DominicI found the room the guy went into a few minutes later, stuffing the rest of the syringes I had found in the doctor's pocket after finding out how effective they were, and I gripped one of the syringes in my hand as I went.If I had any more luck left, I would be able to snuff the guy with this and leave with Juliette.Guess I didn't have any left because the first thing that greeted me on entering the room was a bullet to my head that I barely managed to dodge.The next thing I knew was a fist hitting my face and the breath leaving my lungs as the guy slammed me straight to the floor, and he climbed over me almost immediately.The fuck?!How did he...It was almost as if he knew I had been coming."Who are you?"He asked as I finally managed to see past the pain that had spread all over my face, thanks to his punch, and I took in his features.The brown eyes, the sharp jaw, the crooked nose...The fact was I didn't know him; neither did he, because he had asked that question,
Dominic "Dom..." "Can you hear me?" Arghhh! I winced once I tried to move on the bed, where I opened my eyes hours later, and I found my friend's face right in front of mine when I finally saw past the blur that had greeted me once I came to. "Dom, can you—" "Yes. Fuck! I can hear you!" I managed to sit on the bed with his help, groaning at the pain that went through my whole body, not to talk of my arm that felt like it was glued to my shoulder. Ah… a cast. Fuck, I was in the hospital; it was quite obvious by the beeping machines beside me and the very distinct smell of antiseptic. I glanced at Luke when he sat down on the stool beside me, "What the fuck happened? I met you unconscious by the roadside." Right! Juliette. Fuck! I sat up even more, or tried to, making him more alarmed. "What?!* "Juliette. What of Juliette?" "Juliette? Oh right... You said she was with you... Wait..." He paused when he saw the look on my face. "Fuck! Was she... Oh my God, was she in the ac
Juliette Oh God. They were inside already. I could hear the pleasantries they were exchanging along with the unnaturally high voice of Summer trying to warn me. Oh God. Who was it? James? Vanessa? Nah, there was no way Vanessa was here to see Summer. Summer literally hated her guts and didn't even hide it most of the time, so it wasn't her. As for James, I hope not. I don't know who else could possibly be here and chatting so brightly with— "So, Mr. Cole... What can I offer you?" Mr. Cole? Which Cole? I only knew about two to three Coles that I couldn't even bring to mind now because of how exhausted I was, but I did know most of them to be business partners I've related to before. Wait, is it that Cole? I leaned closer to the door and strained my ear in the guest room where I was hiding when I heard them start their conversation again, though I couldn't really hear what they were saying now. "... Juliette..." I felt my heart skip a beat right before
Dominic "Wife of Winchester Properties CEO, Mrs. Juliette Winchester-Wright, announced dead one week after admission into a mental institute. Sources say..." Shit! Shit!! Shit!!! I couldn't believe him. Really? He announced her dead?! Did he do that as a part of his strategy or because he didn't know what had happened at the facility? I mean, something could have happened to make him clueless, but I wasn't sure about that. Luke adjusted himself beside me in my study and waited for me to say something. I really had nothing to say, to be honest. Her best friend knew nothing about her whereabouts, I knew nothing about her whereabouts, and she was still nowhere to be found, meaning she could as well be dead. Arghhh!! I ran my hand through my hair and sat back down behind my desk. What do we do now? Well, I did have an idea of what I wanted to do, but I needed a plan. One strategic plan that isn't going to end in a dead end. Ah! I sat up in my seat and tu
DominicI put on my jacket later that evening as Luke went through the information I had gotten from Jude beside me in my bedroom yet again. I collected the tablet from him and dumped it on the bed."Staring intently at the information won't give you a more dangerous reason why I shouldn't go alone. It's already dangerous enough, and I'm still going.""But at least let me go with you.""And let your mother kill me?""We'll probably both be dead, so it wouldn't matter."I smiled slightly and placed the black cap I had worn the other day on my head again. "Just sit tight and wait here. Putting both of us at risk doesn't make sense; besides, I need someone to be here to take over if things do go sideways.""I..."I looked away from the mirror against the wall and gave him a look. "It's going to be fine mostly, so don't worry."At least that was what I was hoping for since it was quite certain that the person I had fucked over due to interfering with his job wouldn't welcome me with wide
Dominic"And why would you think that?" I asked after a few moments of silence."The fact that it took you that long to say anything... among other things.""Other things? What other things?""You aren't denying it."Fuck.It was almost as if I was playing into his hands and doing exactly what he wanted. "I—""You also have quite the history with her. Friends as kids, or was it just the relationship between your parents that brought you guys together? The nerdy kid and popular girl, it must have been tough hiding your crush from everyone."Fuck! He was—he did do his research, didn't he?How did he even—I flinched and glanced down at the glass in my hand when he proceeded to pour out another glass of whiskey for me.What...I didn't even realize I had finished the first drink."What are you doing? Why are you doing all this?" He raised an eyebrow as I slid the now-filled glass of whiskey away from me. I just didn't like this feeling at all, the way things were going."What?""This—
