003
CHERRY’S POV My parents dropped me off after Dylan drove off to goddess knows where. I took the chance to freshen up for bed but couldn’t seem to sleep off. Today wasn’t the first time Dylan was harsh towards me and each time I was able to go to bed without any sort of concern. Today however proved different. Even when I shut my eyes, I just couldn’t get myself to fall asleep. I tossed and turned, worry creeping over me. There was something about the way he said that he didn’t love me and wanted a divorce that made me question how depressed he was in our marriage and if he was having an affair. At the thought of him being with another woman, giving her himself he never did with me, my heart dropped first before squeezing itself in my chest. Did he by any chance find his mate? I didn’t want him to find her, it was a selfish thought but I was allowed to be selfish in my mind aren’t I? I also didn’t like the fact that he would have rights to divorce me when he finds her. My phone ringing startled me out of my thoughts and as soon as I saw the caller, my heart thumped in anxiety. When I answered, the man on the other line was not Dylan. He gave me the address to the bar where Dylan was saying he was completely wasted. “Please stay with him; I’ll be there as soon as possible.” I said my voice shaking. Waves and waves of worry washed over me. I rushed to wear my clothes and ran downstairs to hail a taxi. It took me some time but I was able to get one in the dead of the night. When I arrived, I sprinted into the bar and sure enough came across a rather drunk Dylan. When he saw that I had arrived, Dylan started to say things that confirmed my suspicions. He did find his mate and he had been seeing her the whole time we have been married. No wonder my advances towards him were futile. I felt weak and I wanted to break down in tears but I didn’t, I couldn’t afford to. When I was able to, I drove us home with his car. Dylan was a big man and it was a struggle to get his drunk self into the house when he could barely walk yet hated me touching him. We did get to the bedroom though, and I carefully helped him up the bed and took off his jacket. “You will never be her. You will never be enough” he said to me after some time. I stared at him, feeling completely numb of any feeling. I wanted to scream at him but doing that to a drunken person either meant I was drunk or completely mad. There were lines I didn’t want to cross. I walked out of the room without a word, maybe we would talk about him finding his mate and being with her all this while. I went downstairs my chest tightening more that it should. I felt betrayed. If he found his mate, why didn’t he tell me? why did he keep her a secret. Instead he allowed me make a complete fool of myself when he knew that he could never even look at me in that way. Had he told me, then together we would have been able to convince our parents. Feeling my anger boiling over, I stomped to the living and went straight to the mini bar. I pulled one of the bottles of what I assumed was whiskey and opened the cap. As someone who had never had alcohol before, I should have slowed my pace down but instead, I gulped the whole bottle down. The sweetness of the drink got pretty addicting that I couldn’t even stop myself. Or maybe it was just my anger taking full control of my body. By the time I brought the bottle away from my lips, my head started to swim and so did everything else around me. I slumped on the floor, leaning my back against the wooded counter. I couldn’t help the tears that flowed my eyes. What was it I did so wrong to be undeserving of love from both my mate and husband? Was there something wrong with me? Was I not pretty enough for anyone to ever want me? “He’s not even touched me for the tree years we have been married.” I slurred, swaying my body from side to side. “Why won’t he ever look at me like that or even touch me?” “Because you don’t deserve to be loved…” I heard someone say snapping me awake from the sleepy state that was about to drift me away. “What? Who said that?” I asked squinting my eyes but my vision didn’t clear out. I gasped when I felt water splash on my face, drenching me from head to toe. That seemed to have sobered me up and it did a good job angering me. