*Jessica's POV*Tears still slipped from my eyes when Parrish tried to kiss me. It didn’t stop the fluttering in my stomach, the firework-like tension crackling between us, even though I pulled away. My gaze locked onto his, questioning, uncertain. The magnetic pull between us felt too strong, undeniable, but still I didn't want to betray Nathan.“I—I’m sorry,” Parrish stammered, his voice unsteady, breaking the silence. “I don’t know what came over me. I thought—” I stepped back, wiping away the stubborn tears that blurred my vision. “You don’t have to apologize,” I croaked, trying to steady my voice.Parrish's jaw tightened. “I shouldn’t have done that. You’re vulnerable right now, and I—”“And you just had Celeste strewn across your lap a few hours ago,” I finished for him, my words sharper than I intended. His eyes flickered, a mix of cockiness and regret flashing across his face, and for a brief second, I saw him—saw the man who had once shattered my heart.He ran a hand through
Jessica's POVI rushed home, my heart pounding wildly in my chest, goosebumps still prickling my skin from Parrish’s touch. His words echoed in my head, pulling me into a state I’d promised myself I’d never return to.*“Then don’t.”*Those words played on repeat, looping endlessly.*“You belong to me, Jessica.”*I screamed inwardly, begging his voice to leave my mind and let me breathe. It was so hard—impossibly hard—not with the history between us hanging over my head like a storm cloud. No matter how much I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t. I still wanted him, even though it terrified me. But I had to run. I had to stay far, far away from him. If I didn’t, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist, and I couldn’t afford to let him pull me back into his dangerous orbit.*“You belong to me, Jessica.”*No, I don’t! I screamed internally. Parrish Holmes didn’t own me. I had to banish him from my thoughts.When I got home, I found Nathan sitting at his desk, bent over his laptop. He glanced up wh
**Jessica’s POV**The moment I spotted Nathan and Parrish together, my stomach clenched. Nathan’s gaze flicked toward me, sensing my presence, and his expression hardened before he forced a smile. The air was thick with tension as I approached, both of them watching me, and it took every ounce of strength not to let my eyes linger on Parrish. His gaze was magnetic, trying to pull me in, but I resisted. I couldn’t let myself fall into his orbit again—not now, not ever.“I see you’ve met Parrish Holmes—my boss,” I said, my voice shaky as I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress. I tried to sound professional, to keep the mood light, praying Nathan wouldn’t see through my nervousness. Did he know? Could he tell that Parrish was the one who had shattered me before I met him?“Parrish Holmes?” Nathan repeated, his eyes narrowing as they flicked between us. Then his gaze locked on mine. “You didn’t mention your ex is now your boss.”“I—uh—I didn’t think it was relevant,” I stammered, fighting fo
*SOME YEARS AGO*It was only a few days after his dad had walked in on us at the roof top, his sleazy eyes drilling over my bare body even though Parrish had conveniently pushed me behind him while I struggled to put my clothes back on in a hurried frenzy and my eyes still wide from the adrenaline and hard liquour.After that night, I had resolved to see that night as a one night stand even though we never actually stood or better still lay together. I didn’t think I was going to see him again but a few days later, I had just stepped out of my professor’s office after a long day of lectures and assignments and I was prepared to just fall into my bed and sleep when I bumped into someone just on my way out. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. I – ” I stopped when I looked up and saw that it was Parrish.“You – ” I said, surprised to see him.“Me,” he humored me, then he smiled, a sweet smile that went all the way to his cheeks “You didn’t give me your number, so I never thought I’d see you again.”“I
“No fucking way!” Sophie yelled out loud the moment I brought the idea of the double date when I met her for drinks later that week. I had called her to talk things out and also present my request on the table. I never told her about watching Parrish fuck her brains out while I brought myself to a climax. It was the cocky look on Parrish’s face that had angered me even, even though I had every right to be be mad at her about it – so I had to make it my little secret.“Consider it like an atonement for your sins” I said.“You want me to lie to Nathan who’s like the nicest guy on the planet.” Sophie said and I sighed.“He’s suspicious for some reason and – ”“There’s no reason he should be suspicious?” Sophie asked me.“No of course not, but I know Nathan, he’s going to start obsessing and I can’t deal with that right now. I just don’t need that and this double date is the only way to get Nathan to forget about it and know that Parrish is off the market, he needs to see it – to hear it
“No Nathan, wait – just listen to me.” I yelled helplessly, running after him when he turned around swiftly, catching me off guard and nearly tripping me. I could see the anger etched on his face, the look of betrayal tainted his eyes when he looked at me, and it broke my heart to have him look at me like that.“Nathan – ” the desperation in my voice was obvious.“I don’t even know what to say to you anymore,” he yelled, pointing at me.“This – it doesn’t mean anything, Nathan, we were just talking.” I tried to move closer to him, to will him to look at me with softer eyes.“I have done nothing but be a good boyfriend to you, Jessica. I was there when you had no one, when he broke your heart and – ” Nathan was going to say something else but he stopped halfway, like he shared a knowing look with Parrish, but it was only for a brief second before his eyes drifted back to me and he went on, “I have loved you every passing moment, so what now? You want to go back to him?”“No – ” I breat
