Amanda's POVOn a real, sincere note, I think I deserved an award. Quinn and I, both. Because the act we were putting on was next level. It was a skill, if I do say so myself. I was still surprised at our level of patience because all we both wanted was to rip each other's heads off. And yet we were holding hands and clinging to each other lovingly, laughing and smiling although our eyes told a different story with the sharp glares that were being exchanged. Again, I reflected on how I just couldn't wait for this contract to be over and done with so I would be free of Quinn. He was such an asshole. Why did I ever believe for a second that I could be wrong about him? That was impossible. Even if he tried to keep it buried, his arrogant self would still find a way to emerge. As usual. I forced myself to take a deep breath and relax. All I had to do was keep up the pretense long enough, at least till Granny Maria and the vulture eyes of Mrs Rosalina were gone. I just knew she was looki
Quinn's POV"It's a pleasure to have you on board, Mr Thompson. You won't regret investing in Seraphim Holdings," I said with a smile as I reached forward to shake Marcus Thompson's hand. I was currently seated in his large office on the top floor of the branch of his company building in New York. After the last meeting we had, he had requested I bring the documents and contract to him personally for signing, so he could use the opportunities to discuss important things that we couldn't over the phone. I didn't have to think twice about it before accepting. The industry was already going wild with the news of Marcus Thompson's investment in Seraphim Holdings. For the life of me, I didn't know how the news got out so fast. But my competitions were currently looking up. From what I'd heard, Thompson Incorporations had received over a hundred applications for interview requests. This only made me grateful to have secured this deal. "Thank you again, Mr Thompson," I said, standing up t
Amanda's POVI was panicking. My entire body felt like ice as I paced around my room, my heart nearly bursting with worry for Quinn. Vanessa was still on the phone, trying to calm him down. "Are your sure?""Yes! I know his schedule because I work very closely with him. The meeting was scheduled for today, and from the calculations, it should have been over about ten minutes ago. Which means he is still in the area. What if he's hurt?!" I don't know why, but I felt like I was going to cry. The thought of Quinn being so close to danger was sickening. My heart was racing, I felt like I was going to throw up. Everything was happening so fast. "I need to call him, Vanessa. I'll call you back.""Okay, girl, just relax okay? He might be on his way home already.""Bye." I ended the call quickly and dialled Quinn's number. When the automated voice said it wasn't reachable, I almost swore out loud. I tried again, it was the same. "No, no, no, please pick up, Quinn."I dialled the number agai
Amanda's POVI was beginning to calm down now I was in Quinn's car. Now I was seeing him in person, seeing he was alive and well and safe. I was grateful, no doubt. Not only had my heart rate gone back to normal, I was now coming back to my senses, and that meant recalling just how panicked I had been when I saw the news. What the hell was that?I was feeling embarrassed now, especially now itthat Quinn had brought it up. The bastard was trying to gloat. Oh my goodness, what have I done? What the hell was that reaction? What was I thinking running off like that? Okay, there had to be some logical reason why I acted that way. I just had to stop judging myself first and think back to then. I remembered feeling chill when I remembered that Quinn was in that area. It was normal to feel concern for your…What was Quinn to me, even? We we only husband and wife on paper, and that's all. We weren't even friends. The only word I would personally use to describe my relationship with Quinn wa
Quinn's POV"It's a laundromat. What's odd about me being here?" I snapped at Logan. Seeing him today had definitely not been on my list. I didn't have the time for any drama he was going to come up with next. I had things to do, and this was not the time. I walked past him before he could respond, and headed down to my car. To my annoyance, he followed behind me. "Uncle, wait, there's something I need to talk to you about.""Not now," I responded coldly. "Don't you see I'm busy?""Yes, of course. But please, it's important. It'll only take a moment. Please." I turned back to face him, wondering what he was playing at.. I did not trust Logan one bit, I never have. And this whole saga with Amanda had done nothing but make it worse. I scanned with my eyes carefully, wondering what he was up to. I knew he had issues with me because I'd married Amanda, so why the hell was he suddenly pretending to be nice. I could see right through his bullshit act. Logan was plotting something. I was c
Quinn's POVIt was the morning of the wedding. Well, the small make-do ceremony we were having in place of the wedding. I got up early to prepare. I didn't have the time to do too much for a fake wedding, but I knew the pictures would be published in the media, so I made an effort. Soon, it was time for me to head downstairs. I took one last look at myself in the wedding, all dressed up to have a fake wedding with a woman I'd paid to pose as my wife for two years. I smirked at the thought of what would happen if Granny Maria found out about the truth. Well, no one would ever find out. I would make sure of that. All they would see was Amanda and I living happily. And then in two years time, we would get a divorce for reasons that we 'couldn't work out', and then it would all be over, and that would be the end of it. Sure, it might cause an uproar, but no one would link it back to our sudden marriage two years earlier. I stared myself in the mirror again, and I couldn't help but think
