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 23Alexander ~•~ Watching Olivia pack up her things was very hurtful to watch. I thought hard of what I could say to make her change her mind but she was determined to leave the house. I wished things turned out differently. Even if I wasn’t ready to accept the fact that she was no longer my wife, I had to act calm about the whole situation. I never stopped loving her. There was just a visibility rift between us that I wanted to fix. I thought things would get better when I gave her the divorce papers but little did I know I was making the situation worse. After I walked her to her car, I stood and watched until she drove out of the gate. It was then it dawned on me that my marriage was over. I got back into the house and made my way to the bedroom. I showered and changed into more comfortable clothes. I was a little bit tired from the long flight I had but I needed company so I called Arthur to meet me at the house. I needed a distraction. Arthur didn’t take long to a
Olivia ~•~“Are you sure you don’t want to tell him about it?” Sandra asked as she sat beside me on the hospital bed. I nodded my head confidently. “I’m one hundred percent sure.” I asserted. “I don’t even want my parents to know about it.” Sandra gasped in disbelief as I finished my last sentence. My life has been full of surprises. When the year started, I never imagined I would end up being a mother. Alexander and I didn’t try for babies because I wasn’t ready to be a mother. He respected my decision and we always had safe sex. Well, I guess it wasn’t completely safe after all. The baby was going to change a lot of things. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone. He had the right to know that I was almost two months pregnant but we just got divorced and I didn’t think I wanted to tell him. During the past few weeks, I thought my random fatigue and restlessness were a result of the stress from my failing marriage. I had no idea I was carrying a child. I felt a mixture of different emo
Riley Burke ~•~After I was done talking to Mason, I went to meet Rowan because he asked me to meet him after my class. We were meant to go back home together. He was waiting for me in the driveway. I settled down in the front seat of the car and fastened my seatbelt. As we drove back to the house, I contemplated telling Rowan about the situation with Mason. But I wasn’t sure if I should say anything. Rowan would be so upset and probably tell my parents about it. I didn’t know if I wanted anybody to know what I knew Mason personally. It was best if I kept it away from them for a while. After an exhausting drive, we arrived at the house. “Is Belle still pissed at you?” I asked Rowan as we both stepped out of the car.He shook his head. “Yes, I messed up big time and I’m not sure she’ll forgive me easily,” Rowan admitted, running his hands through his hair. My lips parted and I blinked. “What? How did you mess up?” My curiosity got the best of me and I couldn’t resist asking him
Mason Craig~•~After Riley left, I remained in the office for a few more minutes. I needed some time to think and clear my head. I was certain that Riley didn’t believe anything I said and I had no idea how to make her see that I was being completely honest with her. Even if she eventually comes around, things will still be weird between us because of my parent’s behavior. After meeting so many shallow people, I finally found someone worth starting something with again. But it was already crumbling before it could even start. I didn’t have any other classes, so I decided to head back home. I locked the office and made my way back to my car. My uncle was a professor at the university, so he gave me a spare key. He asked me to go there whenever I needed a break from the crowd. He was one of the reasons why my father allowed me to attend Columbia University. He wanted me to go to a different country for college, but I didn’t want to go far away. Most times, I do regret my choice. I
Riley Burke ~•~I was already pissed when I saw Mason walking into the class. But his stupid text only fueled my irritation more. He still had the guts to ask if he did something wrong. Whenever I was upset and couldn’t do anything about it, my legs automatically started shaking. Liam noticed and tried his best to calm me down.I hated the fact that I was about to crash out in public. At first, I didn’t want to respond to his text. But out of annoyance, I responded to him and then blocked his number afterward.I didn’t want him to contact me anymore.After what felt like an eternity, the class was finally over. At one point, I even wanted to walk out of the class, but Liam persuaded me to stay. As everyone left the class, I wanted to rush out before Mason could get the chance to speak to me, but he was faster than me. I knew I wanted to have a conversation with him to demand answers but I wasn’t interested anymore. My daddy was going to take care of everything. “What do you want
