JUDITH POVI never planned for any of this. It all started the day I slept with Matthew just to save Emma. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, a moment of desperation where I traded my body for something I thought was more important. I convinced myself that it was just a transaction, a simple deal with a clear purpose. There were no emotions attached, no lingering feelings, nothing beyond the physical act. That was what I believed. But somehow, Matthew and I fell into an arrangement— an agreement that neither of us had discussed but both of us understood. No strings attached. No commitments. Just sex.At least, that was how I saw it. And that is who I am.Matthew, on the other hand, treated me differently. He didn’t just see me as someone to sleep with. He started showering me with gifts, things I never asked for but somehow always received. Cars, money, expensive jewelry— he made sure I had more than I needed. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but over time, it became overwhel
EMMA'S POVI tried to hold back my tears as I entered the cab, my hands trembling as I shut the door behind me. My heart pounded against my chest, and my breath came out in short, uneven gasps. I told myself I wouldn’t cry. Not now. Not in front of the driver. Not when Liam was still running toward us, his voice calling my name, growing fainter with each passing second.The driver, an elderly man with tired eyes and a kind face, glanced at me through the rearview mirror. His gaze shifted between me and the figure of Liam, who had stopped in the middle of the road, watching me leave. His hands were on his knees as he tried to catch his breath."Are we waiting for him?" the driver asked, his voice gentle yet curious.I felt a lump rise in my throat. I knew that if I turned around, if I allowed myself to look at Liam for even a second longer, I would break down completely. So I clenched my fists, dug my nails into my palm, and forced myself to speak."No," I said quickly, my voice barely
HANNAH'S POVI had been planning this for weeks, carefully thinking through every little detail to make sure nothing went wrong. Now, everything was finally falling into place, just the way I had envisioned it. Jason and Emma’s wedding was only a few weeks away, and if I wanted this mission to be successful, I needed to act fast. There was no room for mistakes, no time for second thoughts. Jason was deeply in love with Emma, and I knew he wouldn’t leave her unless something drastic happened— something that would shatter his trust completely. That’s exactly what I was going to make happen.Liam was the key to everything. He was my golden ticket, the perfect tool to execute this plan. He had history with Emma, and despite everything, I knew she still had feelings for him—even if she refused to admit it out loud. It is normal for everyone. It was clear in the way she had reacted when she saw that Liam was back in town. The little hesitation in her voice, the way her eyes had flickered wi
EMMA'S POV"Can I come in?"Liam's voice pulled me back to reality. I had been so lost in thought that I barely noticed how long I had kept him standing there, waiting for an answer.I hesitated, gripping the doorknob tightly as my mind raced. Should I allow him in? If I did, it would only be the two of us inside. The thought sent an uneasy feeling through me. Only God knew what would happen.A part of me wanted to close the door in his face and pretend this moment never happened. I could act like I had never heard his voice, never seen his face again, never been reminded of everything we used to be. That would be the easiest thing to do.But another part— the part I didn’t want to acknowledge— wanted to let him in.I still liked him.The realization made my stomach tighten uncomfortably. I had spent years convincing myself that I was over Liam, that our past was nothing but a closed chapter in the book of my life. I told myself he didn’t matter anymore, that my heart had healed, and
EMMA'S POV No… No…I stood up from the couch, my legs trembling slightly, my heart racing so fast it felt like it would burst out of my chest. Liam stood up too, his eyes locked onto mine. As he took a step toward me, I instinctively took one back. I didn’t trust him— not like this.My mind was at war with itself. Should I scream for help? Should I try to push him away? Or should I just let him speak, let him explain whatever it was he wanted? But before I could come to a decision, he suddenly reached out, grabbing my waist and pulling me toward him.My breath hitched. His touch was unexpected— too soft, too smooth, as if his hands had never known hard labor or roughness. It sent a shiver down my spine, and not in a good way. I froze as his fingers moved lower, sliding from my waist downward. A sinking feeling formed in my stomach. I knew exactly what he was trying to do. He wanted to grab my ass.Panic surged through me. I reacted immediately, stepping back as fast as I could. But m
EMMA'S POVLiam came over to my place, and his goal was clear— to destroy things between me and Jason. And guess what? He succeeded. But the real question is, why? First, it was Daniel and Simon, and now it’s Liam. What exactly do they all want from me? What did I ever do to deserve this?I felt anger rise in my chest as I thought about what Liam did. He made it look like the two of us had sex, just to convince Jason of something I still don’t understand. And now Jason is gone. My Jason. The man I love. The man I planned to spend my future with. And it’s all because of Liam. And I regretted letting him inside the house.I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug into my palms. A sharp pain ran through my hands, but I didn’t care. I wanted to break things, but not the things in my house. No. I wanted to break bones. Liam’s bones.Anger is something I have always struggled with when I was a kid. One of the reasons I lived with my aunt almost all my life was because my own mother c
