Charlene Maximus POVI woke up without a sore throat and heavy head, and I wasn't as weak or tired. The migraine stopped, and everything was clear. But at that moment, I could only think about Maximus and all he had done. I didn't expect that he would care for me or even watch me now and then. He would even refill the water and check the air con. In just two days, I felt loved and cared for. Even if he did them behind my back, he still managed regardless. I could finally stand up, and my strength was to the brim. I had fully recovered. My feet didn't ache, nor did my knees. I could finally stretch without groaning. The thought that I didn't have to worry if I couldn't move didn't bother me anymore. I drank to the last drop, and I sat up. I gasped and sighed. The curtains were already opened, I checked the clock on the shelf beside me, and it was past five in the evening. I needed to get out of bed and walk. I felt my legs had forgotten how to walk. I scoffed, and I stood up, my face
The invitation is in Chapter 12.Dominic's point of viewWhen I arrived at my room, my wrath was still there, so I slammed the door shut. "Bullocks!" I said out loud, I don't know why I was upset, but Charlene was wrong for what she did. Why would she prepare food for me? There was nothing wrong with her cooking for me, but she should not have attempted it.I paced around my room, turning on the lights, with interest in my head. I yanked my tie off violently and tossed it on the bed. I had a long day at work and just wanted to enjoy my dinner without spoiling it. I rolled my eyes and palmed my face and removed my shirt, and walked to the restroom. I needed to take a break. Maybe a shower would help. There was simply no cause for me to be so upset with her. But I was. The supper was tasty and pleasant, and to be honest, I wished for more and to eat the rest of the meal, but I couldn't. I lost all hunger as soon as I heard her name. Even though I had only been caring for her for a fe
Charlene Maximus POV. It was a Saturday morning, and Dominic had already gotten out of bed. I groaned and turned around; we didn't dispute or remain silent the entire time. He shifted to his usual mood again, as if he was bipolar. I hoped that, at the very least, he'd be home and we could talk, but ever since I was sick, I hadn't seen my phone in a long time. "I should look for it today," I remarked quietly as I stood up and stretched. I sniffed and smelled myself, and my eyes widened when I realized I hadn't taken my bath yet. I went straight to the bathroom and took a bath. As the water cascaded down my body, I thought about my schedule for the rest of the day, and apart from the search for my phone, I had nothing planned for today except a short walk and a chat with Miss. Donna. I took a long shower, cleaned and washed every part of myself, and once I was done, I chose a yellow floral free gown that I would wear today; it was a wrap gown. It was my favorite, and because I'd
Dominic POV"I will be right back; I need to get something." I lied to my mother and Zenobia as I headed toward the side of the room where Charlene and Alexa had disappeared. When Alexa stood up to leave, I knew something was up, so I had to follow her. It was my opportunity to tell if the Alexa that Paul mentioned a few days back was the same as the one in my home. I stood up, and instead, I went to the bathroom; I needed to confirm if Alexa followed Charlene. I had watched her for a while now. I was suspicious, and I needed to be sure. I stood by the door and listened to both of them. I couldn't understand what they meant, but one thing was for sure they knew each other for sure. I heard all they said, the pain that Charlene had in her voice was heartbreaking.What did she mean by Charlene not ruining what she had built? I stood, and I listened some more. I was sure that something was up. Alexa watched Charlene as she cried and had her cornered in the wall. She was saying some
Charlene POV Monday morning. I wasn't as happy or bubbly as I usually would be. I had to escort Zenobia to her rehearsal practice with Alexa. I tried to look appropriate and approachable; I didn't want to embarrass myself or have Zenobia insult me over my appearance. The car trip was quiet; she had her head on her phone and texted. I tried to hold conversations with her to hide my nervousness, but I was ignored. I itched my palms and kept my smile up. I paid attention to Zenobia, but she caught me. "hey," I muttered. "Be a guardian, and don't do more than that; you better not ruin this. Dad might have made you believe you are my mother, but you aren't!" She said it out of anger and turned away. I blinked hard and faced the road. I knew that she was never going to accept me. Her hatred was unexplainable, and I couldn't figure out why, no matter how hard I tried. We arrived at the dance studio, and we stepped out of the car; Zenobia wore a huge smile, which reminded me of the earl
Zenobia’s POVI had never felt excited in my entire life like the way I felt when I asked Alexa, the most excellent ballet dancer that I know, to coach me, and she accepted. It made me feel relaxed and happy that I could be just like her. After signing up, I made sure that I paid attention in class and didn’t depend on the fact that I made it to the dance lesson because of my family’s influence.I wanted it to be all about me, so I arrived at the practice early. It's been a week already, and I've already learned a lot from Alexa. "You have a nice posture there. Just raise your legs a little higher, and you will be able to spin without stepping on your partner’s toes," she instructed; and I took her advice by leaning against the rail and raising my leg higher, then I spun around."Fabulous!" Alexa clapped her hands. "You are doing incredibly well, and I am proud of what you are doing," she told me. '' I smiled at her and turned back to face the mirror, and that was when I saw the finge
