CHAPTER 4.
IRENE'S POVCOULD IT BE LOVE, lust or everything that was in between these two?Could it just be unfitting passion?My mind was filled with an array of thoughts, lots of thoughts that I could feel filling the blank spaces of my heart.My mind was darkness and l was nothing but a craft made from it, taking the form of whatever it chooses.I was married quite alright but to a stranger, that became more strange aa the days trickled byI didn't know how to qualify what I felt for him. All I was aware about was the attraction budding inside of me at how attractive he was.How can I love a man I know nothing about, loving him with so much more complications than the blissfulness it came with.It didn't take too long to know we do not fit into each other's life, the moment I had walked through the hallway of his penthouse.The moment I had taken a left turn Into his bedroom, I knew immediately that I did not fit into the life of this man, I just had to adapt to it.Adaptation itself was not a problem if James was even around to make it look but with each day that passes I was seeing less and less of him.I tossed and turned on the bed, shutting out the thought of the previous weeks out of my mind, adamant that I was going to make today one of those few good days that were rare of late.I swallowed and tried to will my body into complacency of what I want, willing it to manifest as I tried to maneuver nature into what I desired.Like those other mornings, I couldn’t stop the rush of anticipation from zinging beneath my skin as I gave my head a small shake in frustration.The truth was, whether I liked him or not. And I didn’t. The idea that I might get to see him everyday made the feeling complicated and I hated it, but I didn’t know how to turn it off either.Our term for marriage was—We were tied down to a contract that no one among us could break—Nothing more.I padded Into the bathroom watching as the faucet drizzled warm water on my skin that was so in need of it.Taking the long steps all the way down to the dining room I was surprised to see him at the table dressed in only slacks."Good morning." I said taking my seat across the table.He looked up from the business daily he was reading and nodded his head.I wanted to know why he was home as as if he could read my mind-"Get yourself to rest after breakfast. We will be going for a Meeting with some of my partners." He said without even sparing me a look.The fork dropped from my hands and clattered against the cold tiles, it was only the fork but I could feel my heart falling the same way.A maid made an effort to come help me pick but I raised my hands stopping her and wiping my lips with a napkin till it had the color of my lip gloss."But-""No buts and I am listening to no excuse, just get yourself ready."He folded the newspaper and dumped it in the bin as he made his way up, I could see our picture on the front page with the caption Young Billionaire found Love.Could that be why he was angry?To avoid his trouble, I was down before he dressed in a black dress.He barely looked at me as he made his way down, walking out with me trailing behind.The chauffeur helped with the door as we drove out of the Estate.The city passed before my fresh eyes as we drove out of his Estate. We lived in a classy, spacious community in town where the majority of the influential people stayed.The only neighbor you could see from the backyard was a rich business woman, unmarried and always wanting to flirt with James whenever she came around.It looked like James had no interest not only in me– Though I made up the majority of it; but also with other women as well at least that’s what Marcus told me when we had a discussion once.James seemed like a nice guy when looking from afar but if you took a deeper look you'd see the darkness in his eyes.Our neighborhood was quiet and private, and I’dalways assumed James loved his quietness.We pulled into the main highway, as we drove all the way through traffic lights.The trip was quiet with neither of us saying a word to each other as we got out.Soon we were driving into the garage of what looked like a company with the Chauffeur getting the door as we got out of the car that was black, just like his Soul.I walked out of the car timid as we made our way out to the costly apartment.Who hosts parties on a hot Saturday afternoon …I thought to myself as we made our way in."Smile." He leaned in and Whispered into my ears.I wondered what was there to smile about anyways but I did regardless.A stunning woman walked toward where we were."Damn." James groaned out and rolled his eyes just as she reached where we were."This is the last place I expect to see you." She said before glancing toward my direction."What are you doing here Katherine?" He asked" Won't you introduce us? She said looking at my face again." You don't deserve us, you are cocky and end up with the pretty ones."Fighting an eye roll." Irene–my ex Katherine, Kathy my Wife Irene."A pet name I couldn't help noticing, he used a pet name for his ex.I told the two I needed a drink and walked away to use the ladies before the waiter came around again.I got back and looked around and could find no sign of them around, I took the hallway walking toward the garden I had seen her pointing to earlier.As soon as I stepped into the garden the cup dropped from my hands shattering against the floor.Right there was him, kissing her …CHAPTER 5IRENE'S POVI froze, my heartbeats slowing like they’d been moulded and dropped against the ground making shattering noises.I