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I exclaimed looking at Dylan who stood with a bowl in his hand. “What is wrong with me is you. How you crawled your way into my life like the menace you and made my parents choose you for me. I hate you, I fucking hate you I cannot say or stress it enough.” His face was so close to mine and I couldn’t breathe. He hated me but he was staring at me with soft eyes, the same way he must have stared at his mate. A ball formed in my chest and I pushed myself to stand sure that I was now fine but I was wrong. The alcohol was very much still in my system and from the looks of it, I wasn’t the only one. “You cheated on me with her.” I accused pointing a finger at him whilst using my free hand to hold on to the counter for support. “All this time you watched me play wife, trying to win your heart but you’ve been sleeping with her?” “She’s my mate!” he roared. His hands cupped my face and at first I thought that he was about to strangle me to death but instead I felt his cold lips on mine. Push him away Push him off Don’t let him see you weak My mind screamed at me to push him away but my body had a brain of its own. My lips instantly started to move with him, surprise washing over me. He’s kissing me. Dylan has his lips on mine.004Rated 18+CHERRY’S POVI didn’t know what I was feeling. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. From our kiss I could tell that we were both trying to show the emotions we were feeling.Anger, frustration and lust.Dylan had his hand plastered at the back on my neck to hold me in place. His body was already flushed on my, pressed firmly as he devoured my mouth. What is this feeling? My back arched and I pressed my chest onto his, pulling him by the collar impossibly closer. I heard Dylan groan and his hips grinding onto mine. He was already rock hard and I was glad to see that I was the reason for it, even though he was drunk. Did I care though? Absolutely not.He’s been the one I’ve wanted all this while. I finally was going to have him. Dylan pulled away from the kiss abruptly with a frown on his face. I thought that he had sobered up and the thought made my body tense. His eyes bore into mine as he stood frozen. I was confused and I felt vulnerable, what was he g
005CHERRY’S POVI stirred awake sore to my bone. Memories of last night made me smile and made my heart clench at the same time.Dylan was still fast asleep on the couch beside me. Well more like I was on top of him. After our wild session last night, he refused to let me go and insisted that he was going to cuddle me to sleep. I couldn’t tell if he was still drunk or sober when he said that. But I had to wake up and leave before he did. I didn’t know what to expect and I feared that he was going to tell me that everything was a mistake. But it was wasn’t it? After all we were both drunk and didn’t mean to have sex.He looked so peaceful, I couldn’t help but touch his face. What I would do to get him to fall for me too. But he wouldn’t want me.He stirred when my fingers grazed his lips. Another image of us kissing last night flashed and I swear I could feel butterflies roam on my insides. I snapped out of my thought fear gripping me that he was going to wake up.I gently pushed mys
**Cherry’s POV** When Selena ran to Dylan, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces. I felt as if someone had pierced my chest with an invisible dagger. Warm sweat trickled down my face, soaking the edges of my collar. My breaths came in short, shallow gasps, but the next question shocked me to my core. “Who is she?” Dylan’s voice was cold, sharp, and unfamiliar. I opened my mouth to answer, but no sound came out. My voice was trapped in my throat, choked by the weight of his question. My hands trembled at my sides, and my knees threatened to buckle. Depression, frustration, and a sense of being utterly stranded wrapped around me like a suffocating fog. “It… It’s not what you think,” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper. Before I could say more, Jake stormed in, his face contorted in anger. His usually warm brown eyes now burned with a fire I had never seen in all the years of our marriage. “What?!” he barked, his voice echoing in the room. “How could she call him
**Cherry's POV** The moment we landed, Selena's excitement was palpable, her tiny fingers gripping mine as her eyes darted around, taking in the busy airport. Kiva, her nanny, walked quietly beside us, holding Selena’s backpack. I could feel exhaustion tugging at me, but I pushed it aside. There was too much to do. Once we arrived at the hotel, I arranged for two separate rooms—one for Selena and Kiva and the other for myself. I handed Kiva the key to their room. "Make sure Selena gets settled and rests a bit," I instructed, a faint smile touching my lips. “Yes, ma’am,” Kiva replied with her usual calm efficiency, guiding Selena down the hall. The moment my room door clicked shut behind me, I sighed in relief. Dropping my bags, I sat at the desk, pulling out the stack of documents I needed to review. Being an interior designer came with its perks, but the workload was relentless. I dove into the files, analyzing layouts and sketches, making mental notes to adjust some designs.
