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Sixty-nine
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2021-10-22 19:29:00Everything fades as Vincent and I observe each other in silence. Did he follow me? Why is he smiling so much like he won a lottery? That same sickening smile that was on his face that day in the elevator is present. I flex my fingers to remind him what can happen if he makes the wrong move and he arches a brow as if telling me to try. He tips the bottle of wine to empty the content into his glass and takes a long sip.
After another sip, I throw caution to the wind and ask, “What do you know about Sofie?”
Vincent spits out his drink, leaving a red stain on the tablecloth. He recovers quickly and lowers his glass. A smirk curves his lips, chills race down my back and my spine stiffens. My hand tightens around the handle of my briefcase sitting at my feet, I force my breathing under control and level him a stern look.
He can’t do shit. I beat him once, I will do it again.
“If I were you, I would be more worried about the things
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Sophia is still not picking. I pinch the bridge of my nose and release my breath slowly. It can’t be that bad. If he releases the video, I will get a few hate, maybe more than a few but there’s nothing to it. It will pass. A lot of people have videos of them spurting their cum over other women’s faces all over the internet.Yeah, right.The slab that separates me and Enzo is still up, I don’t need him offering me pitiful looks but my nerves are frayed to the point I’ll accept a smile from him. Sophia’s text comes in seconds later, I look out the window to see her waving at me. I take a moment to study her and my chest tightens with each second. I get out of the car to wait for her.This lady has been my friend for so long. She knows almost everything there is to know about me, she won’t do something as stupid as giving him that video. She won’t betray me. I should have asked her to delete it. I kick the
Last Updated : 2021-10-23Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-one
Over the week, the weather worsens, so does my mood. Christmas and New year passes without El. The blizzard caused some road damages, travelling was put on hold. Maybe it’s a sign. Every time El and I plan to get back together, the universe responds with something beyond our control. It has to be a sign.We are not meant for each other.I shove a handful of popcorn into my mouth as Wyn flips the channel. I am not sure what is on but I have been sentenced to watching cartoons with them. The current cartoon has a pink panther as the main lead.Bren dips her hand into my bowl of popcorn, ignoring the untouched bowl between her and her sister. I don’t know why they do that. Make me get popcorn for all three of us and eat only from mine.The panther darts across the screen, I prop my legs on the coffee table and push the bowl to Bren’s laps. The light from the television illuminates her face and I catch the scowl directed at
Last Updated : 2021-10-24Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-two
Seconds after the call, I remain on the couch, feeling like an asshole. I was too harsh. Maybe I wasn’t harsh enough. El has always been a cry baby. She is the type to cry when shouted at even when at fault. I groan into my palms. I never wanted this. Faint footsteps echo in the background, I straighten up and force a smile on my lips when I see Bren. She stops in front of me and my heart breaks at her tear-filled eyes. I am not given a chance to talk, she crawls to my laps and hides her face in my chest. My arms tighten around her, I rest my jaw on her head. “Don’t be so mad at Mummy,” Bren says against my chest. After the initial annoyance of knowing she eavesdropped passes, my hands flatten on her lower back. She looks up to me. I try and fail to smile. Her brown eyes so eerily similar to El’s peer deep into my soul and I press a kiss to her hair. “Please. Forgive her.” Like she forgave me for stepping in to help her company
Last Updated : 2021-10-26Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-three
Vincent drops his pen to the table cluttered with files. His receptionist notified him of my presence yet he appears ruffled. I take another step inside his office and drop to the chair without an invitation.We don’t speak.I glance at the window overlooking the tall buildings and skyscrapers in one row. There is a pot of flowers on the windowsill. I smile at it. El has one of those for putting the flowers I send her. A familiar heaviness presses against my chest, my fingers trail the edge of his wooden desk and I exhale a soft, quick breath.“Took you long enough,” Vincent finally says.The longer I stare, the less he looks like her. All I see are black, bitter eyes that are nothing like Nicole’s. She never mentioned a brother. She never mentioned a sibling. She didn’t like discussing her family. I didn’t like talking about mine so I was fine with that. I pick a pencil from his desk and spin it in a circle
Last Updated : 2021-10-27Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-four
I am not a good person. I have never pretended to be one. But I am definitely not a liar. It is beneath me.For the same unknown reason I confessed the truth about Brianna, I reply, “That’s what I wanted people to believe.” He swipes his hands across his face and groans. “Vincent, we can end this today. We can end this beef right now. Delete that video and we both move on with our lives. Forget this ever happened.”Gone is the broken man from a few minutes ago when he barks out a laugh. He shakes his head slowly.“Bastard. I’ll ruin you, Brandon Stark.” Vincent’s words are as icy as his eyes. I sigh. His sister is gone, his anger won’t bring her to life. “I’ll cause your wife and kids so much pain they will wish they were dead.”My back stiffens but I maintain my composure. I don’t know how but I meet his gaze head on. If he had looked down, he might have seen me gri
Last Updated : 2021-10-28Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-five