Dominic POV "That will be all, Teresa," I said to my assistant as I received the file from her hand. She nodded in response and turned to leave, but she stopped at the entrance and removed the strands of her blonde hair as she faced me.I raised my head from the file in my hand and gave her a questioning look. "Is there something that I should know?"Teresa nodded in response. "I received your call a few minutes ago when the meeting was about to start. It is from your daughter, who wants to speak to you, but since we were in a meeting, I told her to call back. ‘’At the mention of my daughter, I heaved a deep sigh. I wondered what her complaint was about this time. She often called me while I was working in the office; it was about Charlene and how she wanted her gone. "You may leave Teresa, and thank you for telling me," I told my assistant, and she slightly bowed before leaving my office. I picked up my phone from the table and scrolled through it. I wasn’t surprised that I had a
Zenobia POV I entered the dining hall, where her father was already seated. The aroma of fresh food wafted through the air and made my stomach rumble with hunger. I sat across from her father, then began eating, discussing various topics as they went.The first thing that I could think of as I sat at the table was Charlene. We left the hospital after hearing that she would be fine, but I wanted to ensure. "So, how is Charlene doing?" I asked, my fork twirling around a piece of pasta.My father sighed. "She's stable for now. The doctors say it's too early to tell if she'll recover fullyI nodded, her expression solemn. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean for this to happen," I apologized to him, dropping the fork in my hand. "I should have waited for her and....." "I know you didn't, honey," my father said, placing a finger of comfort on my shoulder. "it was an accident, and I believed that everything that happened was for a reason. " I took a deep breath and picked up my fork again. Wh
Charlene POV The Party, 08:30 pm I stepped out of the black limousine, Guards flanking me on both sides. I wore a red glittering dress that hugged my curves, and my hair was styled in loose waves that cascaded down my back. I looked around, scanning the area for any signs that the plan had begun. The night air was cool and crisp, and the sounds of the city echoed around me. I could hear the honking of car horns, the murmur of people's conversations, and the distant sound of music coming from a nearby nightclub. It was the perfect cover for what we were about to do. Tonight is the day we would attack and take back everything that was taken from us and then it will belong to us. There was no time to waste and so, I walked towards the entrance handing the invitation card that was given to me. It was the one Maria had given to me to use since I was going to perform as a ballet dancer. ‘Welcome,’’ The bouncer bowed his head as he collected the invitation card. I had come under the dis
Charlene POVI watched as Maria heaved a deep sigh when I stopped the car in front of the orphanage home. ‘’Are you sure that you don’t want her to know that you are alive?’’ I asked before we both stepped out of the car.Maria nodded in response. ‘’what use would it be if she learns that I am alive only to know that I will die again?’’ she asked me and place the clown Mask on her face. ‘’it’s been five years Charlene and now, she has you to rely on so I wouldn’t want to add to the problem so I have to let her go. ‘’I didn’t say anything else and gave out of the car holding a bag of goodies we had brought in for the children. ‘’Everything will be fine,’’ I assured as we headed into the building. When we got in, almost all of the children were seated in the hall while waiting for us.‘’Miss Charlene!’’ The miss who was in charge of the children greeted us as we stood in front of the children.‘’hello Miss Christina,’’ I bowed my head as I greeted her. ‘’it is so lovely to see you,’’ s
Charlene POV Two days left, I sat beside Dominic and across from Edward while Maria was seated opposite Dominic. I could feel the tension in the room as they both stared intently at each other. I cleared my throat to gain their attention as to the reason why we all had gathered there. ‘’Listen up,’’I mutt ered and nudged Dominic on the shoulder. Dominic faced me with a questioning look and heaved a deep sigh as he lowered his head. ‘’fine,’’ he muttered under his breath. I was glad that he acknowledged me and also that he got to accept my request. While I had tried to convince him for two days about What Maria had told me, he had ignored me for a few hours while refusing to let Maria join us but after calling Edward and Informing him, he was able to help out and with his help, I got to set an appointment and we all gathered at our home in Dominic’s office. ‘’Your sources are right about the party and I also love your plan,’’ Maria spoke up after Edward told her about their plan. ‘