Amanda's POVMy mother was the last person I expected to see here. My chest felt so tight that it felt like I could not breathe. What was she doing here?I made no move to approach her, reminding myself of the things she had said to me the last time I saw her. I wanted to feel angry, but instead a wave of sadness washed over me. I turned to Vanessa questioningly, but she nodded encouragingly at me. "Please, you should both just talk. Please."With that, she shifted to the side to give us some space. My mother walked towards me until she was very close. Still I said nothing. What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? "Amanda dear," she called out to me. Now she was closer, I saw the tears that stood in her eyes. Without warning, a tear slid down my cheeks. "What do you want now, mom? Haven't you done enough? You sent me away, and now you're here? What did I do this time? Why can't you j–""I was wrong," she said. I paused, staring at her in surprise. "I was wrong," she
Amanda's POVThe evening air in the mansion was still and electric. It was unsettling, considering that only a few hours ago, I had stood at the altar, a blushing bride in an emerald green gown. Well, not exactly blushing. I hadn’t exactly had the heart of a starry-eyed bride who had just married the love of her life. No, I was married to Quinn McCullough. The arrogant and impossible Quinn. A man who made my blood boil with irritation... and… It didn’t matter what else was there. He was just arrogant and hard-headed.I twisted the ring on my finger, the cool metal a strange weight. It glittered in the dim lighting of the room, an undeniable symbol of what had just happened. This actually happened. I was married. Married. To Quinn. On contract.How had my life spiraled to this? This wasn’t how I had ever envisioned it. All the years growing up, dreaming about my wedding day, never had I pictured myself standing at the altar, plastering on a fake smile for the sake of appearances. Yet t
Quinn’s POV With everything already blown on our faces, I was left with one choice; going to see our biggest investors. She had sent her message. Currently she was in her private mansion and her secretary was leading me to her.The mansion was big, everything in the hallway was made white with fluorescent lights and chandeliers. She was our biggest investor for a reason.A double lidded door, white in colour stood at the end of the white fluorescent hall. Her secretary stepped aside and pushed the door open. As she ushered me in, she bowed and shut the door behind me.This was her office I supposed. Her back was to me as I stepped inside. She swirled on the chair———my mouth fell open at the woman….no, the lady on the chair. I struggled to blink, then looked around for the woman that had always appeared on screen. A woman in her late thirties or forties. But now as I stared at the woman, all I saw was a young lady, Quickly, I schooled my expressionWhy did she hide her identity behi
Amanda’s POV With cold feet and jelly legs, I walked to the room which seemed faster than it usually was. Sweat dribbled down the small of my back. Dread pooling in the deep of my stomach.I stood outside the large double lidded door, contemplating and hesitating opening the door. I imagined all their faces, red hot with anger. Especially Quinn.Slowly, with stiff fingers, I took the door knob and pulled it open with eyes shut.It was like stepping into a new world where you revealed everyone’s secret and they hated you. They were angry, not in a theoretical or any fancy way, they were red horn angry.I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me in that instant, but instead I clenched my fist and swallowed hard on my saliva.“Good morning, everyone.” I bowed and hurried over to a seat, avoiding everyone’s gaze. Seating down, I merely made myself comfortable, when Mrs. Rosaline started, making me jerk up back to stand. “What the hell did you do by sending a wrong file to our bigges
Quinn’s POV She probed his face, staring at the damage on his bruised lips, black eyes and many more I’d destroyed on his face. She cursed again, tutting at the wounds and cuts. He was barely holding up right, eyes swollen and black.“Who did this to my son?” She demanded more persistently this time. I watched her as her face grew pensive inspecting every new cut with a horror struck face.“Logan… Logan.” She held his chin, delicately not to cause any more pain, but the smallest touch made him wince. “Who did this to you, tell me, who did this?”Logan of course didn’t answer, but his eyes were trained on me. Mrs. Rosaline whipped around to hold my form in deliberate questioning. “Did…did you do this to my son?” It was a great fit that she tried to tamp down the rage boiling in her throat. Her eyes were sharp like a newly crafted dagger.She held Logan’s face to me, “did you do this to my son? Your brother?” I made no indication to answer, she left him and was stomping towards me, s
