Olivia ~•~I knew what I said to Alex was very hurtful but I was driven by anger. I didn’t know when it left my mouth. I could see the hurt in his eyes, so I couldn’t look at him any longer. I had to leave the room.My head was still aching so I went downstairs to get a glass of water. I met the cook preparing breakfast in the kitchen. When she saw me, she chuckled softly and I paused for a second. “What is funny, Emily?” I asked with an arched brow. She hesitated for a while before she finally spoke. “Yesterday night, you were so drunk and couldn’t walk by yourself. Alexander had to carry you upstairs.” She started laughing. I was upset but I couldn’t help but join her. I had a good relationship with Emily even if she was just a cook in the house. “Silly girl.” I laughed as I gulped down the glass of water. Her next question caught me off guard. “Is everything okay between you and Alexander?” Her voice was filled with concern and curiosity. Emily was a cool person to talk to b
Olivia ~•~Before the call ended, Amanda asked me to spend the day with her and David. She wanted me to relax and take my mind off things. I was skeptical about it at first but it was going to be a good distraction from everything. I didn’t have anything else planned for the day, so I decided to agree. I spent a little more time in the bedroom watching TV. I wanted Alex to leave the house for work before going down for breakfast. After about an hour, I went downstairs to eat because my stomach was rumbling as I hadn’t had anything to eat. Emily was still in the kitchen when I got down but the table was already set. I noticed Alex had barely eaten a thing. That was rare. He must’ve been in a hurry. I mean, he wasted most of his morning arguing with me. Without spending much time, I was done with breakfast. It was already late in the morning so I just decided to get ready for my day with my siblings. I had a long and relaxing shower. I took my time to wash my body with my favorit
Olivia ~•~“What the fuck?” I seethed angrily through gritted teeth, making my siblings turn around in shock. “What the fuck?” I repeated in a slightly cracked voice. David turned back because he was driving and needed to focus on the road. But Amanda was still staring at me with a confused expression registered on her face. “What is the problem, Olivia?” I didn’t know what to say, so I just passed her my phone. “What the actual fuck?” She said and passed the phone to David. I honestly didn’t know how to feel. I just had a conversation with him in the morning and he said there was nothing between them. They were just old friends. Old friends, right? Old friends, who kiss each other? This time I wasn’t even angry, I was hurt. I felt like I had been betrayed because I almost brought myself to believe him earlier. “I’m so sorry, Olivia,” David said as he handed my phone to me. “I’m so sorry you have to go through this.” His voice was laced with sympathy. I didn’t respond. I just
Olivia~•~Alexander had been gone for his business trip for about three days and we hadn’t spoken since then. My parents also hadn’t spoken to me because they claimed they were waiting for Alexander to come back from his trip before they returned to the house again. Alexander’s sister, Caroline, had texted me earlier to inform me that their parents were coming to New York. Their parents lived in California and only visited New York occasionally. Whenever they were in New York, they stayed in Alexander’s house. So that meant I was going to be with them alone because I had no idea when Alexander was going to return. I didn’t care to ask because I didn’t want to speak to him. I was just waiting for him to return so we could finalize our divorce agreement. I couldn’t continue to stay married to someone who had no respect for me. His parents were meant to arrive by noon and noon was fast approaching. I had spent the entire morning making sure all parts of the house were clean. I also
Olivia ~•~ I never imagined myself doing something as crazy as this, but I had no choice. Sandra and Amanda tried talking me out of it but my mind was already made up. When I got the text of the exact location, I got into my car and drove out of the compound. Since I hadn’t heard from my husband, I needed to find out the truth from the source instead. As I drove into the street, I thought about the future consequences of my actions but I didn’t care. A part of me wanted to abort my mission, but I was too hurt to back down. I pulled up at the driveway of the beauty supply store. She was going to come out anytime soon, so I kept my eyes focused on the door. I had already planned what I was going to say to her when I hired a PI to find out if she was still in town. I felt a bit relieved when he told me she hadn’t left town. I had assumed she went on the trip with Alex and he just used his business to cover it up. My eyes were still focused on the entrance when my phone started ri
Olivia ~•~ Tricia’s eyes widened and she took a step back, raising her hands in a defensive gesture. “Woah, Olivia, calm down. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Sandra intervened, placing a hand on my arm. “Olivia, let’s not jump to conclusions.” I shook off Sandra’s hand and fixed my eyes on Tricia’s. “Are you fucking Alexander Burke?” I asked again, this time my voice was louder and Tricia flinched. My eyes were bored with hers and she looked away. “You have no right to come to my residence to harass me.” She was about to shut the door on my face but I was fast enough to hold it back. “You know Alexander is married and you still fuck around with him?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her. “Don’t you have some decency?” “I think you should be having this conversation with your husband, not me.” She said and I rolled my eyes at her. She was right, I wasn’t meant to confront her. I was meant to confront Alexander instead. But I hadn’t spoken to him for over a week. “I th
