Vivian’s POV“What does that even mean?!” I asked, angrier now.“What doesn’t it mean? Vivian?” Manny responded, equally upset, even though we were both equally trying to keep our voices down so that we would not wake dad up.“He does not want to see you, or speak to you! I wouldn’t even have let you in if he was awake!” Manny spewed.His words hit me like a punch in my guts, making me stagger backwards. So this was what life had become for me. My dad who accepted me when I returned after the divorce no longer accepted me.“This is not fair!” I said as hot, bitter tears began to fall from my eyes. “This is not fair at all.”It was as though my words aroused the anger that Manny had been trying so hard to keep at bay.“It is not fair? Vivian, do you have any idea the pain you have caused us?!” Manny bellowed. “First of all, you ran off with a man that none of us approved of!” Manny said.“I know that. I know that,” I was crying now, in deep regret.“That alone, caused dad to have his f
Vivian’s POV“Twenty thousand dollars?!” For a moment, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me, but from the look on Manny’s face, I knew he was not joking. Why would he? Who would joke about something as important as this?Manny took a seat, dejected. He looked like he was dressed for work, but I couldn’t ask him.“Dad’s medical bills certainly shouldn’t have cost that much,” I said with certainty. Not like I had any valid proof, but I just couldn’t believe it at all. “You weren’t here, Vivian, so you have no idea what it was like,” Manny said.There was still the underlying tone of anger and resentment which I just recently figured out, and it really broke my heart. Well, I guess everyone in my family now officially hates me.“I know that, but…” I tried to talk, but Manny interrupted me.“What about that Jane girl?” Manny asked out of the blue. I blinked several times, because for a moment, I could not understand Manny’s question, and he noticed my confusion.“The girl you m
Georgia’s POVIn private now, Georgia held her hand to her chest and released the breath that she had been holding.“That was freaking close!” Georgia said in shock.While she sat there and watched the banter among Syrus, Nancy and Bonnie, Georgia had been praying that Bonnie wouldn’t be pressured into telling the truth, thereby mentioning her name.She was really smart enough to have told Bonnie to wire it over to her, because she knew without a doubt that Syrus definitely tried to trace that money. “I have to think of something,” Georgia said to herself in thought.She received the mail of her officially approved contract with the TV show, which meant that the money would soon be paid to get. It also meant that she would soon begin her tour. All things seemed to be working well for Georgia. Now, her only problem was Bonnie. Georgia had a deep feeling that if Syrus applied just the right pressure, she would slip. She knew Bonnie and the soil she was made from. Bonnie was too soft at
Georgia’s POVGeorgia stayed hidden in that spot and watched everything play out. She had planned everything with Adrian, but she needed to be sure that nothing was going to go wrong. Georgia watched Bonnie give Adrian a side look, and she raised her nose up.“All of you from wealthy homes are always looking down on people at first look,” Georgia said to herself in disdain.She was familiar with that kind of look all too well, because when she was trying to make her way to the top, she faced a lot of criticism from wealthy and influential people. Georgia also knew that if she wasn’t where she was now, Bonnie would not give her a first look at all.“Well, all that is about to change,” Georgia said as she paid attention to the pair. She arranged it in such a way that made her hear everything they were talking about.“I am waiting on someone, and you are in her seat,” Bonnie said in her rich, proud, and sophisticated voice that made Georgia want to drag off all the wealth and influence
Vivian’s POVI had been fuming with anger since I left my home. How could Manny suggest something as outrageous as that? Why would he even think that I would want to collect such a huge amount of money from Syrus.I got into the apartment and slammed the door angrily. I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen first to calm my thirst, but it did nothing to quell the anger deep inside of me. It was bad enough that they were already treating me as the black sheep of the family, and now, they want to guilt-trip me into this.I called Belinda on the phone immediately. I knew she was at work and probably busy, but if I did not talk to anyone, I might explode, and Belinda was the only one I could talk to. Belinda picked at the first ring, making me super relieved.“Girl, you do realize that I am at work, right?” Belinda said in her light nature, as always. “Do you want me to order that breakfast now?” She asked.“I am sorry, Bel, but I just needed to talk to someone,” I said, and now that
Vivian’s POV“Mrs. Nancy Vale,” I said breathlessly.I wasn’t particularly expecting anyone, but definitely not Syrus’s uptight, sophisticated, condescending and downright blunt mother. Without even asking if she was welcome in or acknowledging that at least I said her name in exchange for a polite greeting, she shoved me off the door and sashayed into the apartment, her exotic and expensive cologne lingering in the air.I stood by the door, frozen in shock, and maybe a little bit of fright. Since I divorced Syrus and moved out of their house, I completely stopped thinking about her and her cruelty and hostility towards me, until now, everything just came rushing back, especially the first day I met her.“Where are you taking me today, Syrus?” I had asked, giggling happily as I rode with Syrus in his brand new car.He had insisted that he wanted to see me, so as usual, I went out of the house with the constant lie that I had something to do at Belinda’s house.“Do you want to guess?”