Quinn’s POV I knew Amanda wouldn’t like my answer, but I had to just do it. I didn’t love Miranda anymore but it would be cruel to know that she had a problem and I wouldn’t help her out. “You can stay,” I said to her. I couldn’t look at Amanda’s face as I said those words to her. She fixed me with a steely gaze.Guilt ate at me. After everything I’d put her through, the last thing I wanted was to make her angry or make her feel bad. Left for only me alone I’d go out of my way to make sure she saw and believed that I was sorry and in regrets.The look on her face confirmed my fear. She was dead mad. She didn’t like the decision, but there was nothing I could do. I just couldn’t Miranda away. Miranda smiled, “thank you, Quinn. This means a lot to me.” She said, If Amanda could, she’d shoot lasers at her using her eyes. She observed her lips in a paused and thin line, eyes trained on Miranda’s form.With the hassle from yesterday, I believed we’d already made the covers of every ne
Amanda’s POV I woke up with the afterthought of my actions lingering in my head like a bomb ticking, ready to go off. When I rolled on my back I was welcomed by an empty bed. Quinn was not in bed. I looked out through the curtains and saw that it was still very early, the sky still had the pink and blue stripes mottle of colours and the moon was still visible, faintly.Somehow I was happy I woke up with him out already, doing what? I wondered. But his absence would make it easier for me to put up my walls and confront him why he was such a jerk to me, even without confirming from me that I was an escort as the idiot said.But then thinking about how much of a jerk he was, my mind reared back to last night how he’d come to my room. My lips stretched into a smile and the tingles from his touch thrummed in my skin like it just happened and then there was a fluttery feeling in the pit of my stomach.I stifled a scream and planted my face back into the pillow. My cheeks warmed up, sprea
Quinn’s POV “What?”Those words were like a bucket of ice emptied on me. She didn’t say anything after that, just stared at me with a sultry gaze.I was dumbfounded and starstruck. What could I possibly say at that moment? I just turned around and walked out with knees about to buckle. Everything was too much, the information was a lot to take in. It was as if I’d run a marathon on a completely different track.So many things scared me as her words replayed in my head. If I was her first that meant I’d been an asshole for nothing. More so I’d treated her so wrongly and jumped to conclusions. I had also been a coward, I never addressed her directly about it, just acting like a maniac with no reason.I hadn’t even confirmed what she said and I was already cringing and feeling all shitty. So many things were wrong with how I reacted, first and foremost I’d been a total jackass, even though it ended up being true, I never should have treated her that way, called her names, it was all i
Amanda’s POV As Candace threw a tantrum, I fumed silently. That bastard! After everything I said to him he had the nerve not to go ahead with his wedding?What the fuck was wrong with him? He set the date for the wedding, all through the engagement party and till this day he didn’t think that he was not ready, up until the wedding day with a guest and a pregnant bride.What sort of humiliation was this? I darted my eyes to Candace who was throwing a tantrum, believing that I was behind this. That it was my fault. I couldn’t even blame her, I’d react the same if I was her.Her face was tear stained and people were beginning to come for the wedding and now the groom was having a mental breakdown that he couldn’t go ahead for the wedding. If this didn’t make the news, I wonder what would. Granny Mariah would be so pissed after all she put into the engagement party and wedding. Especially when she specifically told us to not make the news. I guess we would be on the cover of every ma
Amanda’s POV Since I outrightly confessed my feelings to Quinn, I’d been avoiding him. Not because I confessed the way I felt about him, but because he’d had this dark, grim picture of me in his head.Now as I thought back to it I could understand why he was mean, cold, cruel and rude to me all the time. And like the coward he was he couldn’t ask me. One would think he had more balls as he was cruel but it was so fucking balless.Putting Quinn and his thoughts behind me, I stood before the long length mirror in my closet and ran a hand down the red dress I had on.It was finally the day. Logan and Candace’s wedding. Thinking about it, I felt bad for her. I mean she was a bitch, but Logan wasn’t a man I’d wished on my worst enemy.Imagine getting married to a man like that.I grimaced and a shudder snaked down my spine in horror.Just when I was curling my hair my phone vibrated on the table next to my makeup tools. Flipping the phone over I saw Logan as the caller.I frowned, staring
Amanda’s POV “You have to confront that girl. Put her in her damn place.” Vanessa stated. Her brows were pinched together from anger. I couldn’t blame her though, Miranda was a two time bitch that pissed everyone off.Hearing about her alone made your stomach tighten in knots and made you want to punch a fist to a wall or better still her face.“What could I possibly say to make her own up to the fact that she actually caused me to trip and pour the drink on the lady?” I massaged my temples as I asked.The horror of that day returned to me and I inwardly cringed and recurled back. The abject stare that granny had fixed me with tasted like a bile in my throat. I hated to let people who looked up to me down. Granny was one of those people. “What more is there to say? You know and she knows that you know. Grab her like the bitch that she is and warn her never to try that rubbish again.” Vanessa’s voice was hard and so was her eyes. I believed if Miranda was present right before us she