Olivia ~•~“Olivia, please. Can we talk about this?” Alexander pleaded, running his hand through his hair but I had already made my decision. I didn’t want to continue like that. I didn’t even want to keep on arguing with him about it. The past few weeks had been embarrassing for me and I couldn’t take it anymore. For him to know how serious I was, I removed the wedding ring from my finger and placed it on the table. Alexander’s eyes widened in surprise. I could tell he was hurt but I didn’t care. I was also hurt. “Can I have the papers now?” I demanded and Alexander responded with a quiet nod. My eyes were glistened with tears as we both walked upstairs but I wiped it off before it could stream down my face. We got to the room and after searching through the drawers, Alexander handed the divorce papers to me. I grabbed a pen from the drawer and placed the document on the table. Everything was about to change. My life was about to change. I hesitated for a while but when I saw
Olivia ~•~“Olivia, what are you doing here with a suitcase?” My mum got up from the couch as soon as she saw me walk into the house. I let out a deep breath before responding. “Alex and I finalized the divorce a few minutes back, so I left the house.” My causal response seemed to infuriate her further. “Olivia!” She exclaimed, putting her hands over her head. I was already prepared for her reaction, so I didn’t flinch. I just stood there, waiting to hear the lecture on how I had ruined my life. “Olivia, we are going back there. You have to fix your marriage, you can’t stay under this roof anymore.” My mum seethed angrily and I let out a dry chuckle. “It’s already over, there is nothing you can do to fix it,” I responded and was about to walk past her to my room when she held me back. “You can’t bring shame to our family. What will the blogs say about your failed marriage? I won’t let that happen.” My mum’s eyes flashed with determination but I wasn’t going to let her make my
Chapter 269Riley Burke ~•~I wanted everything to be perfect! For the past two weeks, I’ve been looking forward to this day. Mason and I were finally going on our date. I had no idea why I was nervous. It wasn’t like it was the first time I was going out with him. Maybe I was just having PTSD from our last date. But I knew I had nothing to be worried about. My father had assured me that he was okay with me being with Mason. He wanted me to be happy, even if my happiness included being with someone who had hurt us in the past. It wasn’t Mason who hurt us but I just didn’t focus on that part. As long as he was ready to move past the whole situation, I didn’t care to correct him anymore. “The makeup artist is here!” Rowan yelled loud enough for me to hear after knocking on my room door. Yes, I had to ask for a professional makeup artist because I was hellbent on making everything perfect. “I’ll be downstairs soon,” I replied as I wore my hair bonnet to protect my hair while getti
Chapter 268Mason Craig ~•~Ever since Riley’s father picked her up from the restaurant and interrupted our date, I had this lingering feeling of sadness inside me. But I acted like everything was fine and normal. I didn’t want to put too much pressure on her. I felt hurt because every day I woke up, I was reminded that she wasn’t my girl and could easily give another boy a chance. I didn’t want that to happen but at the same time, I didn’t have any control over it. Every day felt like torture but I was glad that it had finally come to an end. Riley’s father had finally approved of our relationship. A wave of excitement surged through me but I tried my best to remain calm when she told me about it. I would finally be able to be with the girl of my dreams. I had a feeling that he changed his mind because my father agreed to help when Riley had gone missing. I also had my father to thank. He finally fixed the mess he had caused earlier. Everything was finally going smoothly. I h
Chapter 267Olivia ~•~“Are you sure you don’t mind seeing them together?” I asked Alexander for the umpteenth time when he said he wanted to tell Riley that she could be with Mason. I didn’t want a situation where he would second guess his choice and regret his decision. Or a situation where he wouldn’t be nice to the boy later in the future. It wouldn’t be fair on Riley. Alexander nodded his head as he parked the car in the driveway. “Yes, I’m sure.” He assured me. “I shouldn’t be the one to take away my daughter’s chance at teenage love.” He added, smiling at me. I shrugged. “Okay, if you say so,” I replied as I loosened my seatbelt. “I hope you don’t have any secret animosity towards him that will reveal itself later.” Alexander laughed. “Don’t you trust me?” He asked, raising a brow at me. “I’m not holding anything against the boy. Not even his parents.” “Fine.” We stepped out of the car and made our way into the house. On our way back home, we stopped at the mall to get
