Olivia ~•~Three months had passed since Maxim’s awful betrayal shattered my world. The initial shock had given way to a crippling grief and I spent most of my days being miserable. But as the weeks went by, I slowly began to pick up the pieces of my shattered heart. With each passing day, my life slowly became better and I made peace with what had happened. Maxim was locked up in prison before I could even get to deal with him. From what I heard, the feds had apprehended him because of his affiliation with the mafia. A part of me was happy about it but I still felt like I would have been more satisfied if I had been the one to press charges. Either way, I was glad that phase of my life was over and I was ready to forget that I ever met someone like Maxim. I had been focusing more on raising my kids and making my company better. Things had been going great even if some days turned out to be difficult. I was grateful for my life and my family. I also had great people around me wh
Alexander Burke ~•~For the past hour, I had been trying to calm Jason down. He wouldn’t stop crying and screaming. Jason had gotten fed up and was demanding to see mother right at that moment. I tried all the previous methods that I always used to distract him but all my efforts were wasted. Emily also tried her best to calm him down but he refused. I was exhausted and didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t tell him the truth about his mother. He was too young to know that she was in prison. I couldn’t let him live his life in pain. I sat down and watched him helplessly as he cried uncontrollably. “Jason, please calm down. Do you want ice cream? Do you want to sleep? You’ll see your mother tomorrow.” I repeated what I had been saying for the past couple of minutes. I had to say anything that would make him stop crying. But Jason wasn’t having it. He was hellbent on seeing his mother. I even tried distracting him with his favorite cartoon but he wasn’t fazed by it. Letting out a
Olivia ~•~The kids were super excited for their birthday party, so they didn’t even let me have any extra sleep in the morning. Riley was constantly reminding me that I hadn’t picked up their cakes. Even though I had assured her that one of my staff would pick it up and take it to the venue, she still didn’t stop bugging me about it. As I made breakfast in the kitchen, the kids were moping around the living room. Their excitement was palpable and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of calmness. Alexander had brought Jason over for a sleepover the previous night. Riley and Rowan were excited to have him around. Rowan couldn’t stop talking about how surprised he was when he woke up in the morning and saw Jason sleeping on his bed. When I was done making breakfast, I went to the dining to set the table. A few minutes later, I went over to the living room to call the kids. “Where is Jason’s mummy?” I froze as Rowan’s voice echoed through the living room. His question caught me off gu
Alexander Burke ~•~ After speaking to Olivia, I tossed my phone on the bed and made my way over to the bathroom. I wanted to have a quick shower before heading to the mall to grab some presents for the twins. I had been really busy and always procrastinating about going to the mall, so it eventually slipped my mind that I hadn’t gotten presents for them. I knew exactly what to get for them. I was also going to get Jason presents. I wanted to cheer him up, so he would be distracted for a while until I found the solution to his problem, About a few minutes later, I was done showering and I got dressed up. I grabbed my car keys and headed downstairs. But I made a quick stop at the dining room because I wanted to eat something before leaving the house. My stomach grumbled just as I laid my eyes on the platter of food on the table. I picked out a few of the meals and ate to my satisfaction. Soon enough, I was on my way to the mall. One of the staff accompanied me whil
Olivia ~•~“Mama, when is Daddy coming?” Rowan asked me as soon as we arrived at the venue. Just as I was about to respond, my phone buzzed with a text. I looked at it to see it was from Alexander. “Your daddy says he’s on his way,” I replied as I led the kids into the building. The place was already bustling with music and some guests had already arrived. I took a step back to admire the event I and my team had managed to bring alive. From the look on the kids’ faces, I could tell that they were impressed by the decorations. It was in line with the themes they had requested. As soon as Riley saw her cake, she ran over to the stand. Rowan and Jason trailed behind her while I stayed back to welcome some of the guests. On this day two years ago, my time at the party was interrupted by Ethan. I couldn’t help but scoff at the memory. The other year, the kids didn’t want a party. They wanted a birthday trip instead. So I took them to Vancouver during their birthday weekend. It was
Olivia ~•~I didn’t want the kids to know that their father was involved in an accident. It was going to ruin the rest of the party. I decided to tell only Amanda and David, so they would take care of the kids and make sure that they had the best birthday ever. I didn’t even tell the kids that I was leaving, because they would ask me numerous questions that I couldn’t give them the answer to. So, I just asked Amanda to say that I went to pick up something when they eventually asked. As I drove to the hospital, I prayed silently that Alexander was going to be okay. I didn’t want it to be something serious that would make his life difficult. Letting out a deep breath, I decided to shove those negative thoughts away and focus on the road. I wouldn’t want to get into an accident too because I was busy thinking about something else. About twenty minutes later, I arrived at the hospital. I rushed into the building and luckily enough, I saw Emily at the reception. “The doctors still ha
