Georgia’s POVBeing a rising star and taking lots of interviews did not prepare Georgia for the hurt that came with Syrus’s rejection.She swallowed hard and tried to catch her breath, and it was even a good thing to her that Syrus was not paying attention to her. She knew her pain was evident, but if Syrus really looked into her eyes, then he would know the extent to which he had hurt her.Georgia began to boil with anger and jealousy; anger at Syrus for not appreciating the fact that she was still with him after all this time, and jealousy at Vivian. The witch must have planned the pregnancy, Georgia was sure of it. She was an actress by extension, and she was familiar with a lot of tricks people engaged in just to get what they wanted. Vivian already realized that Syrus was never going to stay loyal and faithful to her the way she would have wanted him to, and so she had decided to trick him into a forced commitment.Georgia had been happy that she had successfully pushed Vivian in
Georgia’s POVGeorgia could not get over Nancy words. She had never thought of it like that. However Nancy’s words drew Georgia back to a painful past that she was trying so hard to get rid of. It had been the most traumatic experience of her life, one that she kept buried in her past forever, and if she had known that she would be in this position, she would have lived a better life.Years ago, when Georgia was living wild and being completely nonchalant and carefree about her life, she had gotten herself involved in something terribly bad that she could not admit it to anyone, except one person who unfortunately knew about it; her mother. After it had happened, Georgia had gone to the hospital for a proper check up in a hospital that she was sure no one she knew had ever frequented the hospital.“What is it?” Georgia had asked with apprehension as the doctor walked up to Georgia with the test result in his hand.“The result isn’t good, I’m afraid,” he had said with a forlorn expressi
Vivian’s POV“You are definitely wearing this dress,” Belinda said and tossed a red dress at me.I could not believe that she brought out that dress from my wardrobe. I took the dress and stared at it; it was a red dress with tiny hand straps low v-cut at the back, and a long slit.“How did this dress get here?” I asked Belinda.“Are you kidding?” Belinda asked as she stared at me like something was wrong with me. “Were you drunk when I picked this dress at the boutique the other day?” Belinda asked giggling.“You did?” I asked her. In truth, I had no idea that she had picked the dress, because the entire time, I was reminiscing on what had happened with Georgia and I just let Belinda do the shopping for me.“Gosh, you are a sorry case,” Belinda teased.“Belinda, we are having a co-parent meeting as arranged by the hospital, that’s all. It is not a date,” I tried to remind Belinda even though I already knew that it was a complete waste of time.“If they didn’t want it to be a date, wh
Vivian’s POVI sat in a cab and wondered if Syrus would fall for Belinda’s crazy idea. Left to me, I would have gone without making an effort, but then, again it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get Syrus jealous after treating me like I meant nothing at all to him.My phone rang and when I checked the caller ID; it was Syrus. I wondered why he was calling me. If it was to cancel, it would really break my heart after all the effort I put into getting dressed. I took out a tiny mirror from my purse and stared at my reflection again. I could not deny that Belinda did an outstanding job on my face, and involuntarily, my mind drifted towards Georgia, and I started to wonder if Syrus would still think Georgia was finer and hotter than I was.“No, Vivian, you shouldn’t be doing this,” I shook my head and said to myself. “You are beautiful and enough and Syrus was the wrong man for you, that was why he couldn’t value you,” I told myself.Then I focused more on the beauty that Belinda had made of my
Vivian’s POV“Why would you call me that?” I asked breathlessly. Hearing Syrus call me “Viv” just brought a whole lot of unpleasant memories. It made me recall all the times we were good together even though it was fleeting, and because I didn’t see it coming, my breath got stuck in my throat for a minute.Syrus cleared his throat as though he had made a mistake. “I shouldn’t have,” he said instead.I sighed and let it slide, reminding myself that this was not a romantic date no matter how stunning I looked, and I should not take anything of Syrus seriously. He had me once and he had lost me. According to Belinda, never give a man the chance to treat you badly twice.“It’s fine. Let us get to why we are here,” I told Syrus.Suddenly, the urge to get through with it and leave Syrus’s presence became overwhelming. We began to talk about what we wanted for our babies and the kind of parenting that would suit us both. Like we had been advised, we talked about things that would work for u