Vivian’s POVI froze at the sound of her cold and harsh words to me. It was the first time I was hearing her voice, and those were the words that came out of her mouth.I opened my eyes in the apartment now and turned around to face my reality. “How did you find this place?” I asked her as I turned and saw her looking around the apartment.“Why can’t you leave my family alone?” Nancy turned to me and asked, her eyes as cold as ice.“I have divorced Syrus,” I reminded Nancy, refusing to feel intimidated by her presence and words.When I was still married to Syrus, I tolerated every trash they threw at me, because I desperately wanted to make things work. I desperately wanted to be accepting and feel the sense of belonging, because I had neglected my family, and I had never lived without the presence, love, and joy of being around a family. But now that we were divorced, I realized that I did not need to accommodate any of her hostility. In fact, I realized that right after the divorce
Syrus’s POV“Yes, please have all of those delivered to the address I attached to the purchases,” Syrus said over the phone. He had just ordered a few things for Vivian; some of the things that would make her comfortable for now, and this time around, he was paying with his personal funds. He did not want to have to deal with anyone policing him about his finances, especially his mother.Syrus was still troubled about the huge sum of money Bonnie moved from the family account. This was the first time that she was doing something like that, and he was even more surprised that his mother took her side, or was she in on it too? He never got to know.“What in the heavens did she use that money for?” Syrus asked himself, greatly troubled. “What could she have needed it for?” He pondered.He was beginning to develop a mild headache as a result of trying to understand why she would do something like that, because Bonnie was well catered for. In fact, she had everything she needed, and all t
Georgia’s POVThe shock on everyone’s faces gave Georgia more joy than she ever anticipated.“What…what are you talking about?” Syrus stuttered, utterly stunned.All Syrus’s pomposity and pride deflated, and it was evident in his voice. Georgia absolutely liked that, because it also gave her the chance to walk through all of them into the living room. While they looked at her in shock, she glanced around the living room. Georgia could not deny that it was cozy and luxurious.“So this is the place Syrus got for Vivian,” Georgia said to herself spitefully. Hatred, anger, and bitterness towards Vivian bubbled to the surface, and Georgia had to force herself not to scream. Every time she tried to make Vivian pay, things ended up being in her favor. Syrus had not spent a dime on Georgia ever since she met him; well, aside the first time when they had that wild and abrupt affair, and she only money she got from Syrus was giving her money when he wanted to leave the hotel, which Georgia had
Syrus’s POVSyrus and Davis arrived at the apartment he rented for her. The apartment was not just empty, but it was locked, so Syrus and Davis had to stand outside, which Syrus felt extremely embarrassed as he kept muttering under his breath. Davis kept checking his wristwatch and stomping his foot, waiting impatiently.“Did you call her to ensure that she was home?” Davis asked Syrus, trying not to sound as impatient as he was actually feeling.Syrus threw Davis a warning look. “I am just asking, Mr. Vale, because I do have a court case in less than two hours that I actually need to prepare for,” Davis said.He knew that he was standing on thin ice with Syrus, and his best job was actually on the line, so he needed to act accordingly, but at the same time, he had a very important court case to attend to. When he had taken the contract to Syrus, he had expected that Syrus would just collect the contract, take it to Vivian, have her sign it and bring it back to him, but instead, Syr
Vivian’s POVI continued to ponder about where I had seen his face, because there was no doubt that I knew him. More so, I realized that he also knew me, because while he spoke before disappearing, he gave me a cold look. When he spoke, his eyes were on me, and there was a silent message I think he passed across, but I did not quite catch before he was gone. “Where do I know him from?” I pondered deep inside, knowing that I had seen his face, at least twice or three times before, but the memory was just a bit foggy.“Are you ready to go?” Manny’s voice cut through my reverie.I jumped a little and turned towards him. He had already put Ted in the front seat, and they were ready to leave. I didn’t even know that Manny and Ted had gotten into the car; after the man talked and left, I just got lost in thought.“Yes, yes, I am,” I said.Then I opened the back door and slipped into the car as Manny drove out of the premises. I expected that now that Ted was back and alive, the air would