Charlene POV I groaned and forced myself out of bed, feeling exhausted and nauseous. I stumbled into the bathroom, where I brushed my teeth and splashed cold water on my face. As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. I knew that today was going to be another tough day. I rinsed my mouth again for the umpteenth time that morning after throwing up. My baby wouldn’t let me rest and I wondered if he was reacting to the fact that I ate something bad or maybe because I was avoiding Dominic. According to what I heard from doctors, babies tend to understand how their mothers are feeling and they react due to what their mothers are facing. ‘’my baby,’’ I muttered as I rubbed my stomach. ‘’Can you understand the pain that I am going through at the moment?’’I asked my baby and even though I didn’t get a response, I knew that my baby understand how I felt. After I walked back into my room, I got a message from an unknown number. When I
Dominic POVI placed my hand on my table as I stared into Edwards's eyes. I had told him everything about Maria but he had not given any response to me yet. After informing him about Maria, I set up a meeting in my office to speak to him about what I thought about, and when she got there, we both sat down and stared at each other.‘’Are you going to keep staring at me?’’I asked him when it looked like he would not say anything. ‘’I heaved a deep sigh and rolled my eyes when he didn’t stop staring at me; instead, he was looking around. ‘’Edward!’’ I shouted his name. ‘’what Is happening?’’‘’why are we in your office instead of your home?’’ he asked and I wondered why he couldn’t see that I wanted alone with him.‘’Ever since Maria came to my house, Charlene had been avoiding me and she wouldn’t even talk to me. The only thing she ever said to me was that everything was fine but aside from that, she wouldn’t even say anything else.’’Edward tapped his hands on the table and heaved a de
Maria POV My heart was pounding as I stumbled backward, my hand flying up to my cheek where the man in the black mask had just slapped me. I heard a scream and realized it was my own. I looked up to see the man advancing on me."You bitch," he snarled, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me close. I could smell his foul breath, feel the roughness of his grip. ‘’you were given a job and that is getting rid of the pest around him but you failed.’’ Caroline stood up and walked towards me. She raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face. ‘’you were given a job to do but yet, you failed because you couldn’t deliver well!’’ she yelled at me and pushed me backward. "You attacked my son instead of going after Charlene," she hissed, her hand tightening into a fist. ‘’I saved your pathetic life years ago because I believed that you would be useful to me but it seemed that you are nothing but a piss of shit!’’ I tried to explain that I didn't mean to hurt him, but the words caught in
Dominic POVI never imagined that she would come to find me. After finding out that she was alive, I even hid it from Charlene because I didn’t want her to worry but Maria found her way into my home expecting that I would run into her arms. I dragged her out of the house when she was starting to get on my nerves by acting as if anyone wanted her back. I took her to Charlene’s studio and we both stand there staring at each other without talking for a few minutes.I folded my arms while waiting for her to say something, and explain her reasons for returning back but instead, she looked around the room chuckling as she pointed to the mirror and the couches that were in the room. ‘’I never thought that you would marry the woman that was responsible for my death,’’ she told me and scoffed. ‘’here you are acting as if everything is alright when I died and I lost my child Alexander.She was right about that because I never thought about him. I had believed that since Maria was alive, he woul
Charlene POVI burst into laughter as Dominic woke up and rubbed my stomach. ''hello baby!'' he said. It was morning and I didn’t get much sleep the previous night because Dominic and I had a round of sex that I couldn’t even count. It was an amazing night with him and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. ‘’Dominic!’’ I screamed out his name as he grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head then he kissed me on my lips.‘’I want to be with you today with no worries and I…..’’ he stopped suddenly when we heard a knock on the door. ‘’who is there!’’ he shouted at whosoever was at the door. My thoughts were that the person who was at the door would be none other than Miss Donna. She was the only one with us in the house.‘’Mr. Maximus, you have a visitor!’’ she announced.A visitor? I exchanged looks with Dominic because the last time that I checked, we were not expecting Edward until evening and Dominic was working from home so I couldn’t figure out who was at the door.‘’Do you know w
Charlene POVI wiped my lips clean as I threw up again. One of the reasons why I had walked out on Dominic and Edward was because I felt nauseous and also dizzy. I had been having been facing insomnia lately and could barely sleep but I couldn’t tell Dominic because we were all faced with a lot of problems I would have loved to tell him but at the same time, I hated the fact that he was trying to remove me from joining them.I washed my mouth and stared at myself in the mirror. My reflection was not what I expected from someone that had been finding it hard to sleep. I had expected that bags would be under my eyes but instead, my face was glowing. I placed my hand on my stomach and heaved a deep sigh. ‘’my baby,’’ I closed my eyes. ‘’I am going to protect you, Zenobia, and also Stella. The three of us are going to live forever until the end,’’ I chuckled as I whispered to my child even though I knew that he couldn’t hear what I had said. I was glad that I got to speak to my child.‘’c