Juliette Five years ago,His smile.Or should I say nervous smile.That was the first thing I had noticed in the tall—but not intimidatingly tall—dude when he handed me a napkin a few minutes after spilling his drink on me in front of everyone in the main hall.It had been an accident, obviously, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he had just caused a scene and embarrassed me at such an important event.Ugh, I couldn't believe it.I collected the napkin and turned away from his sorry face to clean myself, dabbing aggressively at the large stain on my white dress."I'm sorry. I didn't mean...""Of course I know you didn't mean it; you already said it like a million times, so you can go.""I...""This is the female restroom. In case you haven't noticed.""Oh."He glanced around the place like he was just realizing where he had followed me into, and he stepped away, flustered."Uhm... Sorry, I'll wait outside."I rolled my eyes and groaned again when he finally made it out, realizing
JuliettePresent day,God, it was cold.The air, my bones, and the thin top that was barely wrapped around my frame—it felt as if the cold was seeping slowly into my skin, then bones, like a nightmare of a drug."F-f-fu-c-ck." I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to stop the intense trembling of my teeth.I shouldn't dwell on that though—the cold. I had more important things to do, like looking for her. Olivia.I moved forward through the woods and tried to listen to her voice that I had heard about a minute ago.It was faint, but I had heard it distinctly—the desperate feel and the fear in it."Mum..."I whipped my head around and tried to wade through the darkness again."Mum...""Mia!""Mum!""Ethan!"My God, where were they?I couldn't see through the darkness, and the thorns weren't making it easy to wade through the forest."Mum!" I heard it again, but this time, very close to me and sharper. I turned around only for something to grab me and drag me down into an abyss of
Juliette"Ugh!"I threw the most recent paper I had cut out from the note beside me on the floor alongside the other ruffled papers I had tried to work on.God.I couldn't just think of something.Going public? Sure, that would probably cause a lot of damage and bring up a lot of questions he wouldn't want surfacing, but it could also go sideways real quick. I had to think of my kids, the plot of my revenge, and how deeply I wanted it to hurt—and I wanted it to hurt really badly.I had to think of the best way to hurt them.But to do that, I needed to know why he had done it. Why he had pretended for years...*"Your marriage was planned, meeting him was planned, everything was planned, even the amount of children you're meant to have. All of that was planned."*I mean, if it had been planned, why did he...I sucked in a breath and stood up to go get a bottle of wine from the cabinet before returning to the living room, where I gulped down half of its contents. I shouldn't be thinki
Dominic"What were you thinking?! Kidnapping the girls and bringing them here!""I was not the—oh." I shut my mouth and watched as my best friend's face—I wasn't even sure what relationship we had—the guy in black or Blade. We'll go with that for now."He was the one who said I should bring her to him if she's still alive.""I didn't—""Maybe, but not without her permission, and then you just had to add her friend!""Bro." I took a deep breath, watching as Blade stood up from the couch and advanced on Luke. At first he was intimidated, but then I saw the stubbornness in his eyes that was so familiar. I think Blade saw it too because he sighed and moved past him to the mini bar."Do you really think she would have been like, Oh, right, I remember you. You're the guy that almost assassinated me back at the "fake mental facility" where my husband and my stepsister confined me to because they wanted to take over my company and follow me?""That's not—""And for the friend, she was going t
Juliette Fuck!My head was aching, my eyes heavy, and my body sluggish when I came to a few hours later—at least that was what I was hoping for.God, where am I?The feeling of the ground beneath me made itself known at that moment, and the memories of what had actually happened came crashing in with it too.Oh my God.Did—was it James who had kidnapped—The question didn't complete itself in my brain before my vision finally cleared and I saw who it was in front of me.A guy.He looked familiar..."Juliette..." He said it like he was trying to see if I remembered him, and I did.Dominic Cole.I had seen him a few times on the news and in meetings back when I was the CEO, and... Oh my God, was he not the one who had come to look for me in Summer's house?The—Fuck! He was working for James, as I suspected.He didn't get whatever he was about to say next out of his mouth before I was lashing out at him and trying to get away, but...I did a double take and paused abruptly when I saw t
