your parents are there and so are Malory and Zoey,” Asher answers all my questions. “Take me there, please. Now.” Tears are already brimming in the corner of my eyes. They have to be okay. I can’t afford to lose any of them. No, this can't be happening. Not after everything we have all been
“You seem happy,” my therapist smiles at me when I walk inside her office. “I am!” I grin, sitting down on the couch. I’m getting out tomorrow. I was supposed to be staying for a month, but I ended up staying for forty-five days based on my request. I was even more strict with myself regarding my use of my gadgets. I was allowed to freely use them after the first two weeks, but I decided to minimize my use for them as much as possible. I only used my phone when I wanted to make phone calls. “You know, I still can’t believe you chose to stay here for more than the period assigned for you,” she tells me and I shrug. “It was my choice to come here. I truly wanted to get better. If I had left after only one month just like how we originally planned, I would have been lying to myself.” “Your honest desire to get better really warms my heart,” she tells me. “So how are you feeling today?” “I feel fine. Really fine. It doesn’t hurt to breathe or to w
“Why did you leave?” I mumble, bringing myself before him. His handsome face is gloomy and his eyes aren't as bright as they usually are. “It's a familial moment, I thought I should give you some privacy,” he says, causing a crease to appear between my eyebrows. “You’re family, Nathan,” I say, wrapping my fingers around his arm. “You’re my family and I… I love you.” It’s been a while since I said those words. My words seem to be foreign to him as if he didn't believe I'd say these words again. “I love you as my husband. The man I married. The man I want to build a family with,” I add, feeling the need to be more specific because it seems like he’s in a state of disbelief. “Wait… so we’re not getting a divorce?” he says and I shake my head, smiling a little at him. “You’re not moving to the UK?” “It’s so cold for me. I prefer Miami,” I grin and he laughs, pulling me into his arms and twirling me around, causing me to squeal. “I love you, Linnea
“I know your gadgets are your life, but this is temporary. Just for the first week, yeah?” Nathan says and I just nod. I want to get better. I want to heal, so I will do anything to get better. “It's just for a month. I guess I will manage,” I say, taking a deep breath. The only thing that makes me feel at ease is that I can check myself out whenever I want. I also despise how I will get no visitors during my first week there. I packed many books with me to kill time. They say there will be many activities we can do there, but I still like to bring my own entertainment items. I came back five days ago. I talked to my mum once on the phone, assuring her that I was okay. Nathan has been keeping his eyes on me, making sure that I won't do anything stupid. Honestly, I haven't gotten the urge to act foolishly ever since I came back. “Your parents are here,” Nathan tells me when the doorbell rings. Anxiousness fills me upon hearing that. I'm supposed to be