Getting coherent words out of El proves impossible. All she does is cry until someone else collects the phone from her. I press my knuckles to my forehead as the new voice comes on. A man. I start pacing. The man’s voice is familiar but I can’t place it. He says something. Something about my little girls and an accident on the frozen lake in the park. A gasp locks in my throat, I grip the edge of the sink until my knuckles turn white. My eyes sting with tears. No. I shake my head. I don’t want to hear the rest of it. But he won’t stop talking. He won’t stop with his bad news. She’s in ICU. The doctors are doing the best they can. I have to get there. Eyes shut tight, I release my breath slowly, too scared to ask any question. She. Who? My feet move before my brain processes anything. I grab my keys and rush to the garage. Everything is a blur as I struggle to open the door of the car and get inside. My arms tremble violently as my ha
Last Updated : 2021-11-02Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-six
A beep sounds from the EKG. I lift my head slowly, expecting to see that flat line. But I see something else. I jump to my feet, walking past El to stand in front of the machine. The line isn’t flat anymore, there’s a triangle.Another beep. El stops whimpering. She wipes her nose with the hem of her shirt and staggers to a stop beside me. We both stare at the machine but she’s the first one to react. She screams for the doctor, a nurse, walking to the door as fast as she’s talking. I don’t run after her, I move behind Bren’s bed and touch her feet.She’s cold. I trace the sole of her feet but she doesn’t flinch. The oxygen mask on her face makes it hard for me to look at her. Brianna had one of those for so long the sight of it freaks me out. I hate masks.“You will be okay,” I whisper and squeeze her feet. My girls are fighters. “You must be okay.”There is another triangle on
Last Updated : 2021-11-08Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Seventy-seven
“Should we sing for her?” Wyn asks. We are in Bren’s room, by her bedside. I rest my jaw on Wyn’s hair and slide my arms around her waist. “Don’t do anything.” The little minion lodged between my legs groans. “You can talk to her later,” I say. Wyn sandwiches her sister’s hand between hers, she doesn’t sing, she doesn’t talk. Seconds pass, I leave both of them to do what twins do and make myself comfortable on the couch across the room. I sniff my armpit and make a face. I need a fucking bath, food too but I am not leaving until my princess wakes. The ceiling is plain, same as the grey walls. Sad, dull and boring. I push myself into a sitting position. Wyn is whispering something to her sister. It must have been funny because she giggles and a smile springs to my lips. I am not sure staying here is good for her. But she looks happy as she caresses her twin’s cheek. I should attend to my missed calls and check on Brianna but I want to
Last Updated : 2021-11-09
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Mrs Reluctant Billionaire Valentine’s special
ElnaI shut the door to our bedroom and tiptoe inside. Brandon doesn’t stir. He’s dead asleep. Or so I think till I near the bed and drop the package—his valentine gift on the nightstand. He puckers his lips for a kiss and I gladly indulge him. His hands grasp my butt, he pulls me up to straddle him and I move slowly against his erection without breaking eye contact. “Are they asleep now?” “Yeah. Finally. Alleluia,” I reply with a laugh. “Maybe I shouldn’t have given them the day off.” Silly me thought it would be great to give the twins nannies Valentine’s Day off so our family could do something special. Bad choice. With two one-year old attention demanding kids, I need all the help I can get. To make it worse, this year’s valentine fell on a Sunday and most of last night was spent trying to quiet the babies. “Maybe.” Brandon captures my lips. The kiss is lazy but it soon grows urgent. His tongue searches for mine, twirlin
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire In the end (II)
The girls are dancing in a circle. Wyn is in the middle of the circle trying to perform a break dance. I laugh at her failed attempts, holding El closer to me as we sway gently to a rhythm in my head. El wrinkles her nose in disappointment, her fingers intertwine with mine and I spin her in a lazy circle.“You’re not supposed to be laughing at them,” she says as their mother dearest. “You cheer them up.”True. But it was funny. Wyn waves, Bren does the same. Brianna does not spare us a glance. Like me and El, she has two left legs. She can’t dance but she is better than us. I wrap my arms around El from behind, tucking my head into her shoulder. She smells delicious. I can’t wait to have her alone.The music filters into my ears, I close my eyes and the lyrics wrap around my heart.“What’s Josh doing?”My eyes fly open. Josh is at one of the two canopies with Joy. Most of the g
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire In the end (I)
It’s today. Our vow renewal. To be honest, it feels like we are getting married again. This time, we have the people we care most about to celebrate the reunion with us and it makes me anxious. Joshua claps my shoulder. “Relax.” It’s so easy for him to say that but he doesn’t get it. The love of my life is out there. I haven’t seen my wife since yesterday because her mother believes it’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. We stare into the floor-length mirror, our matching charcoal grey suits are differentiated by our ties. He’s my best man. “Is Joy coming?” he asks. Sophia will be in attendance but I can’t speak for her friend. I don’t say a word to him but I know this won’t work. Joy is older than Joshua. If her attitude towards him on my birthday is a sign to go by, she doesn’t like him. Some parts of me feel like this is an infatuation that will die soon. It is taking too long for him to get over her but I hope
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and ten
The cries of our newborn babies snap me out of my sleep. I jerk up and check the time on the alarm clock. 7 pm. I groan into my hands.My life has changed since their arrival. My sleeping pattern has worsened and my knowledge about babies has increased.Babies poop a lot. They cry too damn much. They don’t need a reason to cry, just existing is enough reason for them to cry. It is exhausting.Brandon Langalethu Stark is the louder one. Brendan Lelethu Stark is quieter. Annika gave them their middle names with approval from their godfather, Joshua. Lelethu means ours while Langalethu, short for Langa means our sunshine. I must admit, he hasn’t been a ray of sunshine for a while. He’s a big ball of noisy energy. El rouses from her sleep at the incessant sound of her crying babies. I love my sons but they cry too goddamn much. Their cries are coordinated. Once one of them starts crying, the other twin is bound to join in.