*Some drunken years ago*The fluttering feeling in my stomach was euphoric as I ran into the water at the beach with Parrish breezing silently behind me. The sand beneath my feet, the gentle sound of waves crashing against the shore, and the cool breeze caressing my skin under the moonlight – all added to the enchantment of the moment.My foot prints disappeared in the soft sand as I sprinted through, and squealing in delight when Parrish swept me off my feet effortlessly with my hands grabbing his hair to support myself even though he had no problem doing that but I always needed a excuse to touch him, to feel his skin next to mine and enjoy the electricity that coursed through my vein at his touch. I wrapped my skinny legs across his torso now, my hands around his neck and our skin damp from the crashing waves. With a simple movement, I moved his hair out of his eyes. His eyes, sparkling like stars held an undeniable magnetism that drew me closer to him. When he looked at me, I fe
*Present*My eyes shot open with Parrish’s last words to me clouding me head, and when I realized the bed was empty and Nathan didn’t come home last night, I began to panic. I sat up suddenly and running my hands through my already messy hair, I picked up my phone from the bed side table and called Nathan countless time but each time it kept going to voicemail.My heart pounded in fear, I didn’t want to lose Nathan, I didn’t want to throw everything we had away, everything we had built so far. “Nathan pick up please.” I cried into the voice but instead the metallic voice of the receiver screamed back at me.I jumped down from the bed and dressed up for work but firstly I had to see Nathan and I knew the only place he’ll be will be by that time in the morning would be at the law firm so I took a quick uber before I went to work. As I stepped into the grand lobby of the law firm, the polished marble floors reflecting the soft glow of chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The air bu
PARRISH’S POV“Oh damn” I exclaimed as I peeked at my watch to find out I had drowned myself in work way too long this time, it was crawling late into the night but I was still seated at my desk pushing myself into files that didn’t need my attention at all. But it was the only way to keep her out of my mind – damn it was even harder to say her name. I fucked, I knew I had fucked up but I never thought she’d find out what happened all those years ago. When Sophie had called me with panic in her voice and all teary, I knew that it was over – I was going to lose her for good. When she texted that we were done, I figured that it’d be for the better. I had done so many things to hurt her, so many unexplainable things that were unforgivable. So I figured, maybe we weren’t meant to be, maybe I was just a passing figure in her life that was created to hurt her and that thought alone nearly drove me over the edge of insanity. But that was what I did – I let her go.I glanced at my phone for w
JESSICA’S POV“Stop” I said, looking into his eyes as his brows knotted in confusion and he pulled away for a bit “I’ll appreciate it if you don’t try to kiss me anymore”Matteo stayed quiet, he had a curious but surprised look on his face that somehow seemed to brighten the darkness in his eyes but only just a little bit.“I told you this changes everything, I’m not about to be in another scandal with my boss – I’m over it”Then he gave a low chuckle “And if it was Marvis?”“You’re messed up in the head” I threw him a dirty look and pushed past him but he held me back by my arm.“Don’t walk out on me, no one walks out me Jessica Peters” he had had his jaw fixed, some sort of annoyance festering in his eyes “Where I come from, that’s the last thing you’ll ever do”I felt instantly infuriated by his words, I wasn’t scared of him – yes, he towered over me, his upper body area was properly built and looked firm to touch even from his expensive looking tailored suit, and also he was my bo
MATTEO’S POVI felt Jessica’s stare burning a hole into the back of my neck as I revealed I was the CEO of this fine establishment and this was the last way I wanted her to find out that I wasn’t just a flimsy manager at a flimsy restaurant but I actually owned it.“Get him out of here” I signaled the doorman to excuse this gentleman away because the last thing I wanted was a pompous prude talking down on my employees. I turned back to face Jessica who still had her hands covering her mouth and her eyes wide with shock.“Come with me” I said immediately before she could dwell further in her theatrics, I walked out of the building to a covering at the side that could give us privacy and when he reached there, she spoke first.“You – ” was all she managed to let out, pointing her delicate fingers at me and I stood amused“Me?” I repeated“You’re – you lied about your identity, why did you lie?”Why did I lie? That was an interesting question that I had no answers to because why did I ac
