BellaI woke up to my usual routine of bath, breakfast and work. I have to admit, being wealthy was quite boring. I missed relating with my fellow college students, reading my novels and most importantly, staring at cute seniors.Like every typical pretty girl — maybe not typical, I was not a part of the cheerleaders group. I was part of the band. I found it fascinating and less cliche.One would think that since I had chosen a masculine path, I should be stronger than I was, stand up for myself and fight for what was mine.Nope! I only joined the band to avoid heart piercing and “outfit removing” glances from the guys around. The band uniform covered things that the excessively short cheerleader costumes couldn't.Not like I hated men, I just didn't think they were worth it. They were all horny animals and I was far too intelligent to fall prey to any of them.But there's this guy, alright…I was welcomed by a pleasant surprise at breakfast.“Nana!” I shouted in excitement, running to
BellaI felt a storm rage inside of me, the clouds in my mind were thick and heavy with anger and ready to cause some damage but I didn't understand why somewhere, somehow, my heart still ached.I could have sworn that I was over it and time had healed my wounds but in that moment, I felt someone rip off the bandage, leaving my unhealed wound bare and had still laced it with chili.“Is that who I think it is?” I sent the question into the empty space.I just had to find out if it wasn't my imagination playing crazy tricks on me so I jumped up to go find out.I maintained eye contact with her as I walked out but as soon as I opened the door…“Did you see any woman? —A little short, small boobs which she pads up to deceive men?” I asked the first person I saw.Petty? Maybe a little.“No?” I asked.“No,” the old man who was walking down the street answered. “No one was here.”“Is she haunting me now?” I stepped back in to call Xander and he answered rather quickly.“I think Beth is arou
XanderI walked into her room and she was already sound asleep. She looked so peaceful when her eyes were closed, the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. I wanted so badly to kiss her lips as passionately as I did the first night we shared. The same lips she had used to work her way over and around my hardness.I loved how she was so innocent to the rest of the world but I brought out the beast in her. Just staring at her gave me literal chills.She's tamed me and I loved it and hated it at the same time.I picked up the duvet from underneath her body and used it to cover her up. It was quite chilly tonight and I couldn't bear the thought of my little candy catching a cold. She moved a little, but not enough for her to realize my presence and completely wake up. I saw a book slightly open beside her and I picked it up to drop it on the bedside table but something caught my eye. I opened it and I saw that it was her diary. I know I shouldn't be prying in her private life, at l
BethI remembered how pretty she looked and I couldn't help but flare my nose in disgust. She's happy! I've always wanted her life but I never got it. She was the prettier one, the smarter one and was about to get married to the most eligible bachelor in town and after taking it away from her, I thought I had won for the first time!I deserved it, right? Someone chose me over her for the very first time. If you were in my shoes, wouldn't you have taken it too?Now, she's married to the wealthiest and the most good looking Rivera and it seemed like I pushed her towards her breakthrough by taking Hardin away from her.He even built a freaking company in her name! If he wanted to do it to scorn me, he had already succeeded and in good measure too.After the wedding, Hardin realized that I wasn't all that. One day, he asked me if I could help with the finance documents and I couldn't. I held onto this one document for hours unending. I even used Google countless times but—He got mad an
Bella“Morning,” I whispered as I woke up, yawning with my mouth wide open.I didn't want to go back to work, especially after what happened between Mr. Rivera and I the previous day.“What if he fulfills his threat and appears today?” I thought to myself, terrified of the unknown. Nothing had prepared me for the trials I was going to face.I wanted to go and tell Xander that I wasn't cut out for it anymore and I wanted to back out but he'll probably scoff at me and call me weak!I braced myself as I stepped into the bathroom to have a bath, my body hurting from yesterday's encounter.I had shut my eyes tightly to let the water cool my body when…“You're still as beautiful as ever,” I heard a familiar voice say and my eyes flew open, not caring about the soap I had applied all over my face.I quickly placed my hands over my breasts to cover it as I saw the speaker, his eyes filled with the same kind of lust I had seen on our wedding day.“What the hell are you doing here?!” I shouted.