Dylan’s POVI had spent the last decade torturing myself, haunted by Cherry’s absence. The memories of her smile, the way her hair would fall in waves over her shoulders, the warmth of her touch—these were the things I couldn’t escape. My mind replayed every argument, every moment I could have made things right, but never did. My heart ached for her, even after all these years.I knew it was my fault. I had been too proud, too stubborn. She was the one person who could have understood me, but I had let her slip away. I still couldn’t bring myself to forgive the things I had said to her, the things I had done. And yet, I couldn’t stop searching for her, either. I combed through every corner of the internet, trying to find a trace of her, but I always came up empty-handed.Still, something deep inside me told me I would find her one day. That intuition had always been with me, like a whisper in my soul. I couldn't explain it, but I felt it. I told myself, "Soon. I will see her again." A
**Selena’s POV**From the very beginning, I knew Mr. Jake—my mom’s ex-husband—wasn’t my father. There was always something missing, something that couldn’t be explained by the man who merely provided a roof over our heads. Deep down, I always believed my real father was out there somewhere. And today, as I stood in this grand hall filled with computers, judges, and contestants, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was closer than ever to finding him.Joining the AI competition held by Legacy Company had been a secret dream of mine. Ever since Mom gave me a tablet, I’d been consumed by the world of technology. While she wanted me to become a doctor, I couldn’t imagine anything more exciting than coding and creating. Mom didn’t understand. “Selena,” she’d say, her tone firm, “doctors save lives. Engineers just sit in front of computers.” She didn’t know how much I wanted this—how badly I needed to prove myself to her.Two weeks ago, while scrolling through Instagram, I saw the announceme
**Cherry’s POV**I hung up the call and hurried back into the competition room, scanning the crowd for Selena. My heart pounded against my chest. Where was she? Panic set in as I moved through the rows of people, searching desperately. Then, amidst the chatter and clamor, I overheard someone say she’d won the competition. Relief flooded me, but it was short-lived. I needed to grab her and leave—fast. Dylan could not see me. He must not see me.As I stepped out into the hall, my footsteps quick and determined, a sharp voice cut through the air. My body tensed. It wasn’t until I turned the corner that I saw her—my daughter—standing stiffly in front of a woman I instantly recognized. That face. It was etched in my memory, even after all these years. She had been a guest at our wedding…with Dylan. My breath hitched. Sharon. And now she was his fiancée.Before I could process it fully, I realized what was happening. Sharon was towering over Selena, her voice sharp and accusatory. Selena’s
SINCERE APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE UPDATE, IM A STUDENT...EXAMS 🥲**Cherry’s POV** I remembered Sharon. She was one of the guests at my wedding with Dylan—when we were still married. Back then, she acted like a harmless admirer, always finding excuses to visit our house. She was head over heels for my husband, constantly seeking his attention, even in my presence. I didn’t take her antics to heart. I thought she was just being kind, given that Dylan was the alpha of our pack. Little did I know, she wasn’t just being kind—she was scheming. After I left, she wasted no time sinking her claws into Dylan. And now, here she was, flaunting her self-proclaimed status as his woman, even though they weren’t married yet. The audacity she displayed, raising her hand to slap my child, was the last straw. “You’re nothing but a mistress, Sharon,” I spat, my voice dripping with venom. “You haven’t earned the right to call yourself his wife. And if you ever lay a finger on my child, I’ll make you r
Nancy sat on the edge of the bed, her heart still thudding from her daughter’s unexpected words. Find a prince of your own, Mommy.It wasn’t the first time her ten-year-old had said something like this. In her little girl’s innocent world, happy endings were simple: a prince and a princess fell in love and lived happily ever after. But for Nancy, real life wasn’t a fairytale. She had convinced herself that she was fine without a man, that she didn’t need love to complete her life.Yet, her daughter’s words echoed in her mind, lingering like an unshakable shadow. Was she really okay? Or was she just pretending?A notification pinged on her phone, snapping her out of her thoughts. It was a message from George.George: Room 605. Urgent. Bring the contract.Nancy hesitated before replying. Working late hours wasn’t new to her, and meeting George alone in his hotel suite wasn’t something she found unusual. But tonight, she felt… unsettled. Maybe it was her daughter’s words, or maybe it was
Cynthia’s heart ached with every failed attempt. No matter how hard she tried, nothing seemed to get his attention. She had poured herself into making every possible effort, hoping that somehow, he would see her, desire her, and give her the attention she craved. But all her attempts were in vain. He didn’t even spare her a glance anymore, let alone the affection she so desperately sought. Every time she thought there might be a chance, it was always snatched away, leaving her feeling smaller, invisible.Her eyes flickered to the clock. He was leaving. And she could feel that it was happening again—another moment, another chance slipping away. But Cynthia wasn’t going to let him walk out without her.She had never been one to simply step aside and let things happen. This was her chance, and she wasn’t going to let it slip through her fingers like everything else had. As she watched him grab his jacket, preparing to leave, the cold knot of desperation twisted in her stomach. Without th
