Alexander ~•~“I’m seeing someone, so it isn’t appropriate to kiss me anymore.” My eyes widened in disbelief as I heard Olivia say those words. When she said she had to talk to me about something, I didn’t expect it to be about a new relationship. “You’re seeing someone else?” I asked, trying to figure out if I heard her correctly. “You’re seeing someone else?” I repeated. I didn’t want to believe she was seeing someone else. “Yeah, I am.” She responded. But those weren’t the words I wanted to hear. I still didn’t believe it because a part of me felt she was just saying it to push me away. “Who? Who are you seeing?” I was curious to know who the man was. My heart was already breaking and my frustration was growing. Olivia heisted and I stared at her in anticipation. “Ethan.” She replied in a low tone and I felt my chest tighten. I couldn’t hold myself back. “Your ex, Ethan? The coworker?” I asked, my jaw tightening. I knew Ethan liked her but I never thought she would settle fo
Olivia ~•~“So you still don’t know your plans for tomorrow?” Ethan asked as he walked me out of the office to my car. It was the weekend and I had no idea what I was going to do. I shook my head. “I don’t have anything planned. I’ll just stay at home with the kids.” I replied as I unlocked the car door. Ethan placed a kiss on my forehead. “Let’s do something tomorrow with the kids. Maybe go to a nice restaurant for lunch.” Ethan suggested and I shrugged. “I don’t know about that.” Yes, Ethan was close to the kids, but I didn’t think it was a good idea to go out for lunch with him and the kids since Alexander was still around. Ethan’s brows furrowed. “Why?” He asked, with a puzzled expression registered on his face. “Is it because of Alexander?” I didn’t want to talk about Alexander and I didn’t want him to press further, so I decided to agree to having lunch with him. “We can do lunch tomorrow, the kids will be happy about it.” Ethan’s face lit up with a warm smile, clearly
Olivia ~•~“Mama, Uncle Ethan is here!” Rowan burst into my room, his voice bubbling with excitement. “And Mama, your dress is beautiful.” He added, staring at me with admiration. I smiled with pride. “Thank you, sweetie,” I replied, feeling grateful for his kind words. “Tell Uncle Ethan I’ll be out soon,” I said, giving Rowan a gentle nudge towards the door. When Rowan left, I did the last part of my makeup and walked over to the floor-length mirror to see my final look. Rowan was right, I looked so good. With a final glance in the mirror, I grabbed my bag and headed for the living room. As I walked outside, all eyes were on me. “You look so stunning!” Ethan confessed, a hint of admiration in his voice. Riley chimed in with a beaming smile. “My mama is so beautiful.” I blushed, taken aback by their kind words. My simple black bodycon dress with a subtle slit had made a bigger impact than I anticipated.“Thank you, guys,” I said in appreciation, meaning every single word. “Shal
Olivia ~•~“Stay inside the car,” I instructed Ethan before walking towards Alexander and the kids. Lunch was already messy and Alexander's showing up made it worse. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my brows crippled in disbelief. “I specifically asked you to wait until tomorrow but you still showed up anyway.” Alexander’s tone turned defensive. “You lied about who you were going to lunch with.” I did lie, but that wasn’t the point. The point was that he didn’t listen to me. He just did whatever he felt like doing. How did he even know where I was? “Alexander, how did you know our location?” I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he would say. Was he watching me? “I had no idea you were here, I only came out to grab lunch,” Alexander responded but I could tell he wasn’t being honest. He probably found my location and figured we were having lunch with Ethan, then he showed up to cause havoc. “If you say so. You could’ve just pretended like you didn’t see us, and walked in
Olivia ~•~“Maya, can you please come over?” I begged immediately after she answered the call. I had been trying to reach her for over an hour but she wasn’t responding. “Olivia, what’s going on? Have you been crying?” My slightly cracked voice must’ve given Maya a hint. “I’m sorry, I was busy earlier, so I couldn’t pick up the phone.” I sniffed back my tears before speaking again. “I have no idea.” The thought of everything that happened made me want to tear up. I also didn’t want to talk about it over the phone. “Please can you just come?” I asked, a hint of urgency in my voice. “Sure. I’m on my way.” With that, I hung up the call and resumed crying in my pillow. I had tried Ethan’s number several times but he still didn’t respond. He only sent me a text, saying he would send his driver to drop off the kids later in the evening. Was it that bad that he didn’t want to see me anymore? I started to regret my actions. I could’ve told Ethan about it as soon as it happened. I could
Alexander~•~I knew I wanted Olivia back but I never imagined myself doing something like this. I felt she wasn’t being completely honest about who she was having lunch with, so I decided to pay someone to spy on her. I let my emotions get the best of me when I found out she was having lunch with Ethan and MY kids at an Italian restaurant. The fact that she lied about it made me more upset. I thought about what to do for a while. I was skeptical about showing up unannounced but I decided to pretend I was just going to have lunch and the meeting was a coincidence. A frown formed on my face when I saw the twins inside Ethan’s car. Ethan’s confrontation fueled my rage and I didn’t know when I spilled the information about the kiss between me and Olivia. I wanted to flex on him because I felt he was doing too much. But as I looked at Olivia, I knew I’d gone too far. The jury in her eyes told me she wouldn’t forgive me easily.After they all left the restaurant, I went inside the res
Olivia ~•~Just as I was about to park in front of his gate, my phone flashed with a notification saying I had a new text. I unlocked my phone to see it was from Sandra. [Stay away from my man, Olivia! Leave him alone or I’ll deal with you.] I rolled my eyes in annoyance as though she was present in the car with me. Was she seriously threatening me? The bitch had a lot of nerve to even contact me. How did she even get my number? I was already having a bad day and her text just made everything worse. “What the fuck?” I sighed inwardly. If only she knew how badly I wanted her self-acclaimed man to leave California. Frustrated, I dialed the number. I needed to warn her about the nonsense she just did. I watched as the phone rang continuously but I was pretty sure she didn’t have the nerves to pick up her phone. “Stupid bitch.” I cursed through gritted teeth before ending the call and stepping out of the car. I walked to the gate and knocked gently. As soon as the security saw me,
Olivia ~•~Alexander couldn’t stop blowing up my phone. Even when I blocked his number, he constantly called and texted me with a new number. He even called me through Caroline. After she convinced me to just listen to him, I agreed to meet up with him the next day. However, I asked him to come over to my house. I didn’t want to be seen with him in public. Even though Ethan was mad at me, I already assured him that I wasn’t going to speak with Alexander anymore. When I woke up that morning, I called the kid's nanny and asked her if she could watch them for some time. Luckily enough, she agreed even if it was her day off. I didn’t want the kids to be around when Alexander would arrive. I didn’t want them to hear us arguing. I had a lot of anger coursing through me and I didn’t want to lash out in front of them. After preparing for the day, I drove the kids over to their nanny’s house. “I’ll miss you, mama,” Riley said, her voice tinged with sadness.Initially, she didn’t want to
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
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