BellaMy heart was racing fast and I turned to look at Hardin with fear in my eyes. If it was Xander, we would both be dead.“Who’s there?” I answered, trying to get a clue as to who it was but nobody answered. It was Xander, for sure.I sighed heavily when I opened the door and realized that it was only Mary, my new assistant here in Miami.She stood there, smiling bashfully at me. Her smile pissed me off but there was nothing I could do. She was excessively shy and that's why she didn't respond when I asked who was at the door.“Ma'am, the boss requests your presence downstairs.”“Why does he want to see me? He never has requested my presence before,” I thought to myself, imagining the worst.I was glad he did anyway. It was the perfect escape from Hardin.“In a minute. Hold on for me.”I walked briskly to get the easiest dress I could find then I realized that I hadn't even completed my bath! Even my hair was still a mess.“Let's go, Mary,” I said to the young woman, turning back t
Bella He rolled his eyes as he grabbed a handkerchief from the bedside drawers to wipe his face. I know I should have apologized but I didn't have much of a shock absorber built in my system. “Is this going to be a regular thing?” He said spitefully and I could tell that he was upset. “I'm truly sorry. I didn't mean to— Wait, you knew?!” “You really do think I'm an idiot, don't you?” I placed my hands over my belly and looked at him, catching his intense stare. “How— how long have you known?” I managed. The way he looked at me made me a little uncomfortable and I stood up from beside him. “Since day one,” he answered gently. I wondered why he was so casual about it. “Is that why he hasn't tried to touch me?” I came up with assumptions in my head, justifying his actions. “I hope you haven't been nursing thoughts of running away with my baby. I can't bear the thought of having my baby sleeping in the street. You're carrying a Rivera.” “Tsk! Drama queen.” He added. He
Bella “Why did you tell him?” I asked again, gently this time. She didn't say anything, but I knew she was still on the call because I could hear her breathe. Her breaths were slow and lacked coordination which was how she reacted when she was tense and had something heavy on her mind. “Well, out with it!” I shouted, losing the little patience I had. “He made me do it,” she finally spoke very quickly. I could tell that she shut her eyes when she did. “He made you do what?” I said, almost in a whisper. The way the conversation progressed scared me. My life had been full of more downs than ups and if for anything, I knew this was going to be a ‘down’. I clenched my fist, ready for whatever was coming. “He threatened me if I didn't do it….” “Do what? You're not telling me anything, Bern. Help me out! Did he threaten to kill you? Did he molest you? What?!” “He had been following you around for a long time. According to what he told me, he's been following you around for about
Daniel Scarlet Vine loomed before us as we stepped out of the car, its neon sign pulsing in the night like a heartbeat. A club for the elite, it was said that a night with one of its infamous escorts could cost more than a middle-class man earned in six months. Courtney slipped her arm through mine as we approached the entrance, her touch light but possessive.“Please protect me from the men in there, Tom Cruise,” she teased, her voice laced with irony.I ignored her, keeping my eyes ahead. We navigated through the throngs of dancers on the floor. A tall man in dark glasses materialized without uttering a word. He nodded for us to follow, and we did, threading our way through the maze of bodies until he led us to a secluded game room.The room was empty, save for the remnants of someone else's night—a pool table with a triangle of balls still in place, a table tennis setup with the net discarded, and empty cups scattered across the surface, the aftermath of a game of beer pong. Anoth
Daniel I pulled away the moment the car started moving, scrubbing my lips against my sleeve as if it mattered. The woman beside me, who I'd just kissed, was smiling widely, her eyes dancing with amusement."Don't even think about saying anything," I snapped, but I knew she wouldn't care."You really know how to put on a good show," she chuckled, her voice light, teasing."Oh, shut up.""Is that how you treat a woman you just kissed so passionately?" she mocked, her expression exaggerated, almost playful.I didn't respond. Instead, I turned to the window, watching the city blur by in streaks of neon and darkness. It was a Friday night, after all. People were pouring out of office buildings, heading to bars, clubs, wherever they could lose themselves for a few hours.But I couldn't stop thinking about what happened in the office. About that text from Bella.Bella had texted me earlier, asking me to come by. I wasn't planning to—there were more urgent things on my mind. The text above h
Bella I spun around just as the door flew open, and the sight before me made my heart drop. There she was—Lilian—bound and gagged, struggling to speak but only managing muffled, frantic noises. A huge man with a buzzcut was dragging her inside, his muscles bulging as if they could snap her in half. He was trailed by a much smaller, wiry man, nervously shifting his weight from one bony arm to the other, his tank top a strange choice for someone so frail. “Here she is,” Buzzcut announced, tying Lilian to a chair with a roughness that made me wince. Xander slipped his phone back into his pocket, nodding in approval like this was the most normal thing in the world. “What’s... what’s the meaning of this?” I stammered, confusion and horror swirling inside me. “Why is she... Oh my God, is that her bone sticking out of her leg?” I gasped, the sight turning my stomach. “She’s the one who sabotaged my dad’s company,” Xander said, his tone cold. I shot him a glare. “You mean my compa
