RayaI managed to pick myself up from the floor some minutes later, running into a bathroom where I took off my shirt and bra to wash, and I stood there pondering my life decisions while I waited."Hey, are you going to spend forever, in there..." I jumped when Mr. Sterling's voice suddenly came in through the door, a knock accompanying it.F*ck! I didn't answer though."Raya?"I sighed, I was going to have to answer anyway, or he would think I was dead or something and I didn't want him barging into the bathroom while I was half naked."Sir...""Are you okay?""Yes, I... I will soon be out.""Well, I got you a new hoodie that you can put on while you wait. It's new, in case you didn't catch that earlier.""Uhm... I'd rather wait sir" Why the f*ck will I put on his hoodie?"Fine, whatever you want. Just know we're going to be late because of you"I managed to dry my clothes to an extent with the washing machine dryer that I found in there before putting them on, and I yelped slightly
MaxwellI stared at the lady that came to my side looking all stunning in the silver-colored maxi dress that she wore, and she had this innocent look on her face which I had fallen for back in my college days."Diane..."She wrapped her arms around mine happily as she stared up at me, "What are you doing here?""I..." I wasn't sure how to feel about her doing this when she had literally broken my heart two years ago."Diane." I turned to see my brother walk towards us in the department store where we had come to see the sales, and he looked quite livid."Michael," I said in greeting, while Diane removed her arm from mine, and he drew her to his side."What are you doing here?" My beloved brother asked."I'm in charge of the fashion subsidiary in case you've forgotten"He scoffed, "So you're actually going to go through with it...""Of course, and I plan to beat you. Taking over a conglomerate can't be so hard."He scowled at me, fisting his hands as if to fight me, but Diane held him
MaxwellThe living room was how I remembered it, the walls painted white, because that was her favorite color, Diane's I mean, and I went straight to her room where I placed her on her bed, removing her shoes."Hmm..." She groaned as she tossed around on the bed and I somehow managed to get hooked around her dress as she turned and fell onto her form on the bed.Her eyes fluttered open, "hmm, Max...""Uhm..." I stuttered. "What are you doing here?" She was not so surprised as I would have expected her to be. Instead, her eyes were hooded, and she had this stare that made my trousers feel tighter."Uhm..." I stuttered again, unable to form coherent words.She raised her hands up to my face and trailed my cheeks, wrapping her arms around my neck to probably kiss me, but I wouldn't know as she suddenly fell back onto the bed and blacked out again, but not before I heard her say, "Micheal..."What the f*ck? She thought I was Micheal?But would she still have kissed me if she had known i
RayaIt was finally Saturday, the day I got to spend time with my son and Kendall's family, and we sat at the park where we had taken them to."Hey, are you going to keep working?" Kendall asked, when she came back from the ice cream kiosk where she had just gone to buy some ice-cream for us and I closed my laptop."I'm sorry, I was just gathering some reports that I'll need on Monday""Ugh!" She sighed and sat down on the mat while our sons played around. Her little daughter, Leah, was content with playing with a lead on the mat and I carried her up."Oh my God, isn't she the cutest?""Uh, only when she wants to" I chuckled at the ridiculous expression on her face."And their dad?" She shrugged, "he's having a fun time with his girlfriend."I sighed and patted her hands on the mat, "it'll be okay. It's better that you guys parted ways.""I know right. We're better off without him."We both laid on the mat after getting our ice cream and the sun shone on us happily.I loved this and
Raya"M-mr Sterling?" I stuttered, surprised at the fact that he had gotten into the hotel room. How had he...Oh right, he was probably the one that had orchestrated everything."Hmm, I guess a little glam-up can make anyone look pretty."I paused at that. What?Was that meant to be an insult or a compliment?"Why am I here?" I asked, gaining my composure and moving away from him. It wasn't so comforting that I was alone with him in a hotel room and in this partially exposed dress."I want you to accompany me as my date to my brother's engagement ceremony." All thoughts of discomfort flew from my head."What?""You heard me."No, there was no way."You want me to accompany you as your date to your brother's engagement ceremony?" "Yes.""And why is that?"There was actually no way he was serious."Because I want it to be the most scandalous news ever. Maxwell Sterling and his secretary at his brother's ceremony. It'll take the spotlight off them.""And why would you want to do that?