shouldn't feel this way right? Since I wasn't tied down to the contract.That wasn't the case here, I felt every pain that came with having your heart broken and the fact was I didn't know why.Maybe it was because deep down I demanded a kind of loyalty from him, I expected that he treated me justly the way I had with over over the last one month.I stood there at a spot, I could feel every pain that came from my heart and soul as my body quaked.One hand clutched my chest, perhaps you stop my heart from fall right through chest, the other muffling my lips from actually screaming out his name.The anger and disappointment were like a leash around me that kept me from taking another step.My breath stopped for a minute, and when it started again I felt the need to leave that spot, I couldn't do it anyone.As I turned, I bumped into a vase that had be
CHAPTER 6IRENE'S POVI WAS stupid enough to do any of this but certainly not this.The last time I had made a decision drunk was over four years ago and it had ended up with a scar deep in my heart nothing could get it offYet this man, something about him felt so alluring all I wanted that moment was to kiss him.It was a war between the right and wrong.A tug-of-war between temptation and common sense.I could feel all the will of common Sense slip slowly out of me in my drunken state and just when I thought I would bury my lips into his and kiss him amidst the heavy rock and roll music my phone rang.I stared down at my phone, then at the caller…rolling my eyes at both."Someone important?" He asked.I could see the impatience in his eyes as well, he wanted to get over the kiss and as much as I would have loved to kiss him back that moment I couldn't.In a way I felt James' eyes all over, he couldn't be here or he wouldn't be calling but still it felt kind of Weird."Yes." I answ
CHAPTER 7JAMES POVI wasn't sure of how to deal with everything as it looked new to me —This whole marriage situation.An intuition played in the back of my mind, sending a wave of uncertainty through me. I thought of possible ways everything could go bad and it numbered too much.Kathy had left soon after Irene stomped off, at first I had been shocked seeing her standing there before it registered in my mind that at the end we were actually married.I had called her name after a few while but that was it—I returned soon enough to Katherine who was adjusting her dress with a smirk on her face.It looked like she got what she wanted already, and I stupidly fell for her the snare she laid.In a way I had done what I felt was unthinkable—I had paraded my mistress right before my wife—contract or none.It left in me a feeling demanding to be made fact.What if she decides to pull out of all this…I couldn't help thinking to myself.At the end it turned out to look like I'd be the one t
CHAPTER 8.IRENE'S POV.I COULDN'T deal with everything, right before were two men that were trying to play masculine supremacy.I saw a flash of red, as I stared at them—From Nathaniel bleeding face to James angry one.The two men were agitated…For a minute I thought Nathan would come right at him, but he didn't. He just backed away from him.Looking back I saw two of the guards walking out, perhaps that was why Nathan had walked away.Watching as the car drove out of the park, I saw it turn round the bend and I was left with my husband.“Get her to the room.” He said as his guards approached us."What-" Before the words could leave my lips, I was lifted and dragged across the room.I banged my fist against the man but there was nothing I could do about all of this, at least more than give pretty screams.The guard dropped me in the room and shut the door, locking me in.All I wanted was to clear my head, after everything that had happened— it looked to me that he should be the o
CHAPTER 9IRENE'S POVHe would have asked for anything at that moment and in a way I would have done everything, done everything and the truth was I don't know why?Perhaps, it had to do with the life I was born into, in a way it was dark, so dark but at the same time it was transparent.I knew his world was darkness, I had seen it underneath his eyes as soon as I had signed the contract.In a way he made me aware of the fact that even something so good has its shadows.It took just a few seconds between drowning in his words and floating again and this time as I did I found myself walking…just waking like someone hypnotized.His words were compelling, and without even wanting to or even knowing it, I found myself walking toward him slowly.I should hate this man, I really should…in a way, I felt the need to stay detached from this man, as indifferent as I possibly could, but as the words got to me, I couldn't do anything to stop myself.In a way I could not even recognize the pers
CHAPTER 10IRENE'S POVFear. Panic. Anxiety.Name it.I felt all at once, in one giant rush down my nerves.His warm hands around my neck made me…Absolutely inexpressive of my emotions.I didn't know how to react to any of the emotion's budding up in me like a flame, blooming into something passionate.The good thing about all of this was that something deep down in a part of me was screaming in whispers that I shouldn't react to him this way, but the crazy side of it all was that I wanted to think with this side— I wasn't thinking with my brains at this moment but another organ entirely.I was thinking about an organ with a pulse.Maybe I shouldn't have it with him?Yet I knew this was going to happen anyways…“No one-” The rest of his words came in rasps.Rasps breathed again my neck, down the nape.I looked into his eyes, fully aware that he could easily be as dangerous as he looked.He watched me with that same darkened look as he leaned against me, pulling me closer by my ne
