RhysThe first time I was called a bastard was when I was five. I didn't know what it meant but I had one of the kids say it to me and I thought it was funny. I laughed a lot. I used to love to laugh so much. I used to have lots of friends. I used to love playing with them. When I turned seven, the kids in the neighbourhood had begun to avoid me, and when I asked me, he told me his mom said I was a “bastard”. It was the first time I realized that bastard wasn't a good word.I had gone home that day to ask my mom what it meant and she just shrugged. “I don't know honey. That's how they talk now, you can’t change it.” She always tried to be comforting because I was her baby boy. But I knew after that day and I began to ask her for my father. One day I came back crying and she knew it had gotten out of hand and the next day we were driving to the next town with bigger buildings.“I don't know her or the child she is with, she's a liar!” The man who I later found out to be my Father yell
DarcyRhys was not home and I couldn't exactly tell what the update was with his grandfather.He had been acting very off and I could recognize the smell of guilt that oozed from him. I didn't care, he wasn't exactly my problem, and the little time I tried to be empathetic, he acted as though I were the problem. My presence was annoying, it just didn't fit in here with his so I let him be.I stared at myself in the mirror and even though everyone thought of how perfect my face was, I could still see traces of my old self. Not all things change, but some do. Like the way I could feel pain somewhere inside me every time I looked into those big eyes, I could see myself staring back at them. My real self, the old one everyone hated.I went for a run because I needed one to come up with the next plan. The whole thing with Jude Madigan had slowed down what was supposed to happen next. On my way back from running, it was around evening around 7 pm and as I ran through the street of estate
Darcy“Be ready before I get back”“Why are we going out just to eat?” Since the previous incident, I was really sure that something was off. I needed to figure out what it was.“Public appearances, Tessa. We need to keep up with that and make it look real”, he explained in the most convincing voice I've ever heard. “Okay... so where is this place again?” “It's a fancy restaurant I went to a few weeks ago, you'll like it”, he smirked slightly.I nodded.When it was time, I took out a navy blue dress I had never worn even though Rhys had already gotten me a dress, I wanted to feel comfortable in what I owned instead of the other way around.It had long sleeves and hugged my body perfectly, I then paired it with nude color heels, which were perfect for walking. I put some earrings in and left my hair down, it always suited my style. Then, I headed out of the door.Rhys stared at me when I walked towards him and I thought something was wrong. He nodded at me and opened the car door for m
RhysShe was a strange woman and I noticed how often she would avert her gaze and how careful she was being. It felt as though the woman in front of me had two personalities fighting to be the one who spoke first because every once in a while they would fight for dominance over each other.I still could not tell how she managed to convince me, maybe it was because I wanted to win Vincent so bad, I wanted to prove to him like one of those numerous times that he was no match for me.I watched the blush spread against her cheeks and how she struggled to hide it with her hair. She looked beautiful, like a porcelain doll, delicate and pale but there was something about her that gave her an unsettling aura. I wondered why she seemed so familiar to me. When she finally looked up, there was a sudden urge to tug the hair that covered each side of her face behind her cheeks and I felt disgusted at myself when my hands clenched into tight fists and the desire to do just that burned inside of me.
Darcy As I hurried into the restroom, my grip on my phone was even tighter as my heart raced.Truly I was not delusional, someone was stalking me and it had to be whoever was wearing that hoodie.The unknown number had texted me a picture of where I was seated at the restaurant that day, but not a name. A text followed, “I see you”.The message freaked me out, for who knew when they would show up? If they were here at this place right now, I didn’t have much time left in front of me, I didn't know what would happen next.As I made it to the restroom, I splashed water against my face, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves before running my hands through my hair. I was grateful that I had not worn any makeup.Somewhere from the corner, I heard a sound that sounded like a slight clutter, and I froze as a chill traveled down my spine. I looked around trying to trace the noise’s origin. As I turned my head toward another direction, however, I heard the same faint noise again, so I slowly
RhysThere was no sign of any form figure wearing a hoodie on the CCTV footage, not even a single glimpse. It was like whoever the person was, he hadn't been there in the first place. Which is pretty much impossible with what I had just witnessed.“What incompetence is this?”I muttered under my breath as the video continued to run. “We are sorry sir” the manager replied, sounding more like he wanted to be doing something else than apologizing to me for whatever it was. “Sorry? Your incompetence got my wife harassed. What if I had not stepped in when I did? How would that have looked? If you are truly sorry, show it!” I yelled at him. “This has got to stop!”I said, shaking my head in annoyance as the video ended. “Find me a CCTV footage that has that figure in or you'll know why you shouldn't mess with a Madigan!” At the mention of my surname, the manager froze. “And one that's clear and has good coverage of the entire event. Otherwise, consider your position gone” I told him before
