Lauren's POV One moment, I was staring at my mother as she stood in front of me with her pale face and red-rimmed eyes, and I was hugging her and pulling her into my suite in the next. “How…how are you here? I just left the house, and you were still unconscious. Oh, my God. Do you need anything at all? Are you hungry?” I bombarded her with questions as I sat her down on the bed and wrapped a blanket around her. “Lauren,” she said, looking up at me with her eyes glossy from tears. “I can’t believe I still get to see you after everything. I don’t deserve any of this.” “You can’t say that. It’s not your fault. You deserve to be free and happy. You—” “You got married?” she asked me, taking her frail arm and using it to cup my cheek. “You have no idea how proud I am. I didn’t think I would get to see you again. I woke up and demanded to see you. The man claimed that he was your husband.” “It’s a bit complicated, but yes, I’m married.” I nodded in c
Lauren's POV “Mom!” I screamed, standing up and running after her as Damien overtook me and took his phone out to make a call to the front desk. “Don’t let her get out. Block all exits. If she makes an escape, every single staff in this hotel is fired,” he threatened over the phone. I could barely see where I was running to as tears blurred my vision. I had to slow down because of how heated and how fast my heart was beating in response to my actions, and I ended up falling to the floor and crying, aggressively wiping my tears. “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked a question meant for my mother that she couldn’t hear me ask just yet. “I just want you to be fine. Why do you have to do this to me? I know it’s not your fault, but…” By the time I managed to gather my strength and take the elevator to the first floor, Damien was shouting at his staff as they all stood in a straight row, looking down in shame. “How can you stand here and tell me
“Can it wait until tomorrow?” I asked Damien, rubbing my eyes and staring up at the ceiling. “You know it’s been a long day, and a long night especially.” “I understand how badly you need to rest, but I just wanted to talk to you about this before it turns into something less important. It’s about what you heard me and Darla talking about.” “You should know that I don’t want to talk about it right now. I told you to give me time to think about it,” I reminded him. “I know what you told me, Lauren. There are just a couple of things that I want you to know. I just want you to listen to me, please,” he pleaded. With a defeated sigh, and because I wasn’t sleepy in the first place, I sat up and gave him the go-ahead for what he wanted to tell me. “I was just nineteen when my father fully introduced me to this business. He had asked me to take a parcel to a group of men, and I did as he said because I didn’t know what was in the parcel. Even if I kn
Lauren's POV “I don’t understand.” I shook my head, getting out of bed and walking towards the balcony of my suite to get some air. “Conrad’s father has been in prison for years now?!” Not only was that the case, he was in prison for murder as well? The thought of that and the fact that Conrad knew but hid it from me the whole time sent a sick feeling into my stomach. “Yes, Lauren. I believe he will be getting released soon as well. I wanted you to know this because it would cause a misunderstanding if you had to find out any other way,” he explained. “Does Shirley know about this? I know we broke up and he lied to me when we were still together, but please tell me that Shirley knows the truth at least,” I pleaded. “I honestly don’t know about that, Lauren. I don’t keep track of what they decide to tell each other in their relationship,” he replied. “They’re planning to get married, Damien. If anything, she should know the truth about the pers
Lauren's POV The ache that shot through my head when I opened my eyes forced me to close them back to come back to my senses and figure out what was happening. I groaned, opening my eyes and finding myself in a white and sterile hospital room. “Are you okay? Do you need me to call the doctor or a nurse?” Damien asked me as soon as I made eye contact with him. He was sitting beside me and had one of my hands in his. “What happened to me?” I questioned, still looking around and wincing at the reminder of the pain in my head. “You passed out in the hotel. When I got the call, I knew I had to be here no matter what. I know you want your space, but your safety is also as important to me as that. If you want me to leave now that you’re awake, I will,” he assured. “My head hurts,” was the only thing I could mutter as he helped me sit up. “I’ll go get the doctor,” he announced, standing up and leaving the room. Suspecting that the light bo
Lauren's POV Since Damien had practically confessed that he was falling in love with me, I had not said a word. I went back to eating after a nervous chuckle, trying to forget his words even though they kept lingering in my head. “Are you settled in nicely?” he asked me as I sat in the passenger seat of his car after being discharged and he had offered to drive me back to the hotel. “I’m perfectly fine,” I assured him as he started the car and drove off. I didn’t know if the drive was equally as awkward for him as it was for me, but I was not looking to find out about it. I looked out of the window until he announced that we had arrived. “Are you sure that you’re going to be okay here, all by yourself?” he questioned, the worry obvious on his face and in his tone. “You don’t have to worry more now just because we’re aware that I’m pregnant. All the times that I had been staying here, I was pregnant as well,” I reminded him, and he nodded in un