Bella“What are you doing here?” My voice came out in a breathless whisper, shock rendering me immobile.Xander was in my apartment, perched on a chair as if he'd been waiting forever. His disheveled hair and bloodshot eyes told a story of their own. He was still wearing the shirt from earlier, now stained with sweat, as if he’d thrown it on in a rush after our... encounter. But if he was in such a hurry, why hadn't he followed me? Why was he here now, looking like someone I barely recognized?He didn’t answer. Instead, he toyed with a loose thread on his sleeve, eyes cast downward.“Answer me, Xander!” I demanded, my voice rising. I wasn’t in the mood for one of his games, but there was something off about him. Something... different.Finally, he spoke, his voice low. “As you were running after David, I asked you something. You never gave me an answer.”My shoulders relaxed, just a little. “His name is Daniel.”“And I don’t give a fuck what his name is,” Xander snapped, his voice sud
Bella“You pushed me away like you always do, Xander. You make me feel like I’m someone to you, then trash me. I’m a woman and I have needs. I want surprise flowers and a new dress with a note that says, ‘Dinner at nine’. Daniel was there for me. It’s the least I can do.” I said all of that in one breath before dashing out. I made for Daniel’s house, speed walking without taking a single moment to see how Xander reacted. I kept scratching my hair like I had lice. The rain wasn't helping either. I was drenched but it didn’t matter. I didn’t know what I was going to say to him when I found him. I just wanted to look into his eyes and feel them.I didn’t have to walk too far. I stopped at the glass doors to the popular bar. I watched him take a huge gulp of his cheap beer before yelling at the bartender to get him three more. What had I done? I broke him.“Daniel, I didn’t know you drank,” I said in a low voice, standing a little away from where he sat at the bar counter. He didn’t look
Bella“Ma’am?” Rita, Xander’s assistant, called out to me, and it looked like she had been watching me for a while but I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice. “What are you doing here? You have someone here as well?”Thank goodness she gave me the sweetest lie ever. All I had to do was nod slowly in agreement. Nana was someone to me too so it wasn’t really a lie.I gave off a sigh of relief. I should have known Xander was never one to give away flowers to random women. I gave her a quick smile and turned to leave. I couldn’t face Nana after lying on her grave and I didn’t have any flowers to offer too.“You’re leaving?” Rita called out. She clearly wasn’t someone who knew how to mind the business that paid her and that was to drop off the flowers.“Yeah, I remembered that I left something really important at the office. I’ll need it tomorrow. You know how the boss gets.”I didn’t really forget anything at the office but I wanted space and I didn’t want to go home. Lately, the a
Xander“Hi Xander,” the private investigator I had hired two days ago, said over the phone. “We have found the person who sabotaged your wife’s company. What should we do with her?”A woman, huh? I didn’t think it would be a woman. I pulled the phone away from my ears slowly. “Maybe Beth?” I thought, peering out the window. I thought it was Hardin for sure. I guess I judged too quickly.Whoever it was, I decided that I had to teach her a lesson. Just a small one to teach her and everyone else, to stay away from my woman. “You know what to do. Hand her over to my men and they’ll take it from there."I hung up the phone and dialed another number immediately. “They’ve found her. I want her alive but in a state that will please me. If she can still walk, you’re fired.”I was about to leave the office when Hardin pushed the door open and walked in. He appeared furious but I really didn’t care. “What?” I asked him, grabbing my keys off the desk. I had somewhere to be and I could sense that
Bella"You're late!" He roared when I got to the company three minutes after eight. "This is why your company's struggling. Work starts by eight. What are you teaching your employees?"What the..."It's only a few minutes after—""It doesn't matter. I see you grew lazy when you stopped working for Versa Link. I'll have to teach you discipline, again because I won't have you acting however you want in my company." His company? Isn't it our company? I ignored curious glances from everyone as I walked to the board room for the introductory meeting. I took my seat at the designated area and took a deep breath.I was about to open my laptop when the doors opened and he walked in. He was late by a minute. I squinted my eyes at him but I couldn't afford to let my emotions show so I fixed my face."Good morning everyone. You are all aware that Versa Link now has control over Rivera group. I look forward to working closely with you all."I noticed exaggerated giggles and smiles from some of th
Bella His name is Daniel! I shouted in my mind but that was the least of the current problems. “Unless of course there’s a reason why you can’t?” He continued, leaning towards me. What was he trying to get out of me? “He’s one of the best people on our team.” I really hoped that was going to cut it. “He’s hardworking and intelligent and—” “I have a head of operations myself and as you know, I don’t employ lazy or unintelligent people. Mine will serve excellently.” Damn it! “Unless there’s another reason why—” “I can’t, Xander. He has been loyal to the company. He stuck with us through the good and bad. I can’t just kick him out. That will be utterly unfair.” My palms were already sticky from the sweat I produced in the well ventilated room. This man drove me crazy. How do I tell Daniel that he's fired from the company? I hope Xander changes his mind and there’s some humanity in that broad chest. He stood up and buttoned his suit. “I have a meeting soon so make this quick.”