CHAPTER 11.JAMES POVLooking at her, all I could think about was how I was going to deal with the whole situation of having he there right where I wanted.She was the most crude of all I had met and in a way, I felt the need to refine her.The hatred in her eyes was glaring, I had seen the intensity in them even before she caught me earlier in the day with Kathy.Deep down, I felt a kind of remorse that she might be feeling the pain — probably jealousy from seeing me with another woman, I wouldn't ignore the fact that she actually slapped me.It had come to me when I least expected it, and roused not only the demon from my past, but every dark emotion I had in myself at the moment.Her eyes widened as she saw the strap in my hands, the grin upon my face anticipating what was to come.In a way, I felt the need to devour her, there was a need to take her in many ways and any way I wanted.I was going to make love to his woman if she consented or not.She tried wriggling free as I reach
CHAPTER 12IRENE'S POVIt was pretty fastThe manner by which the change in attitude came, One moment he was all cool and well collected and the next he was like a demon ripping every layer out of me shred by shred, regardless I felt the need to stay away from him as much as I could.I could as well tell Marcus everything but reverted to doing that as I wanted to deal with him totally on my own.It was kind of comical the way he switched emotions pretty fast.One moment he didn't want to have anything to do with me as I was forced to another bedroom on his request,seconds later he is all jealous and tries to take advantage of me.At moments like this, I wondered to myself if I was dealing with the same person as it turned out to be, he was certainly someone with a dual personality.I thought back to that blissful night that came before the contract was signed— it was certainly the first time I had seen him smile or ever acted all kindly— Was that all a facade?Was this a fate I had s
CHAPTER 135JAMES.I wouldn't have been this worried if I didn't get her text that looked to be in distress, it was hardly twenty minutes that she walked out when suddenly I got a notification on my phone beeping in an emergency.She had been complaining about having weird calls and texts and it was Marcus' idea that we set the safety app up, so we would be able to track ourselves.I was still on the phone talking to Marcus and telling him about the sudden appearance of my mother when the notification came in.As I made my way down the stairs, as fast as I could an awful squeak cut through theair and somehow settled under my skin.I made my way out and saw that she was nowhere around the garage.My phone beeped again with a live location this time, slowly I could see the red round indicator moving away and hitting the main road.At first I thought she might have been going with my mother to heaven knows where,but looking around I saw her purse laying in the ground. My heart skipped ma
CHAPTER 134JAMESIt was still hard for me to believe everything that was happening, well that doesn't matter. I was prepared to make sure she spent the rest of her years behind bars for how she acted out toward me.I couldn't believe that I had been dragged into all of this and was naive all along.It was only two months since I got out of my accident and things had been almost perfect between us.It looked as though we've come to a mutual understanding in fixing anything that was going on between us.We just had to fight it — We just had to fight the fact that we were two people not willing to give into admitting flaws.It was hard to ignore her. Whenever she was near, an invisible string pulled me toward her in a way that we couldn't resist. Gradually we were building back what looked to be broken. It was the only sane thing at that moment as it was impossible for us to just get ourselves back immediately.The feel of having do close left a vibrating feeling behind with the promis
CHAPTER 133JAMESThe first thing I noticed when I fluttered my eyes open was the fact that I was in an empty room which I did not seem to recognise. I winced at the harsh light coming through the window and instantly closed my eyes back up.For some reason I couldn’t turn my head an inch. Even the thought of doing that made me wince in pain. A frustrated grumble escaped my throat at the fact that I was clearly clueless and oblivious of my surroundings and there was nothing I could do to change that except to wait for aid which didn't seem to be coming.Judging by the stiffness of the bed I laid on and the feeling of Iv on my hand, I came to the conclusion that I was in a hospital bed. If that didn’t confirm it then the terrible headache I was having and the pain I felt all over my body definitely did.“For how many hours have I been laying down here” I wondered in silence. Giving up on all attempts to get myself up and waiting for anyone to walk into the room. Judging by the light co