EMMA'S POVI saw the shock on Liam’s face the moment he stepped into Hannah’s doorway. His eyes widened, his lips parted slightly, and his whole body went stiff as he took in the scene before him. His gaze flickered from me to Judith, then to Hannah lying motionless on the floor. The horror in his expression was almost satisfying. He wasn’t expecting me to be here."This is just getting interesting," Judith muttered beside me, gripping the baseball bat even tighter. Her knuckles turned white from how hard she was holding it.The anger I had let go of after beating Hannah up suddenly returned in full force. My blood boiled as I locked eyes with Liam, and at that moment, I knew I wasn’t done. There was still unfinished business. There was still more pain to give."Hand me the bat," I said, my voice low but firm.Judith didn’t hesitate. She passed the bat to me without a word, and as soon as my fingers wrapped around it, I felt power surge through me. Liam finally seemed to snap out of h
EMMA'S POV The police car came to a sudden stop, jerking me forward before I could even process the past few minutes. My wrists, still bound tightly behind my back, ached from the metal cuffs digging into my skin. My breathing was steady, but my heart pounded, adrenaline still coursing through my veins. The door swung open abruptly, and before I could shift my weight, two officers grabbed me roughly, yanking me out like I was some kind of terrorist. Their grip was firm, unyielding, as if they were afraid I might try to run.But I wasn’t running. Not now.The cold night air hit me like a slap to the face, sending a chill down my spine. My hair, once neatly styled, now hung in messy strands around my face, slightly damp with sweat. The dim glow of the streetlights reflected off the wet pavement, casting eerie shadows around the station entrance. I took a slow, deep breath, trying to steady myself as they marched me forward.As I stepped into the station, my eyes darted around, scanning
VERONICA'S POV:I got a call that the city council meeting will be held by 3:00pm in the afternoon. My aim is to build a strong team which will support me when needed.I am secretly building my team. I got dressed, I made sure to wear the best clothes and I hired a convoy to escort me to the meeting. “Madam, you look so pretty”. My new assistant, Bella said as I came out to enter the car.“Thank you”. I got into the car and we drove off.When I got to the meeting venue, I saw different candidates who were interested in becoming the mayor of the city.I need to influence these people so that I will be the mayor, and I will do it either by crook or by hook.And the first step to take in order to achieve that goal is to dig into their past and expose any secret that will make the masses not vote for them.I will get very close to them and strike when they least expect it.I walked into the conference hall with a smile on my face. Everyone looked at me in shock except the head of the pa
DANIEL'S POVWhen I left the restaurant I went straight to my mother's house. I needed to know if she had a hand in the incident that happened last night.When I got to the family house she was in the garden sipping her juice and holding a newspaper in her hand.“Why did you ask someone to drug me last night mum?”. I asked her as I got to the garden.“Now, you can't even greet your own mother and you walked in here rudely and accused me of drugging you”.“If you didn't drug me, then who did? You were the one that arranged a blind date for me”.“What evidence do you have to prove that I drugged you?”.I was speechless at her question. And the way she spoke so calmly it seems she is innocent of the whole thing.“I don't have any evidence yet, but I will definitely get to the bottom of this”. I said to her and tried to walk out but she stopped me. “I want you to go to the office, there is urgent work that needs your attention. I will help you investigate who drugged you. But if you have
CHERRY'S POVI woke up when I heard the noise in the room. I opened my eyes to see a nurse and big sis with her fiance in the room.When I checked the time, it was 10:00am in the morning. I stood up to go and say hi to my big sis and her fiance.“You are finally awake, sleepy head”. Big sis said with sarcasm.“Actually it was the game you downloaded on the phone that made me sleep late. I played the game till 4:00am this morning”. Her eyes widened at my words and I smiled shyly.“Mum, how are you? Do you feel better today?”. I asked my mum who was playing a game on her phone. “Yes, my dear. I feel so Much better today”. She said with a smile on her face. “I have already met the doctor and he said she would be discharged home this morning”. Big sis fiancé said with a calm voice. He looks so handsome.My stomach rumbled loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear. I felt like slapping it. Must it tell everyone in the room that I didn't feed it last night? No one will believe me an
