Is Ben joking? He has to, right? “Tell me you’re joking,” I scoff as I say this to him, but he looks dead serious.“I wish I was. Mitch is on his way back to America as we speak. He says that he is going to explain it all to our parents; him cheating on you with me, absolutely everything,” He replies to me as he sips his hot coffee.He keeps adjusting his hoodie to cover his face as if he is hiding from someone or hiding a part of his face.“We fought about it last night at the hotel, it is where we have been staying since we found out that you were here in China. We came here to try to make things right with you, but something changed in Mitch when he came back from seeing you yesterday,” Ben continues to explain, and I listen to him attentively.“He was distant, and when I told him that I wanted him to be mature enough to choose between you and me, he went ballistic,” Ben says as he sniffles.“And that’s how you got that bruise on your face,” I guess, and he nods.“Yeah, he was so
“He seems…very masculine,” Ben comments once Chris has left, and I chuckle.“That’s a distinct way of describing a person,” I reply to him as I sit next to him on the couch.“I guess he does,” I say after I take a few seconds to think about it. That adjective fits Chris perfectly for some reason.“I didn’t know you were gay,” I look at Ben as I say this in a soft understanding tone.“Neither did I,” He replies to me in a similar soft tone.“You and I know that I dated only girls in high school, and at some point, I was even very homophobic,” He reminds me, and I nod slowly.I remember that Ben used to bully this one kid in his class who was homosexual. I told him to stop over and over but he never did. The kid had to transfer schools because it got too much, his name was Kelvin.“Yup,” I say in response to him.“I bet Kelvin would laugh his a** off when he finds out that I actually like men too,” He mumbles.“Maybe,” I put a rogue strand of hair back behind my ear as I say this.“You
“Shame? When have I ever brought shame to this family?”I ask him in annoyance. I feel triggered by what my dad just said. I am pissed, and I am also hurt.“I have done everything that you people have wanted me to do, I have been the most perfect child. Why else do you people want from me?!” I raise my voice.“You don’t have to keep talking to them, you could end the call right now,” Ben whispers to me, but I ignore him.“You? Done everything that we told you? Did you do medicine in college as we advised you to?” My dad laughs as he asks.“You know what? I am done with you people trying to control my life, I am sick of it. You two call yourselves parents, but is that true? Do you know the amount of time I felt like I was a stranger in my own family?” I reply to him, we are literally having a full-blown argument.“I don’t like that you’re painting us to be bad parents,” My mom joins the conversation again.“Where’s Ben? Is he hearing all the crap that his sister is saying?” She adds as
I stare at the text for a full minute before the sound of the elevator brings me back to reality. It was like time stopped, and all there was me and the possibility of getting my wife back. But the sad and messed up thing is that this is a scam.I received messages like this in the past when my wife and child had just died. I pursued them before but in the end, I realized that all those f*ckers wanted was to get a piece of the billionaire’s money.I take a deep breath and I place the phone back into my pocket as I continue my walk toward the conference room. Once I reach the room, I push open the glass door, and the eyes of everyone in the room land on me.“So let’s get this meeting started, shall we?” I say in an authoritative and confident voice that immediately places me in control of the entire room.***Linda Wells’ POV***I can not believe that my parents are making me marry a man that broke my heart and shamed me. A man that did not even have the guts to tell me to my face tha
His lips crash gently into mine and I allow him to claim me as his. I was right, his lips are softer than cotton. The intimacy we are sharing right now makes me feel so lightheaded. My heart is beating so fast against my rib cage.We finally break the kiss and the both of us stare into each other’s eyes. His eyes are full of desire and passion, causing me to bite my bottom lip softly by instinct.“That was perfect,” He whispers, and I giggle.He then relaxes on the couch by retiring from his upright sitting position and laying back.“I don’t want you to go back to America,” His words swirl in my mind, and for a second, I contemplate on not going. But I know all that is just a fantasy, I could never be brave enough to disobey my parents, though I wish I was.“That’s not your decision, and apparently not mine,” I say in a breathy way while sighing.We sit in silence for a few minutes as the horror film plays on the TV; it actually feels calming and not awkward.Just sitting here with Ch
“That’s impossible,” I laugh, but the lady’s face remains serious.“You dragged me from my own initiation for this? You can not be serious,” I say as I try to walk past her so I can get back to the event which has already begun but she stops me.“She told me everything,” Her voice is full of disgust for me, and that shakes my nerves a bit. Does she know what I did?“I highly doubt that, dear,” I fold my arms on my chest.“How do you even sleep at night?” Now she sounds close to angry.“With a bed, a pillow, and a duvet,” I reply to her cockily.“She was the freaking grandmaster, and you were her favorite disciple!” The lady raises her voice, and I sigh shakily.“Violet Kingston was a slut, and in no way worthy to be a grandmaster, and you damn right know it,” I say to her in an icy tone.“That still did not give you the right to have her killed…and her child,” She chokes on her words, almost as if she is about to cry.I roll my eyes in response.“Your desperation for power led you to