CHAPTER 132IRENEThere was just one wish in my heart and at the tip of my tongue. That all these was a dream and I will wake up back in my apartment but I knew it wasn’t. This was real, this was my reality and I will have to face it no matter how cruel it might seem.I sighed for the umpteenth time watching as the nurses did their job. I had been sitting here for the past hours, waiting for some form of miracle to happen and James to wake up, I just refused to let the fact that he was going to die into my heart. I just refused to agree that I am going to lose him forever.“No! Absolutely not!” I chanted to myself, shaking my head vigorously in the process. James is strong, he is going to survive this. There is no way in hell he was going to die after all he had gone through. It just wasn’t meant to be like this. James is not supposed to die. NoI stared down at his face, his calm and peaceful face and I realized just how much I missed him. How much I missed looking into his eyes and
CHAPTER 131IRENEMarcus stared at me intensely from his side of the table, swirling his spoon around the plate of food in front of him. His gaze seemed to be directed at me but in reality he was deep in thought with his hand supporting his chin.I was still a bit sick but it was not as severe as it used to be so I had no trouble just sitting down and watching him think, waiting for him to spit out whatever was taking up most of our time together.After a long moment of silence, he sighed heavily, dropping the spoon from his hand and turning to face me completely now. “Irene?” He called.I did not honor that with a reply, instead I just looked at him to tell him I was present and listening to whatever he had to say.“How are you doing?” He inquired. It might sound like it was just a normal question but I could feel all the underlying questions from just looking into his eyes. The unspoken question was actually “how are you dealing with everything? How is your sanity now that James is
CHAPTER 130IRENE“I’m tired of everything, I want James back and I can’t leave without him and I feel like I’m dying.” I said almost choking on my own tears.Marcus was so comforting as he was quiet as he let me rant all I want in his embrace. It’s been so long since I had someone to hug like this and now that I got someone I didn’t want to let go.“I want him back, I can’t let Addie have him forever because I won’t be able to live without him.” I said crying deeply as gently wiped off the tears from my eyes.I finally released myself from my self bondage grip and it was then I remembered the blood of Marcus' body.He looked at me worriedly which made me shiver as I had a very unusual feeling inside of me.“W…what happened to you? Why are you covered up in blood?” I asked, looking at his hands which were covered in blood. His white shirt was also covered in blood but I couldn’t spot any injury on his body.“It’s not me, something happened to.” He said calmly holding my two hands like
CHAPTER 129IRENEI felt like screaming my lungs out to ease the intense pain I was currently feeling in my head but looking at it logically, screaming might only increase the pain so I refrained from doing so.Instead, I squirted my eyes to reduce the amount of light entering into it which in some weird way is only adding to my pain. My heart kept pounding in a way it had never done before, at least not when I am fine.I clutched onto my duvet for dear life, still shivering and gritting my teeth despite the fact that I was under layers of bed coverings. My throat felt so dry and the thought of passing anything through it at the moment made me gagged, but considering the fact that I had vomited more than I could count during this short period nothing came out but air.Overall I felt terrible and after a long moment of denial and thinking it was probably stress which would be gone if I just rested, I finally reached the conclusion that I was sick and I would need to see a doctor in or
CHAPTER 128IRENEI looked around lazily and picked up my phone to check the time. It was already evening and I groaned wishing I woke up the next morning.Now I had to Dave the burden of actually being in this life which was enough of a burden on its own. Everyday I wished it was the next because I wanted to get over everything.By now James would have been engaged and my heart ached as I thought about it. I sniffled hard because I didn’t want to start crying again.The love of my life was getting engaged to someone and it wasn’t me, he was the only one I wanted and now he belonged to someone else and there was nothing I could do.It became hard for me to stop myself from crying so I undressed and went into the shower.I turned on the warm water and gently scrubbed my body like there was no life left in me again.Everything felt so slow and I felt there was no use for anything again, it was all useless now.I got out of the shower and got dressed into a big top and walked out of the
CHAPTER 127JAMESI looked around and the sight of everyone cheering all in my name was so disgusting to me, especially since I didn’t want any of this to begin with.Everyone who walked past me would wave at me but Ignored most of them anyway as I was trying my best not to flare up because I was very upset.My sister noticed this from across the room and our eyes met, I looked away but I knew she was still going to come over anyways.She smiled at me and walked gently approaching me.“Why aren’t you putting on a smile? It’s your happy day. You should be happier than anyone here.” My sister said gently patting my suit like she was about to dust something off it.I looked around the crowd in the area and now the whole hall was jeering with noises from each corner of the hall.“When is this going to end?” I scoffed with a big frown pasted on my face.I didn’t even care about all of these arrangements and all the guests here because I was not happy with any of it.“Look over at your beau