DANIEL'S POVMy eyes opened gradually because I was trying to adjust to the light in the room.When I tried to turn my head, I felt an excruciating pain. I had a migraine. I heard a noise that sounded as if someone was sobbing. I covered my eyes with my palms in order for me to open my eyes.When my eyes opened, the first thing I noticed was that I wasn't in my room. Where was I? My eyes observed the room until it met a lady sitting on the bed while sobbing. I didn't recognize her at all.“Lady, what's going on here? Why are we both in this room? How did I get here?”. “Are you pretending not to know what happened last night?”. She asked with a furious facial expression. “I am clueless right now. Please explain to me what happened?”.“You forced yourself on me yesterday because you were drugged. And it's my first time. You took my pride away”. I looked under the duvet and noticed that I was naked. I tried to remember what really happened last night.I was able to remember a litt
CHERRY'S POVWhile I was in the hospital, I decided to step out for a while and explore the hospital, with Miss Emma's permission, I left.On my way to the ground floor, I bumped into Daniel's mother who looked so unhappy.“You are the one that I saw with Daniel, right?” I nodded and greeted her. “Please I need your help, I think my son is in some sort of trouble”. She said in a panicked voice.I wanted to ignore her and tell her that I won't help him because he betrayed me.But I thought of it again and decided to help, not for Daniel's sake but for the sake of his mother.“What can I do in this situation ma'am?”. “He needs his inhaler. This is an expensive inhaler and this only works for him. I would have gone there myself but my daughter is in labour right now and I need to be here for her”.“Alright I will give him the inhaler”. She gave me the address of the restaurant and also money to get there.I treated this matter as an emergency. I was so worried about him. I almost fough
DANIEL'S POVI packed the car at the underground parking lot with a screeching sound. I got down and took the elevator upstairs to meet up with Simeon.When I got to his apartment, he was on a call. “I killed her because she was ready to expose me and the bomb implant was already removed by the person that kidnapped her. And I want you to find out who this person is as well because he is also a threat”.What is Simeon up to now? And who did he kill? I hid myself so that he wouldn't know that I had been eavesdropping on his conversation. I knocked by the time I noticed that he was done with the call and he asked me to come in.“What's up man?” I asked with a mocking smile on my face.“It's been bad. Veronica wants to ruin my life but I won't let her do so”. He complained with gritted teeth.“That's why I didn't fight much for the baby because I knew that Veronica would be an issue in my life. So why did you call me here? Do you have any plans?”“Yeah I do have a plan. I want you to p
EMMA'S POVI woke up the next day with pains all over my body. I couldn't even get off the bed.When I checked the time, it was 1:00 pm at noon. How could I have slept for so long? And Jason didn't even bother to wake me up.Maybe he didn't want to disturb me but I planned to visit the office today.I searched the table close to my bed for my phone, that was when my eyes caught a paper that was folded.I took it to read the content.Good morning or probably afternoon depending on when you must have woken up. I had to rush to the office for something important. I made breakfast for you. You can eat and have some rest. I will be back to eat you, you were so delicious last night”I blushed at his last sentence. I wanted to go to the office today to attend to some official matters but since he is there, I will stay back.I need to go and see madam Susan to know how she's faring. I need to find out their financial situation.I freshened up and rewarmed the food he made. I ate the food be
DANIEL'S POVWhen I turned around, I saw someone I never expected to see, and my heart skipped a beat. What was she doing here, of all places?"Mum?" I blurted out in shock, my grip loosening on the silly girl’s hand. The moment I let go, she clung to me even tighter, wrapping her legs securely around my waist as if her life depended on it."Can we leave the pool now? I'm scared," she whispered softly into my ear, her voice trembling slightly.Without hesitation, I lifted her out of the pool, holding her close. My mother stood nearby, her arms folded, her expression one of pure disgust as she watched us."I want to see you inside immediately," she ordered, her voice sharp and filled with anger. Then, without waiting for a response, she spun around and stormed off, her heels clicking furiously against the floor.Just as I was about to follow, the silly girl in my arms started sneezing uncontrollably. Worried, I quickly reached for a towel hanging on the pool railing and wrapped it arou
DANIEL'S POVI came back from the office feeling so tired. I couldn’t concentrate at work; all I thought about was her smile and playful behavior.I came home early because of her. I wanted to see her so badly. I was sure she would lift my mood and make me feel better.I thought of a way to make her come over, and a perfect idea popped into my mind.I called Rose to prepare the same meal she mentioned the day she came here.I also instructed her to call Cherry over once she was done cooking."Master, Miss Cherry was really worried yesterday. Though she didn’t say anything, I could sense it," Rose informed me."Why didn't I notice this when she was with me?""She was fine when she was with you, but after you left, she came asking for you. She said she needed your help with something.""Why didn't you call me and tell me about it?" I got mad at Rose."Master, you said we shouldn't disturb you when you're at work. That’s why I didn’t bother to call you." She was right. I had actually ins