DarcyHe was lying, he didn't hear me say anything! Nothing.Where did he get that from? It made me so angry that he had said those words, even if the truth, my truth was still with me, I still thought he had a little clue of what was going on.We didn't speak to each other after that day and I tried not to make him aware that I was always near him whenever we saw each other. If he was in his room we now shared, I’d be in the living room.As it was, all of our interactions were limited to small conversations or the occasional greeting when we met outside.I was tired of being in the living room and I just needed the comfort of a bed. I thought he was in his study room so I barged into the room without thinking or knocking.And there he was, skin glistening wet, a towel was wrapped around his waist but a little bit lower than what you should usually see. I don't know why. His back was turned to me and I should have gone back, but I stared at him like a hormonal teenage girl.When he tu
DarcyIf you thought Rhys Madigan was an intimidating man then you had to meet his grandfather, Jude Madigan.I felt bare sitting in front of the men and his blue eyes that were similar to those of his grandson.He had asked to speak with me alone after we arrived at his place so Rhys left me. It made me wonder if I had done something wrong or maybe he just needed a minute to collect himself. Either way it wouldn’t take long for him to get back.Jude Madigan sat across from me patiently as he took a sip from his cup of tea. He didn’t say anything even though I wasn’t expecting any response since we hadn’t spoken much to each other. I busied myself with looking around his home. Each design was specifically crafted to scream “Old money” everything reeked of wealth and class. Secretly I wondered how much money the old man had. It seemed like a lot snice Rhys and Vincent were bent on killing themselves for it.“You look tensed, sip your tea” The older man ordered. He looked different from
Rhys“You have five minutes” I wasn't bluffing when I said this, I needed to understand why she was truly here. This could not all be a coincidence, I knew better than to think that. This could be some sort of trap and I wasn't going to fall for it.“Rhys…” She began stepping closer to me and I moved back.“Tell me why you are here” I repeated my request “And for the love of God don't try to touch me or lie” I added a last part for good measure. “I am here because I want you back, I want to be better for you, for us ” She replied.I stared at her with disbelief etched in my features but she had an unbreakable determination that she was not going to budge from her stance. “We could do this now if it weren't so inconvenient…” She continued “I am prepared to wait if you aren't ready” I looked at her to be sure this was not some sort of silly joke.“You cheated on me Blair, with my best friend of all men. I did everything for you, every fucking thing you asked...and then I find out you
RhysThe voice note was blank. I turned my volume to its highest to be sure I wasn't deaf and I didn't hear anyone's voice, only quiet breathing.'Is this some kind of joke?' I asked myself. 'Is she trying to tease me or what? Why will she send me a fifteen minute voice message of nothing. I'm worried sick for her and she is busy making jokes.''Or maybe she was trying to say something then, she slept off?' A different thought came to my mind.I checked my other phone to know if Aspen had responded to my last email. She hasn't too.'Something is wrong somewhere.'I was about sending Aspen another email when my mom called.'Shit!' I said a silent curse as I put the call through. I haven't called her since I got to Los Angeles."Hey Mom. I..." I bit my lips trying to find the right excuse to say to her.She didn't even wait for me to speak. "Do you know how worried I was? I have been trying to reach you and you didn't bother to pick. It seems to me that your work is more important.""Mo
RhysI took a break from work today and it felt like it was the longest break I had taken since forever and my phone was buzzing continuously. I didn't dare check who was calling until I let the battery die and refused to charge it on purpose.I wanted to stay invincible, to pretend that none of this was real like the rest of the world was oblivious of my troubles. But I couldn't. This was my life now, and the most recent development in my personal hell was that Tessa was slowly starting to notice.I mean, she doesn't know anything, I told myself as I typed on my keyboard but she had been spending a whole lot of time asking if I was alright, and when I couldn't take it anymore, I avoided her as well. Thank God she was in a different room now.It wasn't working, the meds were not working, and the painful throb in my head didn't seem to disappear, and the voices?They had grown a thousand times larger than the last, each louder than the other and making me sick to my stomach. I couldn’t