“Hello?” Comes the voice through the phone. It is a guy and he sounds vaguely familiar.All the words disappear from my mind and I don’t know what to say in response. I just didn’t think someone would answer, let alone a real person, and not a machine with a message asking for money in exchange for information.“Hello?” The guy says again, and I clear my throat, preparing to reply as confident as I can.“This is Chris Kingston, may I know whom I am speaking with?” My voice manages to sound strong and confident.“Oh,” The guy replies as he chuckles.“It’s Jason Pace from the company, I am the one that wants to buy in as a senior partner,” He says in a totally normal tone; as if he did not send me a message about my wife being alive.“Is this about the meeting that your secretary set up for us? It’s three days from now,” He informs me, while I try to understand what the hell is happening.Does this guy think he can disrespect my wife and expect a pat on the back? “Jason Pace, right?” I
“Ms. Wells, the moment you took our miracle drug, you became a property of The Witnesses,” Victoria says as she reaches for the glass of champagne on the table.She takes a long sip, releases a satisfied sigh, and places the glass back on the table.“Property, my a**,” Chris says, and I stop him from saying more. I want to hear all that she has to say. I want to know what I got myself into when I took that drug.“I can’t just sit here and let her call you property,” He defends himself.“Chris…” I beg him to stop.“Thank you, but I would like to hear what Victoria has to say,” I tell him, and he stares at me for a brief second before finally giving in.“Okay,” He says in a breathy way as he reaches for his own glass of champagne on the table. He downs the whole thing in a few seconds before placing the glass back on the table.“There were over twenty people that took that drug, and none of them survived. I was not too surprised considering that it is a newly developed drug,” Victoria b
Book Two.Linda’s POVI was walking down the stairs of my very luxurious house in china. Alone in there so it was quiet, except for the sounds of the birds chirping and some normal day to day noises.Chris had gone to work at one of his companies and since we got married, although everything has not been perfect, he has been one heck of a husband.I love him so much and although sometimes my stupid mind still tortures me of what it could have been like if I had never caught my brother with my ex, I would never want to be with anybody else.How would it have been? Maybe beautiful…but also, maybe awfully like hell.I began to hum a tone when I reached down the stairs. I’m someone who likes to be alone but recently I have been home alone during the day most of the time.I don’t work anymore because Chris makes a whole lot of money and I graduated from university last month.I should be working, my parents wanted it to be like that, but oh Chris, he said that that was never going to happ
I inhale sharply at the mention of the name of the man that my wife had an affair with. This man happens to be the same man that she had a baby for and tricked me into believing that the child was mine. This man is the goddamn same person that started this takeover battle so he and Violet could kick me out of my own company that I worked endlessly to build. Why the hell is he here to see me? “Is he alone?” I ask Zara, and she studies my facial expression for a few seconds before answering slowly,” Yeah.” “Good,” I say in a breathy way as I walk away from her desk and head towards the conference room. I receive a few more congratulations from some of the associates that I walk by before I reach the glass door of the conference room. I push the door open and I walk confidently into the room. Zackery is sitting in one of the chairs at the large table and he stares at me as I approach him. “How are you, Mr. Kingston?” He says as he stands to his feet to greet me. He extends his
***Chris Kingston’s POV***It is the next day and I am getting ready to go to the company for the first time since the takeover battle. My best friend, Eric is supposed to meet me there in an hour. Yesterday was very eventful, and I can still remember vividly how pissed Sue was. Despite her attitude, I still took Linda to see the small garden of flowers behind the house.It is one of the things in this compound that I am very proud of. The flowers there are lovely and of many kinds. The garden is well taken off by Sergio, I assigned him personally to it years ago.Linda was impressed by the beauty of the garden. She kept stopping every minute to get a whiff of how the flowers’ scent.“Good morning,” I greet Linda as I approach her. She is sitting on the couch watching the Channel 6 News as she sips on some hot tea. Her hair is held in a messy bun, and she is wearing a blue bedroom robe.“Oh,” She says when she sees that I am already dressed formally. I am wearing a gray suit, with a
Zackery’s eyes go crazy when he sees me running towards him with the shard of glass in my hand. He jumps out of the way and he cusses loudly as he falls to the ground with force.I stop myself when I reach the desk as my chest heaves up and down in a fast motion.“What the hell?!” He asks loudly, and I take his place by standing in front of his desk. “I am walking out of here with those papers,” I inform him firmly as I keep my eyes on him. I use the shard as a way to keep him a distance from me.He stands to his feet, and then he runs his hand through his hair.“F*ck!” He yells in frustration, and I tighten my grip on the shard of glass. As I do this, the sharp edges tear more at my skin but I ignore it. With the amount of adrenaline running through me right now, I barely feel the pain.“Just let me walk out of here with the papers,” I beg him, and he thins his lips.“Violet, if you want the papers so bad, I don’t care, you can have them,” Zackery says to me as he walks toward the f