JESSICA’s POV“Why are you not picking, I’ve been trying to call” I heard Parrish’s voice from outside the door while I remained quiet in the house and hearing knock tirelessly.“Jess – please open up, I know you’re in there” he went on but I stayed quiet and watching him quietly with my chest silently hurting and tears rolling down my eyes but I couldn’t bring myself to actually talk to him, to set my eyes on him and raise in the conflictions in my chest.“Jessica – I talked to Sophie, just me hear out, talk to me please”My heart only sped but still I refused to move from where I stood because talking to him meant I had to see his face, meant I had to let him use my weakness for him to earn my forgiveness, it meant letting him seduce me with his eyes and taunting me with his buttery voice.“Jessica – ” he kept knocking “I won’t stop trying to get you to speak to me”Then he retreated to leave, I watched him walk away while I sent him a text that embodied my emotions“We’re done”I w
PRESENTJESSICA’S POVThe evening sun dipped below in the horizon, casting a warm glow over the tranquil lake where Marvis and I sat. I had just finished narrating everything to him from how it happened from my end and point of view, from losing my pregnancy to how Parrish eventually broke up with me and for the love of Christ, I couldn’t figure out at what point Sophie had come in. Had she always been sleeping with him behind my back and smiling in my face after or had it been a one night of irrestible desire, I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to know because either ways I knew I wouldn’t be able to forgive both answers.“So that’s what happened” I said finally and Marvis sighed not taking his eyes off me as I narrated the whole ordeal.“Wow!” he finally murmured, breaking the silence that settled within us “That’s crazy”I nodded, staring out at the water rippling softly in the fading light, then he asked me “So about Parrish, are you going to confront him about it at all?”I let t
SOME DRUNKEN YEARS AGOJESSICA’S POVIt was the week after my father had died and had been buried already. It had been the longest and most agonizing week of my life and it didn’t help much that I was beginning to feel like Parrish was being distant even as we were living together at that point. He couldn’t meet my eyes when he managed to speak to me, he claimed he was giving me the space I needed to grieve my father but I felt like it was something else, I knew it was something else but I just couldn’t place my finger on itJust until that fateful night, I woke up in the middle of the night, my entire body gripped by a sudden sharp pain. At first I thought it might have been another bout of morning sickness that usually chose to attack me in the middle of the night or perhaps the stress of losing my father finally catching up with me. I was merely three months gone and sometimes it was better to ignore that I was pregnant at all to kill the overwhelming that plagued me of not taking
“You” Marvis pointed surprisingly at me, like I was the last person he expected to be crouched down in a random parking lot and crying my eyes out. Immediately, I wiped my tears and stood up to his height, well half his height judging from how well he towered above me. He was still dressed in the same suit as he had on earlier, which was at all not surprising just the fact that he was standing before me now with a curious look on his face.“You’re crying” he said as a matter of fact.“Well no shit Sherlock”“Why?”I gave him a strange look, dragging my sleeves across my nose wiping the snot that threatened to drip “Do you just expect me to tell you why I’m crying?”He returned my look with an equal strangeness in his gaze “I mean you got the job you wanted, I’m wondering what else could be making you cry especially in public like this”“So you’re trying to say there could be absolutely nothing else going on in my life except my desperate need for a job?”He shrugged nonchalantly, and
“I need to get out of here” I said immediately, standing up from the chair and ready to dash out of her office but she stopped me immediately.“Jess – wait” she stepped in front of me immediately, grabbing my arm. The guilt was plastered boldly allover her face followed by the glossy look in her eyes which looked like her eyes getting clouded with tears and I rolled my eyes.“You have got to be kidding me” I scoffed “I thought Nathan was just being jealous, I thought he was trying to sow a seed of doubt in my mind so I could go back to him but oh my God, it’s a full grown tree – ”“Shit Nathan!” she smacked her forehead “You were not supposed to find out this way – ”“Or at all?” I cut through. “You were never going to tell me, weren’t you?”“I was going to tell you okay, I was going to tell you. I told Nathan about it on the night of the engagement party but I didn’t think he was going to tell you” her gestures screamed exasperation and she had a tone of urgency like she desperately
“What the hell!” I gasped looking at him in horror with a pounding heart “Are you following me now?”“I was peacefully enjoying my meal when I saw you walk in to meet him. What are you trying to prove? How do you think that makes me feel huh? It’s barely been a week and you’re rubbing it in my face, gallivanting your new boyfriend around –”“It’s not like that Nathan, how was I supposed to know you were here at this particular time?”“Bullshit” he spat, still backing me up on the wall and leaving no space for me to breathe but I managed to push him away the amount he was willing to budge which wasn’t very much.“You know what Nathan? You’re going to have to find a way to deal with this and stop – stop this”The look he gave me after that statement was murderous, like something had ticked inside him giving his eyes a weird kind of glaze that I wouldn’t lie scared the shit out of me.“I’m going to have to find a way?” he scoffed, then pushed back unto the wall with my back slamming hard