Olivia ~•~“Are you serious? Oh my goodness! I had no idea.” I gasped in shock when Caroline told me that her mother had passed away earlier in the morning. “I don’t think Alexander remembers. He would be so devastated when his memories come back.” “Oh, my poor brother! I’m sure he got into an accident because I told him about the news. I had no idea he was even driving.” Caroline’s worried voice echoed from the other end of the line. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I sympathized with Caroline, my voice barely above a whisper. “But do you think I should tell Alexander? Or should I wait for him to figure it out himself?” Caroline sighed. “He’s already in so much pain. Don’t tell him about it.” Caroline advised and I nodded in agreement. Telling him was just going to make everything worse. Caroline had been trying to reach Alexander after he abruptly ended the call, but was unable to reach him. So, she had to call me instead. I felt bad for her because she just lost her mother and h
Alexander Burke ~•~The fact that I couldn’t remember anything that happened before my accident was frustrating. I couldn’t even remember getting into the car. I tried my best to bring back the memories but I couldn’t. My phone even got damaged during the accident, so I had no way to look at my phone to see if I could figure out what I had been up to. One of the doctors advised me not to try to force it. He assured me that memories were going to come back naturally. So I decided to stay calm even if I was panicking inside. I was upset that I couldn’t attend the kid's party. If it was up to me, I would have stood up from the bed even with all the bandages on my head. Even if I missed the party, I was going to make it up to them later. After Olivia left for the party, Arthur stayed with me in the hospital. We spent time talking and laughing about random stuff. Arthur tried his best to make me feel better, even if every part of my body was hurting. Soon enough, the day went dark.
Mason Craig ~•~I had tried calling Riley earlier when I saw her calls but she didn’t respond. Initially, I felt she was upset because she felt I was ignoring her, but I chose to believe that she was asleep. I was washing my face in the bathroom when I heard my phone ringing. I had been expecting Riley’s call, so I rushed outside to take my phone. As I saw Riley’s name flashing across the screen, I let out a relieved sigh. “Hey.” She greeted me with a low voice. I apologized for missing her call and told her about how I tried calling but she didn’t respond. Surprisingly, she was not upset and was okay with it. Before I could ask her about the reason she called, she started talking. She wasn’t happy with the fact that my father refused to debunk the rumors and wanted me to convince him to accept her father's terms. Apparently, that was the only way she would believe that I wasn’t part of my father’s schemes. The call was a brief one because she hung up as soon as she passed her m
Chapter 230Riley Burke ~•~We were talking about random stuff, and then out of the blue, she stared at me and asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while. Have you met someone new? Are you seeing anybody?” “Emm… huh? Wha….” I stuttered as I tried to form a coherent sentence. I had no idea why I found it difficult to answer her question. It wasn’t like I ever kept my love life a secret from my mother, her question just caught me off guard. My mother was always the first to know whenever I got into a relationship or met someone new. But this time, her question felt like a trap. What if she knew about me and Mason and was just asking to see if I would tell the truth? But there was actually nothing going on between Mason and I. I mean. We hadn’t even gone out on a date. I wasn’t even sure I really liked him or wanted to date him. He just talked to me and sent me a gift basket. I let out a deep breath and cleared my throat. “I’m not seeing anybody,” I replied, my voice st
Riley Burke ~•~I called Mason’s phone severally but he didn’t answer. I was upset for a moment but I decided to calm down. I figured he would be busy with his family, due to everything that was happening. Or he could be asleep because the day was already dark. After tossing my phone on the bed, I decided to rest my head for a few minutes. But the next time I opened my eyes, I saw that it was morning. Sunlight streamed through the window, making me realize I hadn’t closed the curtains before I slept off the previous night. I blinked repeatedly as I tried adjusting to the brightness coming through the window. Letting out a loud yawn, I sat upright on the bed and reached out for my phone on the scattered sheets. As I picked up my phone, I glanced over the screen to see what time it was. But I realized I had gotten a lot of calls from Mason. I was deeply asleep and didn’t hear when the call came in. I contemplated returning the call but it was too early. I decided to wait for a l
Mason Craig~•~A few moments later, I heard a loud bang on my door, followed by my mother’s angry voice. “Mason Craig! Why did you choose to betray our family?” I had no idea how long I had been asleep for but I jerked back to reality after I heard those words come out from my mother’s mouth. I stood up from my bed immediately and walked to the door. My mother had a disappointed look on her face as the door swung open. “What are you talking about?” I asked, my brows etched in confusion. “So you decided to tell your little girlfriend about what we did? You decided to snitch and betray your family?” She questioned, her voice laced with disdain. My eyes were still thick with sleep and it took me a minute to process what she was talking about. “What do you mean? What girlfriend? I didn’t say anything to anybody.” I responded, my tone defensive. “Oh please!” She waved her hands violently in the air. “Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Follow me downstairs, your fa
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