MaxwellI glanced at Diane and Micheal as they chatted with some of the guests that had come to the engagement party, and she looked exceptionally stunning in the white dress she wore.Even more so than my secretary, who had turned me down."So she had basically said she didn't want your money and walked out on you?" I turned to Ryan, who was having the time of his life laughing at me and scowled."It is her loss, anyway. She missed out on ten million dollars.""Wow, that's a lot, but I must say I admire her though. She is definitely not like the other girls.""Yeah but she ran away with my two million dollar dress. Not to talk about the makeup and accessories.""Right, how did you know the dress Diane would be wearing though?"I shrugged, "I spoke to the department store where her and Micheal ordered the dress.""Oh, that makes sense... But like, how does it feel to get turned down by a mere lady in this day and age" he asked, chuckling again, and I turned to him with a scowl."Will
RayaMy head was aching badly by the time I woke up the next morning and I realized I had drunk way too much after realizing that there was nothing I could do to the tear in the dress.It was disastrous.Kendall had apologized over and over again, and I had tried to find a solution over and over again, not because I didn't know how to stitch up a cloth but because I didn't have the equipment, so I had done the next best thing I could think of, which was drink myself to a stupor.I stood up from bed and went straight to the kitchen where I poured myself a glass of water and I gulped down all its contents before I got my kettle ready to prepare a mug of coffee.My beloved son walked into the kitchen too as I prepared the coffee, and he sat on a stool, "sweetheart, how was your night?" I asked and he shrugged."Okay. And how was yours?"I cocked my head, "okay...""Are you sure though? Because you were swearing a lot last night, and then you started talking in your sleep. It was like you
MaxwellI couldn't believe what I was hearing.Had my secretary just talked back at me, and for a mistake she made by herself?I gaped at her still, unsure of how to reply."You can't be serious," I said after a moment. "Of course I am.""And what if I force you to pay for it...""I'll report you to the headquarters.""What?" I scoffed "I'm a Sterling, not just any employee.""Yeah, but that doesn't give you the right to do just about anything you want. I'm sure your brother would agree with that.""What?" I felt my insides burn at that."My brother?" "Yes, your brother."I ran my hand through my hair, dumping the bag that contained the dress on my couch and I glanced back at her, "Get out."She didn't waste any time in doing that, and I went to the fridge to get a can of beer because of how livid I was, and I went to my private gym underground, to do some punching.My brother?Wow, she's got some guts.Like, everyone I knew would never try to talk back to me or get under my skin th
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
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
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
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
RayaIt was no surprise to both me and Maxwell when Diane finally got admitted into a mental hospital two years later after injuring her supposed best friend, Tyla, whose relationship she had also scattered, and the world seemed confused by that.Not so much me and Maxwell though, even though it was quite crazy considering how normal she looked.Like, who would have thought she was an unhinged person with issues?Anyway, I made progress in my school, ignoring the scandals and all that always seemed to involve me and my boyfriend, and when I was finally done with it, like, can you imagine, I was finally a graduate in fashion designing, my son and boyfriend were there with me to support me.I walked onto that stage with pride to receive my certificate, and the sight of my son and boyfriend cheering me up in the crowd made me tear up.We took photos when we were out, and my son took photos of me and Maxwell while he carried me into the air.It felt so surreal.Kyle wasn't a little boy ei
RayaI couldn't concentrate on anything due to the recent happenings, and I still hadn't heard from Maxwell.It was disheartening.He must be annoyed that I had slept with another person even though I had been drugged, right?I too was jealous about him and Tyla, but the whole matter had died down just as quickly as it had risen up. The people had found something else to talk about.As for me, I hadn't moved on because I was the one involved and the other person involved still hadn't called me.He wasn't picking up his calls either, and his friend had no idea where he had gone.So I got into my car the next day to go back to his house. I'll stop on the way to see Kyle at the family house, then maybe I'll have some more strength to face all this because if I said I wasn't discouraged, I would be lying.Kyle was happy to see me as well as Maxwell's parents, though they had seen the news, so I had to explain everything to them.Maxwell's father seemed to be doing better, maybe because he
MaxwellA trip to our family hospital confirmed that not only Raya had been drugged but me also, and that made me baffled.I picked up my phone when it rang, "And?"It was Raya, so I knew she wanted to know the results."We were both drugged.""But why? Why would anyone do that?"I wanted to know too. Why would she want to destroy our relationship?After all, she had been the one to dump me, not the other way around.I cut the call with Raya after a while in order to go find my answers, and I cocked an eyebrow when I saw Tyla's car leaving her compound just as I drove in."Diane!"She came to the door, surprised when she saw me, and she let me in. "What's wrong?"I turned on her almost immediately, "What's wrong? Really? Are you trying to play dumb right now?""What's wrong? I don't understand.""You don't understand? What don't you understand? Drugging someone or arranging with your best friend to destroy my relationship."Her face was blank, like she didn't know what I was talking
MaxwellI woke up to the feeling of someone's arms around me. Soft and feminine.The smell too.Wait, that's not... That's not Raya's smell.That's...The f*ck!I opened my eyes to see the person wrapped around me to be Tyla, and I jumped off the bed, almost pushing her to the ground in the process."The f*ck!"No, no, there's no way.My God."Maxwell...""No, no, don't you dare."She stirred on the bed, finally coming to her senses, but she didn't look... Surprised.If anything, she was calm."Can't you see that we're... We're naked?""Yes, naked indeed."She looked down at my d*ck, which I hadn't even known was exposed. I thought I had my freaking boxers on, and I picked it up from the ground immediately to put it on."God. How could you? How are you...."She turned on the bed, the covers slipping off her body, and I shook my head at her exposed breast.There was no point in talking to her.I had been a fool.I picked up the rest of my clothes, putting them on as I left the room, an
RayaThe bar was loud, the music playing over the speakers as people danced on the floor, and I went through my phone again.Still no message or calls from Maxwell.He should have called by now, or maybe he was just busy."Raya, you promised not to sit in a secluded corner while the rest of the world had fun. What are you? A female character in an enemies-to-lovers novel?"I chuckled as my roommate, Hailey, came to meet me by the counter.She had been the one to drag me out on a Friday night because I was obviously such an introvert who needed to have fun, whether I had a boyfriend or not."You don't have to hook up with anyone; just dance and have fun.""Yes, but you're forgetting that I offered to come so I could take you home. I'm having fun; I'm not much of a dancer."She rolled her eyes and picked up a new glass of alcohol before swirling away back into the crowd, and I went through my phone again until someone sat beside me.I sighed, ready to give the speech of how I was taken,