Chapter 266Riley Burke ~•~It was fun having my friends over for the weekend. And it was a total flop trying to pretend like I was surprised when they first arrived. They saw right through my pretense. Even if we hadn’t been friends for so long, they knew me well enough. I barely even thought about what I had gone through while they were around. Having them around was a good distraction. I was sad that they had to leave. But I couldn’t do anything about it as I walked them to the car. During their stay, I realized that it was actually my mother’s idea to invite them over. Now it made sense why she was so welcoming. My mother didn’t usually like it when I had my friends over. I mean, my friends from high school. Our family was always under scrutiny, so she didn’t trust anybody. It was nice to see her giving my new friends a chance. The weekend was over and it was a new school week. I hadn’t completely healed but even when I assured my parents that I would be okay, they claime
Chapter 265Riley Burke ~•~As soon as my dad handed me a new phone, I found my friend's phone number and called them immediately. It was already noon and on the weekend, so I was confused about why none of them answered their phones. I mean, those girls were literally always with their phones. I really wanted to speak to them, but I guess I had to wait until later to try calling them again. Maybe they were busy with something. I spent most of my time inside my room and I was getting bored. Normally, my mother didn’t like it when l took my food upstairs but this time, she brought the food to my room by herself. I hadn’t gotten any reason to go downstairs. I needed a change of environment, so I decided to freshen up and head downstairs. I was pretty sure Rowan and Jason were playing video games in the living room. After spending about thirty minutes in the bathroom, I dressed up in my comfortable sweatshirt and shorts before making my way downstairs. “Hey,” Jason said as soon a
Chapter 264Olivia ~•~I wanted to accompany Alexander when he was going to see Maxim, but he refused. I knew that he didn’t want me to see him, but still, he said I was going to see him later. After helping Riley with dinner and giving her medication, I went back to the room to meet Alexander. I hadn’t talked to him since he came back from the station. “Hey, what happened at the station?” I asked him as I walked into the room. He was standing in front of the closet and searching through it. “I have something to tell you,” Alexander muttered under his breath. My interest became piqued. “I’m listening,” I responded as different thoughts ran through my head. Alexander sounded so serious and I couldn’t help but wonder what he wanted to say to me. He took a deep breath and turned around. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.” He cleared his throat and continued. “You remember when you found out that Maxim was a fraud?” He asked and I nodded, anticipating what he had to say next. “Y
Chapter 263Riley Burke~•~When we finished at the restaurant, my father asked my mother to drive me back home. He wanted to go to the station to see Maxim and the other men who kept me hostage. My mother wanted to accompany him but he refused, saying she would see him later. As soon as my father left, I followed my mother to the car. I couldn’t wait to go back home and see my brothers. I was so excited to see everyone. Being free felt so good. “Riley, I’m inviting the doctor over, so she can do a checkup and give you the necessary treatments you need.” My mother said as I settled down on the passenger’s seat. I hated anything related to hospitals or medical care, but I couldn’t protest against it. I actually needed medication because I was still in pain. My legs and my head were still hurting and I needed the pain to stop. “Sure,” I responded with a smile and my mother nodded. A few minutes later, we arrived at the house. My heart leaped for joy as the security guards open
Chapter 262 Rowan Burke ~•~I loved my sister but I had no idea that her absence would affect me so badly. Ever since I realized she was missing, I couldn’t even focus on anything else. My mind was always racing with different thoughts. What if something bad had happened to her and my parents took so long to search for her? Everyone thought Riley had willingly disappeared but that wasn’t the case. My sister was missing. I couldn’t even talk to anyone or go anywhere. I shut everyone out, including my girlfriend, Belle. Until Riley was found, I was certain that I would be restless. While my parents were at the station, I kept on blowing their phones with constant calls. Most of the time, they didn’t respond. A part of me felt bad because I wanted to be kept in the loop, I wanted to know what was going on, or even if they had gotten a lead. But I knew that they were busy and my calls were distracting them from doing their work. When my mother finally answered her phone, she a
Chapter 261Olivia ~•~Different waves of emotions rushed through me as I saw Riley running in our direction. Relief, joy, and gratitude swirled together, overwhelming me.I was so happy to see her. For a moment, I thought we were at a dead end. I thought she had left the house or the men they caught were probably lying about her whereabouts. She looked so scared but also excited to see us. Before I could even move, Alexander rushed and pulled her in a tight hug. I was still in shock as I watched them reunite. After a few moments, I joined them, turning the hug into a group hug. “Oh my baby, um happy to see you.” I smiled at Riley as we broke the hug. Riley looked like she was struggling to hold back her tears. I could only imagine what she had gone through at the hands of those people. Alexander stepped aside to call the detectives. He wanted them to know that we had seen Riley. While he made the call, I led Riley to the car. As soon as we got into the car, I began asking her