Cynthia paced back and forth in her bedroom, her hands clenched into fists. Frustration twisted her features, her lips pressed into a tight line as she tried to steady her breathing. Nothing was going as planned. Every single move she made seemed to backfire, and worst of all, George remained indifferent to her struggles.She had expected him to help her, to show even the slightest bit of favor, but he had done the exact opposite. He was distancing himself from her—cold, detached, and completely uninterested.Her jaw tightened at the thought of Hassan, the boy who had been nothing but a nuisance. He was her son, yes, but his existence did nothing but remind her of the biggest mistake of her life. Instead of being a bridge between her and George, he was more of a barrier, refusing to listen to her and always ruining things for her. He wasn’t even making an effort to help his mother win George’s heart.Yet, Cynthia had been stunned when George had come to her with a request—a custody ag
Cynthia’s chest tightened the moment she heard Nancy’s name. Could it be the same Nancy? Her mind raced, trying to piece things together.No. It can’t be. There were thousands of women named Nancy. This had to be a different one.Still, unease coiled inside her like a snake. She couldn’t ignore the possibility.And then, Anthony dropped the bombshell.Nancy was the lawyer handling their case.A sharp jolt shot through Cynthia’s body.Her grip tightened around the edges of the agreement. Her fingers dug into the paper, creasing it, but she barely noticed.She had spent years ensuring that no one—no one—knew about her arrangement with George. And now, Nancy of all people was going to find out?Her throat dried up. Her heart pounded against her ribs.Panic swirled in her gut, but she masked it with a soft, almost uncertain laugh.“Oh, a lawyer named Nancy?” she said lightly, forcing a small smile. “Well, there’s no need to call her. This is a personal matter, and I think it’s best we kee
Cynthia’s hands trembled as she clutched the custody agreement in front of her, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Her heart pounded violently in her chest, sending waves of rage coursing through her veins. Her eyes darted across the words on the paper, and with each passing second, the meaning of George’s actions sank deeper into her consciousness.Her breathing grew uneven. “Honey…” she began, her voice barely above a whisper, trying to mask the panic in her tone. She forced a smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “Can we… Can we talk about this? You don’t have to do this, please.”George sat across from her, his expression calm, unreadable, as if he had already anticipated her reaction. He exuded the kind of indifference that made her stomach churn with frustration. He leaned back in his chair, fingers interlocked, staring at her with a look so impassive that it sent chills down her spine.Cynthia swallowed hard. “You can’t expect me to—”“To take responsibility for you
George’s jaw tightened as Nancy’s words echoed in his head. “My ex-husband is actually better than you.”He had laughed it off at first, convincing himself she was joking, but the way she constantly compared him to that man, mentioning him so casually, gnawed at him. It wasn’t just once. It was again and again, always referring to him as her ex-husband instead of just his name. George had never met this man, yet he was being measured against him like some unworthy competition.And when he finally gathered the courage to ask Nancy outright if she truly believed her ex-husband was better, she had simply fallen asleep, leaving him with his thoughts and a dull ache in his chest.But that wasn’t the only storm brewing in George’s life.The next morning, as he walked into his office, Mr. Anthony’s face was tight with concern. He handed George a tablet.“I think you need to see this,” Mr. Anthony said, his voice grave.George took the device, his stomach twisting into knots. The footage play
Nancy stormed into the Birdman Bar, her heart pounding with rage and desperation. She had come here for a confrontation, ready to demand justice for her daughter, but instead of the people she had expected to see, only Mr. George was inside.She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the nearly empty room. The other people present informed her that the meeting had already ended, leaving only George behind. That only fueled her frustration."Are you kidding me?" she hissed, her hands clenching into fists. "I came here to demand answers, not to be dismissed like an afterthought!"George, leaning back in his chair with an air of calm control, watched her with a raised brow. "Nancy, I understand that you're upset, but yelling at me won't change what happened."Nancy scoffed. "You have no idea how upset I am!" She took a shaky breath before speaking again. "The worst part is, I don’t even know who did it. But I do know this—my daughter and that boy had the same bags, and they were swit
Nancy wasn’t joking when she found out that her daughter wasn’t feeling well. In fact, she had already suspected something was wrong the moment she saw Kayla standing outside the school gates. The little girl wasn’t her usual lively self. Her shoulders were slumped, her lips pressed into a thin line, and there was a distant, almost vacant look in her brown eyes.Nancy had dismissed it at first, assuming Kayla was just exhausted from a long school day. But something gnawed at her, a mother’s instinct whispering that this was more than just tiredness. Still, she didn’t press too hard on the drive home.The silence in the car was unnerving. Kayla wasn’t the type to sit quietly for too long, yet she barely responded to Nancy’s attempts at small talk. Even when asked, “Kayla, is everything okay?” the girl simply forced a weak smile and muttered, “Yes, Mom, everything is fine… I just had too many lectures today.”Nancy’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. Too many lectures? That was a fl
After the encounter with the teacher, everything moved so fast that Kayla could hardly believe what was happening. For the first time, she was vindicated—by Mr. George, no less. No one had ever stood up for her like that before.All her life, she had been bullied, not just at school but even in their neighborhood. People looked down on her and her mother, mocking them for their financial struggles. Her mother had always tried to protect her, standing up for her whenever she could, but Kayla knew deep down that her mother could only do so much.But now… now she had Mr. George on her side. The way he had defended her today—it felt like, for the first time, she had a father figure looking out for her. That thought made her chest tighten with emotions she didn’t quite understand. It was strange, almost comforting, to think of Mr. George that way.Still, she wasn’t entirely happy. She didn’t like that her teacher, Ms. Bella, had been fired, even though the woman had brought it on herself.