Dominic Just after a month of Juliette apparently getting admitted into a mental facility and then being announced dead due to suicide, guess who became the major shareholder of Winchester Properties.Yes, you guessed right.James Wright, her husband.The one person I really didn't want to associate with after my knowledge of everything he had done."Mr. Cole." I put on a smile anyway and shook his hand the next day after he was made the major shareholder and chairperson in Winchester Properties, looking like the grieving father and husband he apparently was.God, I was fuming, but ..."Mr. Wright." I maintained my smile and led him to the seat opposite my desk in the office after I pulled my hand away from his."So how are you doing?" He asked."Good, I guess, and you?""Well, as good as anyone who is still grieving the death of his wife." I smiled tightly and picked up a document to hide the scowl in them. I couldn't really hide after sitting down behind my desk."So... You said y
JuliettePresent day,God, it was cold.The air, my bones, and the thin top that was barely wrapped around my frame—it felt as if the cold was seeping slowly into my skin, then bones, like a nightmare of a drug."F-f-fu-c-ck." I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to stop the intense trembling of my teeth.I shouldn't dwell on that though—the cold. I had more important things to do, like looking for her. Olivia.I moved forward through the woods and tried to listen to her voice that I had heard about a minute ago.It was faint, but I had heard it distinctly—the desperate feel and the fear in it."Mum..."I whipped my head around and tried to wade through the darkness again."Mum...""Mia!""Mum!""Ethan!"My God, where were they?I couldn't see through the darkness, and the thorns weren't making it easy to wade through the forest."Mum!" I heard it again, but this time, very close to me and sharper. I turned around only for something to grab me and drag me down into an abyss of
Juliette Five years ago,His smile.Or should I say nervous smile.That was the first thing I had noticed in the tall—but not intimidatingly tall—dude when he handed me a napkin a few minutes after spilling his drink on me in front of everyone in the main hall.It had been an accident, obviously, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he had just caused a scene and embarrassed me at such an important event.Ugh, I couldn't believe it.I collected the napkin and turned away from his sorry face to clean myself, dabbing aggressively at the large stain on my white dress."I'm sorry. I didn't mean...""Of course I know you didn't mean it; you already said it like a million times, so you can go.""I...""This is the female restroom. In case you haven't noticed.""Oh."He glanced around the place like he was just realizing where he had followed me into, and he stepped away, flustered."Uhm... Sorry, I'll wait outside."I rolled my eyes and groaned again when he finally made it out, realizing
Dominic"And why would you think that?" I asked after a few moments of silence."The fact that it took you that long to say anything... among other things.""Other things? What other things?""You aren't denying it."Fuck.It was almost as if I was playing into his hands and doing exactly what he wanted. "I—""You also have quite the history with her. Friends as kids, or was it just the relationship between your parents that brought you guys together? The nerdy kid and popular girl, it must have been tough hiding your crush from everyone."Fuck! He was—he did do his research, didn't he?How did he even—I flinched and glanced down at the glass in my hand when he proceeded to pour out another glass of whiskey for me.What...I didn't even realize I had finished the first drink."What are you doing? Why are you doing all this?" He raised an eyebrow as I slid the now-filled glass of whiskey away from me. I just didn't like this feeling at all, the way things were going."What?""This—
DominicI put on my jacket later that evening as Luke went through the information I had gotten from Jude beside me in my bedroom yet again. I collected the tablet from him and dumped it on the bed."Staring intently at the information won't give you a more dangerous reason why I shouldn't go alone. It's already dangerous enough, and I'm still going.""But at least let me go with you.""And let your mother kill me?""We'll probably both be dead, so it wouldn't matter."I smiled slightly and placed the black cap I had worn the other day on my head again. "Just sit tight and wait here. Putting both of us at risk doesn't make sense; besides, I need someone to be here to take over if things do go sideways.""I..."I looked away from the mirror against the wall and gave him a look. "It's going to be fine mostly, so don't worry."At least that was what I was hoping for since it was quite certain that the person I had fucked over due to interfering with his job wouldn't welcome me with wide
Dominic "Wife of Winchester Properties CEO, Mrs. Juliette Winchester-Wright, announced dead one week after admission into a mental institute. Sources say..." Shit! Shit!! Shit!!! I couldn't believe him. Really? He announced her dead?! Did he do that as a part of his strategy or because he didn't know what had happened at the facility? I mean, something could have happened to make him clueless, but I wasn't sure about that. Luke adjusted himself beside me in my study and waited for me to say something. I really had nothing to say, to be honest. Her best friend knew nothing about her whereabouts, I knew nothing about her whereabouts, and she was still nowhere to be found, meaning she could as well be dead. Arghhh!! I ran my hand through my hair and sat back down behind my desk. What do we do now? Well, I did have an idea of what I wanted to do, but I needed a plan. One strategic plan that isn't going to end in a dead end. Ah! I sat up in my seat and tu