Lauren's POV “Shirley,” I called her name in a warning tone, taking a deep breath and closing my eyes. “I don’t think you have thought this completely through. The last thing you want to do is make a mistake with this decision and only realize when it’s too late.” I may not have been the biggest advocate for Shirley and Conrad getting married, but her deciding to call off the wedding was not something I fully supported either. “How are you the one telling me this? You’re supposed to encourage me to leave him. He lied to you as well, and I know I never got the chance to tell you this before, but I’m really sorry for what happened. I wanted to tell you—” “Now is not the time, Shirley. You need to get to somewhere that we don’t have to worry about you being. Remember that you’re pregnant as well,” I told her. “I’m in a taxi, Lauren. I just want you to forgive me. I swear I didn’t start seeing him until he assured me that you two were broken up. He lied to
Lauren's POV I was stuck between being annoyed and being worried at Damien. I really hoped he was doing alright, but there was a voice in the back of my head that kept trying hard to convince me that he had chosen his line of work over me and the child. “This is fine,” I said to the driver who had been assigned to me at the hotel, preventing him from driving into the house. “You don’t have to wait for me,” I said as I got out of the car. “Damien might offer to drive me back if he’s in.” “Are you sure? I mean, what if he’s not in?” the driver asked, looking worried and turning from side to side to make sure the estate was clear. I hesitated for a moment because he could be right about it. Then, I sighed in defeat and nodded. “If I find him, I’ll make sure I tell you so that you can leave. I’ll be right back,” I assured, hurrying into the house and finding two guards standing in front of the door. “Is Damien in the house?” I asked them.
6 MONTHS LATER “What are you doing?” I laughed as Damien pulled me out of bed that evening and practically sat me down in front of the vanity to brush my hair and get me ready. “The dinner’s in one hour,” he reminded. “I don’t want to be late for this.” I frowned and turned around to face him, prompting him to stop brushing my hair. “So, you’re worried about family dinners all of a sudden? You know, the last time we had this, you seemed like you would have been better off dead than being there.” “People change.” He shrugged, a grin sitting on his face that made me realize that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I couldn’t drill him about it because I had a secret of mine. I took the brush from his hand and started to do it myself when he placed a kiss on my cheek. “I love you,” he said. I had gotten used to his random love confessions whenever he felt the need to say it. It had been six months since…well, everything. I moved back fr
“Lauren, are you okay?” Damien asked as he opened the door to the house where he was staying later that night. Instead of giving him an answer, I pushed myself into his arms and broke down in tears. That might, I cried all the tears that I had refused to cry the whole time. Every emotion that I had refused to let out and express, all of it was on the ground around. And Damien just let me. “You’re fine, you’re fine,” he told me in sweet whispers as he led me to the bedroom and set me down on the bed. He held me there for as long as he possibly could. “He was doing that to them for years. Shirley and I were friends—best friends—in high school, and I didn’t even notice. How could I not notice what she was going through at the time?” I asked when I had no more tears left. “What do you mean? What was she going through?” Damien asked, sounding confused as he stared at me and waited for me to recollect and gather myself. “Her father was taking advantage of
I had spent two more nights in the hotel biting my nails anxiously as I waited for any update from Jameson about Shirley’s father and if he had been caught. I spent those days wondering if he knew now that she was dead, and if he felt guilty about being a big factor in it. It was no surprise that I jumped and snatched my phone from the nightstand when his name flashed on my screen one evening while I was forcing myself to close my eyes and go to sleep. “Lauren, I need you to help me identify the bastard,” his voice boomed coolly into the phone when I picked it up. “I might be a bit sorry for him if he’s not the one and I got the wrong guy. I’ve taken matters into my hands right now.” “I’m coming. I’m coming right now. Send me the address,” I rambled. His words sent a new rush to me, the sleep that was eluding me long forgotten as I got up and dashed out of bed and started gettingready to leave. When Jameson hung up, a quick text from his numbe