RhysFor a lady who was 5 '3 she sure did have a lot stored up in her. And while I took her for the late-night drive, just to make it up to her, she dozed off from all the anger she was trying to keep inside her. Her mouth was partly wide and I chuckled at how adorable she looked. Weird. I didn't go around chuckling at ladies.Suddenly her eyes slowly fluttered open. as if she felt herself being gently shaken. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and squinted them to try and focus on what was happening. And she realized that she was still in my car.Her light blue eyes met mine and I drew in sharp breaths, taking notice of their color. They were deep and captivating, and they gave everything a certain mysterious quality I couldn't - can't explain.“We are here” I forced myself to say. Turning my attention from her eyes and lips. I would have kissed her right now and taken her back home to do all of the sinful things running through my mind. if she was one of those girls. But she
Darcy “I want to go alone” I said loudly looking at Rhys as if that would change his mind. I was tired of repeating the same routine, tired of being watched like a child. It didn't give me enough room to think of what to do next. I didn't know the updates on Vincent and Cory and most especially of my son. It was like like moving in endless circles.“You can’t go alone, I can't let that happen”“Why? You don't own me Rhys and you know it. You can't force me not to be myself."“No one is stopping you from being yourself. Being yourself doesn't include being reckless when you know someone out there probably wants you dead” he snapped in a low voice. His eyes were hard. Rhys knew how stubborn I could get and even though he was right, it still angered me.“I am tired, I need time alone!”“Time alone only to end up almost half dead again? or almost raped or pounced on by your demons, which of them?” His words cut through me like a knife. He knew damn well what those thoughts did to me. I
Darcy“You need to stop watching me like a hawk” I was finally free to leave the hospital and Rhys was acting differently and it made me uncomfortable.“The plan was to pretend that we are married and not for you to die. So no, I wouldn't stop watching you like a hawk. You can't leave this house without the driver and two able men outside, at least until your condition is stable enough to be left alone. We don’t know who or what we are truly dealing with. I would never allow something like that to happen again, especially from recklessness” He had said it as he walked through the room, going through his closet.I looked at him and felt so out of place here. “This isn't my life” I wanted to scream but I didn't.Claire treated me as if I was an egg shell, scared I'd break at the slightest touch. And she always seemed to be watching me when we were together. I was just... stuck in this house, watching Vincent work his way around while I tried not to think about what happened next.His col
RhysNever had I seen anyone struggle so hard with their demons as Tesaa demons struggled with hers. Even if it were only for a few moments. It wasn't like seeing the woman who was fast to give comebacks once I said a word, it was like seeing someone different, broken, and damaged beyond belief. Even worse because she looked like such an easy target that my first instinct was not kill but rather help her escape the hell that held her prisoner. “Are you alright?” By now she was awake again after falling into unconsciousness.She didn't say anything, she didn't look at my face, she was staring into nothingness with no recognition on her face, only in her eyes. She could have been looking directly into an abyss or straight through to another dimension.“Tessa?” I called out but she didn't acknowledge me. I stood up and went to sit by her bedside but she curled up as if afraid of being touched. “Hey, hey,” I put my hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her, “What's wrong? What's wr
DarcyWhen I opened my eyes, the lights seemed too bright for me and I groaned.It felt like I couldn't move as I tried to look around at the unfamiliar surroundings, trying not to be dizzy from the lack of movement. Did I die? Was I in heaven? Was this after life? Why did afterlife feel so small and the walls too plain? The air smelled wrong and the floor look too hard. l Where am I supposed to be?As my vision focused in on what was before my eyes, it was a door and it moved.A person appeared behind it and she was dressed in white, like a nurse.She looked stunned to see me, one minute she disappeared through the door only to return with a doctor.They both stared at each other for who knows how long until the man spoke up, “Hello? Who are you?” his tone was more curious than anything else. It was only when he moved beside me that I noticed the machines connected to my body.He checked my the machines, my pulse, my eyes, everything.“How many fingers am I holding up?” He asked aft
Rhys“What do you mean by she just left the house? Did she say where she was going? Why did you let her leave?” I asked Claire, who was cooking in the kitchen. She shook her head and sighed, “No Sir, she didn’t say anything about when she left but she was worried that you were not home yet” she paused for a second before turning around to face me.I walked out of the kitchen.Where could she have gone to? I dialed her number again and it rang but no answer. It was already getting dark and I had not gotten over the fact that truly she was right and there was someone watching us. I dialed the number again and it rang for a while before she answered.“Where are you?”“Hello?” A masculine voice answered instead.I took my phone away from my ear and stared at it again, still unable to believe what I had heard“Who is this?”“I…uhh, I don’t know. The owner of this phone just got wheeled into an ambulance, I found her lying in her own blood”. My mouth felt dry as I spoke and I tried to swal