Mason Craig ~•~After thinking about what to do for a while, I decided to tell Riley about it. I could imagine how devastated she would be if she found out about it from someone else. I didn’t want her to think I was part of it in any way. I knew telling her was me betraying my parents, but I didn’t care. The truth was going to come out eventually. I didn’t want it to look like I was enabling their behavior. At first, I wanted to call Riley and talk to her about it over the phone, but since we had a class together later in the day, I decided to leave it. I would have a conversation with her after our class. A few hours later, it was time for me to leave for school. I was already running late, so I grabbed my keys and bag before rushing down to the car. While I was on my way to school, I couldn’t stop thinking about the damage my parents had caused. They were so hungry for power and success, it wasn’t healthy. Even if they were giving me the silent treatment, I was still determ
Riley Burke ~•~As I got to school, I contemplated going back to my dorm room or going to class. I wasn’t sure I was in the right head space to see Mason. My mind was spinning with different thoughts and I was laced with anger. I couldn’t believe someone would betray me like that. I felt so stupid and used. I didn’t even know what to say to him. As I stepped out of the car, I decided to call Harper first to ask if she was in the room. I didn’t want to go to meet in an empty room, it would just fuel my frustration more. Harper didn’t answer her phone. I was guessing that was in class and couldn’t take the call. Letting out a frustrated sigh, I decided to call Amelia instead. I let out a relieved sigh when Amelia answered on the first ring. “Hey, what’s up? Are you in class?” I asked with a hint of urgency in my voice. “No, I’m in the dorm room.” She replied. “What’s going on?”I didn’t want to talk on the phone. “You’ll see me soon.” I ended the call and made my way to the dorm
Riley Burke ~•~It was finally time for me to leave for school.The driver was already waiting for me downstairs. I took one last look at my reflection in the mirror. I was satisfied with my look and my outfit for the day. I wore a pink sweatshirt and a short leather skirt with boots. I grabbed my coat and bag and then arranged my hair before heading downstairs. I only had one class, so I was kind of thrilled about it. Plus, I’ll also get to see my friends and Mason. As I walked down the stairs, I ran into my mother and Caroline discussing seriously in the living room. They were so engrossed in the conversation that they didn’t hear me walk down the stairs. “What’s going on?” My voice diverted both of their attention to me: I was able to hear some of what they were saying, so they didn’t see the need to keep it away from me. Plus, I deserved to know. I asked my father to keep me in the loop and he agreed to do so. “They finally found the people responsible for tarnishing the com
Mason Craig ~•~I could barely get any sleep the previous night because I couldn’t stop thinking about what Tristain had told me. He confirmed my fears about my parents being the ones responsible for Burke’s company’s rumors. I was highly disappointed. A part of me was also scared. Why did it have to be them? How would Riley feel if she eventually found out that my parents were the ones who were responsible? My mind was spiraling with different thoughts. I contemplated confronting my parents but they were already not speaking to me. I wondered if I should call Riley and tell her about it, but that wouldn’t be a smart move. It would be as though I was betraying my family. I hated that I was in such a position. I couldn’t even think properly. I didn’t know the right step to take. I didn’t even want my parents to know that I was friends with someone from the Burke family. I had no idea how they would react to it. Even if I wanted to keep the truth away from Riley, nothing stays h
Riley Burke ~•~“Stop asking because I’m not coming with you.” “Riley, please.” “Rowan, no. I don’t have any class until noon and I’m not ready to wait in the dormitory. I’ll just go with one of the drivers later.” “I’ll do anything you want, please.” Rowan had classes in the morning but I didn’t have any class until noon. Normally, Rowan would be pleased to go to school without me, but this time he had his girlfriend over and they got into a big fight. They were meant to drive back to school together but he wanted me to accompany them because he didn’t want the drive to be awkward. I always asked that he should stop putting me in the middle of their problems, but he never listened to me. It was always like this with them. They’ll have a big fight, ignore each other for a while, then make up again. Even when I mistakenly suggested that they part ways, he made it seem like I was just being a hater. I liked Belle, even if we weren’t exactly friends. I liked her as my brother’s g
Alexander Burke ~•~I was surprised when my publicist sent me a screenshot, showing me that Riley was responding to the trolls on the internet. I didn’t blame her for exchanging words with them because what they were saying was cruel and hurtful. But I always told my kids to ignore the people on the internet. I even advised them to stay away from social media, but I knew that part was impossible. I decided to have a talk with Riley about it after we were done with the funeral. When I returned to the house, I called her to my room. “Hey, Daddy.” She greeted me with a warm smile as she walked into my room. Riley sat down beside me on my bed. “Riley, how are you doing?” I asked. I was genuinely concerned about the kid’s mental health. They were going through so many things and I wanted to make sure they were doing well. Riley shrugged. “I’m holding up. Are you good?” She asked, scratching her head. I nodded. “Yes. I wanted to talk to you about something.” I reached out to her han