Maxwell"And how is the pop-up event coming up?" I sat on the chair in my office, having a Zoom meeting with our manager over in South Korea, and he nodded his head."Going well, it'll be announced during the official campaign of the new collection.""Okay good. Send me a final review when it is ready, okay?""Okay sir"I cut the line and I turned to my secretary, who had been waiting for me to finish."So...""The financial report, sir.""Right. Are they ready for me?""Yes sir""Good"I took the report from her, taking a look at it as we headed to the financial department for our meeting, and I had a meeting with the marketing department before deciding that it was time to clock off work.It'll soon be time for Kyle's football competition, so I had to close early."Maxwell..." Raya waved at me from where she sat with Kendall and Leah because Michael was also playing too when I got there and I made my way to them."Babe"I kissed her on the lips lightly, smiling at the small kid tha
RayaI couldn't believe this.Maxwell had proposed.Like, yes, I had suspected something was up with the way Kendall kept acting suspicious when she took me to the mall from my workshop, and it had basically to get into a new dress, which she said was for an event she wanted me to accompany her to, but guess what? She wasn't dressed up, so which event?My proposal.The thought made me laugh after we pulled away from the kiss and Maxwell stared into my eyes, "What?""It's just... Did you put Kendall up to that? Getting me to dress up and keeping me away from my house."He chuckled at the realization too, "Uhm... Yeah, I couldn't let you find out that I was proposing until I was ready, and did she do a good job?"I shrugged, "Not bad, but I did suspect something was up.""I know, right?"I stared into his eyes seriously after we stopped chuckling and pulled him even closer to me, "I love you."He smiled, "I love you too.""I love you even more."We kept going until he picked me off the
RayaI was pregnant.The pregnancy kit test had said so, and I had done it multiple times, my heart dropping even lower as each one confirmed that fact, and now I was going to my best friend's house to tell her."You're pregnant?"She looked happy, but should she? I mean, I wasn't sure I was."Why aren't you happy? This is good news, right?"I shrugged, my panic probably showing in my eyes, and she held my hands. "I mean, what if he doesn't want it?""And why wouldn't he want it?""I... I don't know."She squeezed my hand, drawing back my attention to her, and her face looked fierce. "Don't you dare let your past invade your future again. I thought we were past that."I thought we were too, but the memory of William kicking me and beating me when I first told him I was pregnant wouldn't just get out of my head."I don't know Kendall; I'm scared." She pulled me into her arm, squeezing me tight as I let out my tears, and I sniffed loudly when I was done."So what are you going to do now
RayaThe day of the wedding arrived, my dress ready, the makeup artist, and the hair stylist in my room to make me the most beautiful bride ever, and I had the support of my best friend and soon-to-be mother-in-law."My God, you look so beautiful," she said when I finally put on the dress, my hair and makeup done, and I scrunched my face, trying not to cry."Thank you.""I'll be the best mother I can be to you, and trust that you can tell me anything and everything."I knew that already considering the time we had spent together before even getting proposed to and the time for me to walk down the aisle finally came, Maxwell's dad meeting by the door where he was to lead me to the aisle because I had asked him to hold my arms.He was going to be the dad I never had, was already even, and I felt myself tearing up as I finally saw my husband-to-be by the pastor at the front of the little audience.I had only invited the closest people to me, which weren't many. My son, of course, Kendall
Raya The kicks were reoccurring, the force hitting my face and pelvis as I tried to cover my stomach and the man I thought had loved me kept using me as a punching bag. "I'm going to punch this baby out of you, you useless bitch. You've been sleeping around, haven't you? That's why you don't have the decency to take the baby to its real father. You thought I would just accept the bastard from you!" "It's yours William, I'm not..." "You stupid bitch! You're still going to keep up with that claim, right?!" I felt my resolve letting go as he kept on punching me and slapping me and I felt my eyes widen when I saw a trail of blood flowing from where I laid down the carpeted floor. "Bitch! You stupid bitch!" No, no, no, I couldn't lose the baby. Not the baby. I chanted faintly as the blood kept on flowing from my thighs and I looked up at the face of my boyfriend, who was unrecognizable at that moment. It was like his whole face had morphed into some kind of monstrous being tha
RayaI straightened my eavesdropping posture when another employee suddenly walked past, and I knocked on the door."It's Raya ma." She kept silent, not saying anything and I walked in, closing the door behind me."Why are you just coming now?" She asked, picking up the box of coffee and pastries that I placed in front of her."I didn't know you were going to come so early."She rolled her eyes, "what about the pop-up store?"Her friend interrupted me before I could reply, "I'll take my leave then."Mrs Carson nodded and she left."So, I'm listening."She had the croissant in her hand already and was munching on it."It's going well, ma. Most of the decorations and arrangements have been set up and...""Well, gather all the information you have and transfer it to... Oh right, you might not have heard this, but you'll be getting transferred soon. So, to prepare for that, gather all the information you've mentioned and get ready."I stood there for a while, unsure what to say."Well, t
MaxwellI walked into the office of the chairman that morning as I fastened up the buttons of the new shirt Silas had gotten me. He was the personal secretary to my dad and had gone immediately to get me a new shirt when he saw the state I was in.My father turned around just as Silas walked in behind me, and he placed a document before leaving, "Thank you", my dad said after him."You could have just told me to come to the family dinner..." I said as a complaint and he ignored it."That you know you wouldn't attend."I shrugged, "well, why am I here?" "To choose the direction in which your future will go from now. I think you've sulked well enough. It's time to do something with your life""Like what?""Taking over one of the subsidiaries""But I'm not interested.""Maxwell!" He sighed, exasperated "It's been two years since they announced their relationship, don't you think that's enough time to sulk? I won't take your nonsense anymore. It's either you take over a subsidiary or lea
RayaI stared at the message the company had sent to me earlier that evening concerning my transfer. It had come in at around 7 pm when I had been putting Kyle to bed, and now I was staring at it, wondering why and how it happened.Was it really just because my boss had recommended me or why? Why was I getting transferred? And to Sterling fashion house at that? It was not even within Sterling Foods where I knew Mr. Micheal Sterling was working. So, which Mr. Sterling was I going to be working for?Definitely not that a**hole, right? But there was no other Mr Sterling except for Mr. Sterling, the chairman of the group and owner of the conglomerate, Mr. Micheal Sterling, the first son of the chairman, and Mr. Maxwell Sterling, the second son of the chairman.There was no other one. I checked.Could it be the chairman himself?I immediately shook my head. There was just no way.I stood up from the couch to get a glass of water for myself when the doorbell suddenly rang, startling me, I