Vivian’s POVFor a moment, we both stood staring at each other. I could feel the hate from his stare, and it made me very uncomfortable. I knew that I had been told that he was coming back, but I hadn’t expected him to be back now, or worse, walk into the house and find him standing there.“What are you doing here?” He asked venomously.“Ted,” I said breathlessly.For years now I haven’t spoken to or called his name, and it sounded strange on my tongue. Ted winced at the sound of his name from me.“I asked you a question,” Ted said. The more he spoke, the angrier he sounded.Before I stubbornly moved out of the house, Ted and I were the closest sibling, even closer than how Manny and I were, but after I moved out, he completely closed up on me and I did not bother to reach out or mend the broken wall between us. I had been too engrossed with trying to make the marriage between Syrus and I work that I had neglected the people that mattered most to me.“I…” I started, then stopped, beca
Vivian’s POV“Ted, don’t be silly,” Manny warned.None of us had expected him to say something like that. I knew he was upset, but I never imagined that it was that upset to not want me in the house, or worse, willing to leave forever just to avoid me.“Ted…” I called Ted, but he glared at me furiously.“Don’t you ever!” Ted barked at me. “You have lost all rights to call my name. I hate you so much, and I would never accept you back as a member of this family,” Ted said bitterly.My knees became weak and I staggered backwards. Thankfully, the door wasn’t far from me, so it held me back, otherwise I would have fallen to the ground. The hatred and venom in Ted’s voice was very thick. “Ted, that is too hostile,” dad scolded him.“Hostile? Did you say hostile? She turned her back on her damn family! That is an unforgivable offense!” Ted queried.“I am sorry,” I said as I began to cry. I meant it when I said I was sorry. If I had known that things with Syrus would turn out this badly, I
Georgia’s POVGeorgia walked into her apartment tired, frustrated, mad as hell, and bitter.“Why the heck did that bitch call Syrus right when things were about to get down?” Georgia asked herself.She had bitten the pillows and groaned in frustration after Syrus had dashed out after taking Vivian’s call, and no amount of cajoling and cooing had worked to make him stay.“This is important, Georgia,” Syrus had said and rushed out hastily.They had almost kissed and Georgia knew that would have been it for her. It wasn’t exactly difficult to get Syrus to have an affair with her before; he had been a wandering husband seeking the fruit that resided outside his marriage and she had been more than willing and available to indulge him, but indulging him had made Georgia want him all to herself, so she had worked hard and tirelessly to make sure that the marriage between Syrus and Vivian crashed.Georgia knew that getting Syrus back into her bed wouldn’t be that much of a hassle now. Althoug
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
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
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 POVAfter Belinda left for work, I began to contemplate whether or not I should go. I wouldn’t have gone if Ted hadn’t been taken away, which should have given me enough confidence, but now, I just felt horrible going, because all this problem was because of me.I hadn’t spoken to Manny since the last call when he told me to run to safety. Maybe he must have been trying to reach me, but my phone was switched off.“You don’t have all the time in the world to contemplate, Vivian,” I told myself, because if I don’t go now, I might not catch Manny at home before he goes to work.So I got dressed and left the apartment, taking the key with me.On my way there, my heart began to pound heavily, and I wondered why I was feeling this way about visiting my family. I used to be very comfortable around them, and even though we have had our rough patches, we were still a family.Standing in front of the door now, I inhaled and exhaled.“You have got this, Vivian,” I encouraged myself befo