I stared at the unopened email that had been scheduled to be sent to me by Shirley. Several questions whirled in my head as I sat on the edge of my bed, not sure what to do or even whether to do anything at all. Had she planned to send that, knowing what she would do to herself? Was she going to apologize in the email? Was I even ready to open it? “Oh, Shirley.” I shook my head with a defeated sigh. God knew I loved her with everything I had in me, but she went ahead to stab me in the back. And even at that, I still loved and cared about her. Was Katarina’s death really all that drove her to do what she did? The more questions I had, the clearer it became to me that the answers I needed, along with closure, were trapped in that email message that I had refused to open. Finally, I clicked on the bold letters that showed the subject of the email, and it came into full view, to the detriment of my heart. To: LAUREN. Subject: I’M SORRY… ‘By the tim
I didn’t know how long I stood there, watching Conrad choke on his tears above Shirley’s body. My heart broke for him, and I could feel Damien’s rigid body standing beside me. “Let’s go,” Conrad finally said as he got up and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe his tears. “We need to take her away and give her a funeral. She may have done horrible things, but she was not entirely a horrible person.” Conrad turned to me with a faint smile on his face. “Are you coming, too?” I froze as my mind whirled with thoughts upon thoughts. I hadn’t thought about the funeral, going to it. I didn’t even think that I would be leaving Beverly Hills that soon after just getting there. “I don’t think I should. I mean, I just moved here. Leaving would be difficult,” I said. “I’m not asking you to leave Beverly Hills permanently, Lauren,” he argued. “I just want you to attend the funeral and return. I know you don’t want to be there, especially after everything she did to you
I opened my eyes the next morning the most satisfied I had been in the past few days. There was a small smile on my face as I snuggled even deeper into Damien’s chest. It felt like leaving was something to not even be thought about. “Good morning,” he said, his voice startling me as he kissed me on the head. “Did you sleep good?” “I did,” I answered as I finally got the strength to sit up, getting a good view of him. Before I could say a word, there was a knock on my door. I got out of bed after a moment and opened the door to find Maria standing there with a Tupperware container in her hands and an apologetic smile on her face. “Can I come in?” She asked. At first, I considered shaking my head and telling her that it wasn’t the best time for her to come in, but I decided against it. I stepped aside for her to walk in, which she did. I took note of how she looked around in the living room as if trying to find something. “Why are you here this early, Maria?
My feet were glued to the ground, my mouth gaping open without much consciousness as I still tried to get more air in my lungs. I didn’t know whether it was Damien’s presence or the fact that I had finally stopped moving, but my lungs didn’t seem to be allowing much air. “I came as soon as I could,” he said, glancing at Melissa. “She didn’t want to let me in.” “Of course I didn’t let you in!” Melissa scoffed apologetically as she now helped me move forward. “You think I hand the keys to anyrandom man who walks in here and claims to know a tenant?” Without paying any more mind to her, Damien approached me and got me out of her arms. I had half a mind to collapse into his touch and break down, but I held myself upright as Melissa helped me open the door. “Are you going to be okay?” She asked me, still looking worried for me. “What even happened to you?” “Just a little run, I’m fine. As soon as I drink water, I’ll be fine. Thank you,” I said. She took
Damien hung up the phone without another word. I didn’t know what to do with that response or the lack of it. I fell into the couch and had to stop myself from crying. Had he finally gotten sick and tired of my constant back and forth with him? I didn’t even get the chance to tell him just how much I loved him. What was the point of doing it anyway? Nothing was going to get fixed that way. “Hey, are you okay?” Fred placed a gentle hand on my shoulder after a while of me sitting and staring at nothing. I jumped at the suddenness. “I said your food is ready. Let’s go.” We walked into the kitchen, where he had spread garlic bread and toast with sunny side up eggs. A pot of coffee was brewing on the counter as we both sat. Fred let me dig into the food, but I couldn’t shake off the effect that his long and hard stare had on me. “Is there something you want to talk about?” I engaged, letting him know I could tell that he was staring. “Oh, um.” He cleared
“Lauren?” I grunted, turning around and waking up as I heard my name. Fred shook me awake, and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was my phone in front of my face. “What is it?” I asked, sitting up on the couch where I had fallen asleep after arguing with Fred about where to sleep since he wanted me to take the bed for him to take the couch. “Your phone is ringing. I just walked by and saw it,” he said, handing me the phone. I rubbed my eyes, trying to focus on the screen of the phone and the caller ID when the phone stopped ringing. I looked up at Fred who has his arms crossed and was leaning against the door which led to the kitchen. “Aren’t you going to call who it is back? It could be an emergency, especially after what happened yesterday.” All of a sudden, I was reminded of the yesterday’s incident and what I had witnessed. A headache was brewing in my head now, and I grabbed the phone as tightly as I could. I wasn’t sure I was r