Vivian’s POVManny and I turned abruptly, scared and agitated. For a moment, I thought we were being ambushed, The rustling stopped, and everywhere was still and quiet again.“What the heck was that?” I asked Manny, panting rapidly as though I had run a marathon, and so was Manny.It dawned on me that Manny wasn’t as strong and brave as he had always shown himself to be, and it made me recall that just before we left the house, Manny had been insistent on me not coming. Well, he might not feel that way, but I am very grateful that I stubbornly came with him, because the fact that we were going through this together just made it a little less scarier, otherwise, maybe I would have passed out or peed in my pants.“How would I know? Weren’t we both standing here?” Manny asked harshly.I understood that he was tense and agitated, so I decided to not let the tone of his voice get to me.Then we both fell into silence, our eyes darting about, and seeking, looking, searching. The clock was
Vivian’s POV“I don’t think you should come along,” Manny told me as he got dressed to go to the location the man on the phone had texted to him.We had had to wait for about an hour or two to receive the text, and we were both scared to our bones. There were thoughts running through our minds that we couldn’t exactly voice out. They might have already killed Ted, because since they took Ted, Manny attested that they hadn’t been able to speak with him, and now, they were waiting blindly for a location. The thought that Ted might already be dead shook me to my very core, and just like Manny, I shivered visibly. There was no need for either of us to pretend about how we felt. Anyway, when the text finally came, Manny immediately took dad back to his bedroom and laid him to sleep, so that he would not have to worry about anything. Somehow, Manny and I had been able to keep details of what was going on away from dad, as we both stayed at the dining table the entire time while he rested i
Georgia’s POVGeorgia spent a couple of seconds trying to calm Bonnie down. As she held Bonnie together, she could feel the young girl literally shaking with fright. “Let me see what he has been sending to you,” Georgia said as she untangled herself from Bonnie.Georgia went through Bonnie’s phone and appeared shocked, as though she wasn’t the one who sent the pictures and threat messages attached with the pictures.“Oh my goodness! Bonnie, how on earth did he get your cell number?” Georgia asked, pretending to be utterly stunned.Bonnie sniffed, trying to comport herself. “He asked me for my contact…actually, I willingly gave him mine…I can’t exactly remember if he was him who asked first or if it was me who just gave me…everything about that moment is blurry to me right now,” Bonnie said hysterically.She was beginning to sound like someone who was having a mental breakdown, but whatever the case may be, it was certainly playing in Georgia’s favor. Not only had she been able to sto
Georgia’s POV“Take me to the most expensive hotels in the city,” Georgia instructed her driver when her plane landed at the airport. She had just touched down from her tours, and Georgia could hardly believe that anyone could have that much fun.“So this is what those big stars enjoy, and more?” Georgia thought to herself.Well, shame on her mother for ever thinking that she, Georgia, would be as poor and rickety, or as a failure as she was. Georgia could not wait to see her mother so that she could gloat to her face. This was just the beginning of her career, and she would get to the top.“And no one would ever be able to stop me,” Georgia vowed to herself.She would crush anyone that ever got into my way to getting what she wanted, regardless of who they were. One of the reasons Georgia had to even get back was to put Belinda in place. It was she who enlisted Brenda in the first place to try to sabotage her. “Anyway, by the time I am done with both of them, they would know never
Vivian’s POV“Are you going to let me in now?” I asked Manny, and without wasting any more time, Manny stepped aside, and I entered the living room.“What is she doing here?” Dad’s weak, but angry voice stopped me right on my tracks.His sight made my heart break.The last time I was here, I only watched him sleeping, but now that he was seated in the living room, he looked more frail than I even thought, and it broke my heart to realize that it was because of me that he was in this situation. It was because of me everything changed completely in my family.“I am here to correct the mistakes I made, Dad,” said.He could barely look at me, and Manny went over to him and gave him some water. I wanted desperately to also go over to him and hold his hand, but I knew that that was the last thing he would want. “Where is Ted?” Dad asked after managing to suck in a few sips of water.His voice still sounded croaky and cracked, and it was obvious that he was in severe pains, but aside from
Vivian’s POVAfter Syrus sent the money to me, every other thing he said that made me feel entrapped just disappeared. Without wasting time, I got dressed and proceeded to go over to the house.Manny opened the door, his expression hard and firm.“Are you going to let me in?” I asked Marcus, looking at him.This exact moment reminded me of years ago, about the first time that I had sneaked out of home on a weekend trip out of town with Syrus. Also Belinda hadn’t supported it; she never did when it came to Syrus, but as sworn best friends for life, she grudgingly accepted to cover for me. I had the most blissful time, but when I returned to Belinda’s house first to gather my things, she had a look of dread on her face.“What is it, Bel?” I had asked Belinda, my heart beating, because I knew that that expression meant that something had gone wrong.“Your family knows that you weren’t here the entire weekend,” Belinda broke the news to me sadly.The first instinct that came to me was the