Vivian’s POVI have been reminiscing on the things that Belinda revealed to me, and I could barely make sense of it.I watched Belinda getting dressed for work as I stayed lazily in bed, my mind trying to understand everything.“Vivian!” Belinda practically yelled my name, making me snap out of my reverie. “Jeez, you were lost for a moment,” Belinda said.“No, I have been here,” I lied, and Belinda knew I was lying. I really do not understand why I lie to her when she could read me like a book. “I have been talking for about ten minutes, and you completely zoned out, so stop lying to me,” Belinda said.“Okay, what were you saying?” I asked, somehow sensing that she was yapping about silly things.After talking at length yesterday, I had pleaded with Belinda to spend the night with me. It was my first night in the apartment, and I did not want to sleep alone. Trauma from that small town still haunted me greatly; which was even why I switched off my phone. Thinking about it now, I had
Syrus’s POV“Mum, do you have an idea what Bonnie did? Did she tell you? Are you also in on this?” Syrus asked his mother, fuming.He had gotten a worrisome call from the family’s finance officer who expressed his deep concerns about how huge amounts of money was being withdrawn from the family account. First, it was Bonnie, then Syrus, and now Syrus was requesting for another amount of money.Syrus would be really upset if his mother was in on this.“You can at least start by talking first, Syrus,” Nancy demanded authoritatively.Georgia just sat there watching the family drama, and hoping to God that Bonnie would not be forced into mentioning her name, otherwise she would be doomed. This was the only family that she pitched her tent for now.“Bonnie had five thousand dollars wired out of the account, and I demand to know what she used the money for!” Syrus bellowed.“So you refused to answer mum’s question, but you want to force me into answering yours, right?” Bonnie stated stubbor
Georgia’s POVGeorgia was upset and disappointed at Bonnie for making her waste her time going all the way to that property only to discover that there was no one there.In as much as she would like to, she could not show off her anger and disappointment towards Bonnie. If she didn’t need both mother and daughter to reach her goal, she wouldn’t bother with a dumb head like Bonnie.“Sometimes, being born with a silver spoon just makes them really stupid and silly,” Georgia said to herself, referring to Bonnie. Georgia was not particularly a fan of these rich kids, because half of them were not remotely as smart as she was, and that was because they had everything practically handed over to them in a platter of gold.Georgia arrived at Syrus home, and for the first time, she really hoped that Syrus would not be at home. She did not want to see him, at least not now, and she was still very upset that after that interview, he never bothered to reach her. Instead, he had gone to be the kni
Georgia’s POVGeorgia arrived at home in a lighter mood, because a few minutes after she left Brenda’s apartment, she got a call from Brenda.“Have you changed your mind?” Georgia teased. She already knew the answer, but Georgia just enjoyed toying with her victims.“No, I haven’t,” Brenda responded, and from the sound of her voice on the phone, Georgia could tell that she was still shaken.Very good, just the way Georgia liked it!“I wanted to inform you that the interview video has been deleted completely, and it would never be out in the public,” Brenda said.“How am I certain that this isn’t a lie just so that I would not expose you?” Georgia asked.She was not a fool. In fact, she was way smarter than a bunch of people, and she knew how these things worked, because she had been in the game long enough, which was why she did not even talk about her other blackmail request yet.“Because you have just been crowned our star of the season,” Brenda announced.Georgia could not believe
Vivian’s POVBelinda threw her head back and laughed when I asked her that question.“Belinda, what did you do?” I asked her again, eager to know.“I didn’t do what I wasn’t supposed to do,” Belinda said vaguely, but I was not having it.“What are you talking about?” I asked her, my curiosity nearly overriding me.“Okay, let me give you the full gist, since you are this eager,” Belinda said.“Please do!” I said.We both settled in the bed, holding and hugging each other tightly, yet tenderly. It was as though we had been apart for eternity, and now that we were together again, we were afraid that being slightly apart might make one of us disappear.“That day when I left, I got a call from my clique of friends,”“You have a clique of friends now?” I asked Belinda, slightly jealous. All these years, she was the only one I ever had as a friend, even up till now, so realizing that Belinda got a whole bunch of friends and shared friendship with other people that I was not a part of just g