***Violet Kingston’s POV***Zackery soon returns with two wine glasses and a bottle of the expensive liquor in his other hand. He has a grand smile on his face and his eyes are full of excitement.“Did he put up a fight?” He asks me as he places the wine glasses on his desk. He then opens the bottle of liquor and pours some of its content into both of the glasses.“Who are you talking about?” I inquire, though I have a feeling that he is referring to Chris.“Who else would I be talking about? Chris of course!” Zackery exclaims and I force a small laugh.He hands me one of the wine glasses and I take it from him gently. He then takes his own and places his other hand in his pocket.“Yeah, I guess he did,” I reply to him in a dull tone. He raises his glass up for a toast and I instinctively do the same. Our glasses make a distinct sound when they hit each other and Zackery cheers happily.“Hey, wait,” He says after he has sipped some of the liquor.“Why the attitude?” He asks, and then
Violet bends low and opens the folder. She then takes out a neat stack of documents from the orange folder and places them on the coffee table. I sit on the couch and I begin to review the legal documents. They are legit divorce papers, and all that is missing is my signature.“You could take a few days to think about this if you would like,” Linda suggests and I look at her. She gives me a reassuring smile, silently letting me know that she would be here for me no matter what choice I make.“I’m good,” I reply to her, and she sighs while whispering, “Okay then.”I look back at the papers, and I feel a churning in the pit of my stomach. This could be one of the biggest mistakes of my life, or this could turn out good. I don’t know for sure, but I won’t till I try.“Here,” Violet hands me a pen and I take it from her tentatively.Sue is going to be pissed as hell when she finds out about what I am about to do. I sign the documents, and when I am done, I hand them to Violet. She place
***Chris Kingston’s POV***As I head from the kitchen and back into the living room, I hear the front door close. I am also hearing a voice that does not belong to Linda. “Who was at the door?” I ask loudly when I enter the living room. My eyes land on the guest and I am flabbergasted.It’s Violet. “What the hell are you doing here?” I ask her harshly. My voice is slightly raised and by the surprised and very uncomfortable look on Linda’s face, I can tell that she has no idea how to act or what to do.“Chris, I think you should lower your voice,” Linda advises me, and Violet agrees in a daring tone.“Yeah, she’s right, I think you should,” She says as she sits down on the couch.“You have no right to be here,” I say in between my teeth as I try my very best to control my temper.“Oh, I have no right to be here, but you have the right to replace me when we have not even divorced,” She argues, and her tone is tinted with jealousy.She’s jealous of Linda? “I am not your replacement,”
“So you don’t trust me?” Chris asks Sue, and I try to intervene.“Of course, she does,” I reply at the same time that Sue disagrees by saying “No,” firmly.“The f*ck?” Chris scoffs.“Look, Mr. Kingston, I am just being honest. I trust you in other matters, but not when it comes to the divorce papers that your wife might have probably already mailed you,” She replies to him smoothly.She then leads us to a very magnificent jet plane. The stairs are already out, giving us a way to board the impressive aircraft.Once we have all boarded and fastened our seatbelts, the jet moves out of the hanger and down the runway before finally taking off. “Your wife would try all she can to get you to sign those papers, she would taunt you, and push you to the edge. So having Linda with you to remind you of the reasons you can’t sign them seems smart to me,” Sue explains to Chris when we are at cruising altitude.“Besides you representing your shady association in this matter, what do you gain person
“Good, you’re already dressed,” Sue’s voice gets louder as she walks toward the living room.Chris closes the door and follows her until they both approach me. Sue is wearing a different outfit, this one is more casual than the last one she was wearing last night.A frown sits on her lips as she eyes me from head to toe.“Linda, Linda, Linda,” She says in a frustrating tone.I stand upright and I wait to hear what she has to say. “Chris is in a war and should be in China before the end of the day. If you are going to be coming along, at least you should have had the courtesy to be showered and dressed already,” She scolds me.“It was my fault, I turned off the alarm because I wanted her to get more sleep, she has been through a lot,” Chris defends me. I don’t even remember there being an alarm clock in any of the bedrooms, he is just trying to take the blame.“Yeah, you got a point. Sorry, Linda,” Sue apologizes easily as she pushes to the side the bags and boxes of things Chris ord