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and nine
Chaos breaks out. Everyone is all over me and El, saying so many things at once. The smile sitting on her face disappears. Tears fill her eyes, her nails dig into my shoulders so hard I’m sure it will leave a mark.She is hurting.Annika is speaking so fast, asking about the baby things. Mother is telling everyone to calm down. El is crying, she doesn’t want to go to the clinic with a wet dress. I don’t know what to do. I wasn’t present for the first pregnancy. Mother pushes me aside and helps El to her feet. I almost scream. Is she allowed to stand? What if our kids fall out?I rush to El’s side. Mother guides her through a breathing exercise as what she calls a contraction hits El. It must have really hurt. She balls my shirt and makes a pained sound that stops everyone in their tracks. More than six pairs of worried eyes pin her in a stare but she focuses on only me. My baby.“I’m okay,”
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and eight
Choruses of happy birthday fill the air. I am dragged away from El before I can kiss her back or utter a reply. I was so worried she would forget about today I forgot it myself. Mother nudges me with her hip and grins. Well played. Even the girls were in on it.Joshua claps my arm. “Happy birthday, brother.” This idiot. He called me during the day and didn’t wish me anything. “Many happy returns.”We cheers to my new age and Bren pulls me to the living room where the real party is happening. The place has been redecorated. There are balloons tied to the wall, a table with a bigger cake on it and the words, “Happy Birthday, my love” written on it.There’s another cake. Well, there are three more cakes. Instead of my love, one has son, the other has brother and the last one has Daddy written on it. A cake from each of the most important people in my lives. My wife. My kids. My brother and my parents
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and seven
El sneaks an arm around my waist. Her belly is bigger now. Our babies will be showing up soon. She leans on me for support while we wait for the private elevator. It was her idea to get out of my office to buy crackers. A little fun fact: We have boxes of crackers at home. If she wasn’t pregnant, her attitude would have been suspicious but with pregnancy, anything goes. Rule number 123432444: Never argue with a heavily pregnant woman. It will end in chaos. We enter the elevator with my hand on her lower back. Our reflections on the metallic wall smiles at us and El laughs. I set my suitcase on the ground and palm her face for a proper kiss. With the pregnancy due, her office has become mine. She spends more time with me than anyone else. I love it. Her lips taste like donuts. We ordered some an hour after she arrived to “pick” me. I will never let her drive in her state but she enjoys using that term even if she was brought here by a driver. She r
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and six
El won’t stop staring at her ring.We are in the backseat of the car heading to the hotel for dinner when she reaches up to give me a kiss. Leaning on me, she smiles at her ring again. I think I did right by her. Her mother will be happy. We had a long, loud, argument about this. About the vow renewals too but that will be after El delivers.“I have two rings,” El says, hand stretched out in front of her. She rolls Mother’s ring on her middle finger. “Does that make me Lord of the rings?”“Lady of the rings, maybe.”My phone vibrates with a text from Joshua. He wants to know if I did it. I facepalm at his request of a picture. It’s one more thing I have to get better at. Capturing the memories on camera. I nudge El with my elbow to show her the text. Her hand eventually lowers, she nods eagerly and strikes a pose, flashing her teeth in all the selfies. She knows she is pretty.
Mrs Reluctant Billionaire One hundred and five
I tilt the laptop and the girls’ faces occupy the screen. Wyn is on top of Bren but her twin doesn’t seem to mind. Brianna is on one side of the bed, smiling at the camera. They are all lying on their stomachs. El settles down beside me, I prop the laptop on my knees and slip my hand into her shirt from behind. She shoots me a warning look. I bat my lashes like the cute baby daddy I am.“I miss Mummy,” Wyn says.My back meets the headboard and El rests her head on my shoulder. “What about me?”Again, she and Bren are rocking the same gowns. Wyn frowns. “I miss you too, I guess.”El bellows out a laugh. Evil girls. In a few months, I’ll have my boys. She wraps an arm around my waist to soothe me. It works for only a second before my attention returns to the laptop. Bren is grinning.“How are you?” El asks.“Fine,” three of them chorus.&
