Lilly.I walked back into my apartment feeling lonely and sad. Although Kyle was gone and my main door was secured, I did not feel happy. Instead, I felt empty and mentally exhausted. I regretted the time I had wasted trying to make a doomed relationship work. From the beginning, it had been clear that Kyle was not the one for me. I had tried to force things because I was afraid of loneliness and that backfired. In the end, it only made my life worse. Now I was going to be scared of Kyle forever. His last words to me had not been very reassuring. Had it not been for the presence of that amazing couple, Kyle may have done some unspeakable things to me.I slumped onto the couch and leaned against the headrest. Immediately, tears started rolling down my eyes. I did not even bother to wipe them because I was too weak. I just stared forward and let them role. They made me feel somehow better. I felt like my heart was being cleansed as I cried. For about thirty minutes, I was lost in thoug
Lilly.My phone nearly fell down when I heard a knock on the door. My heart literally stopped beating for some seconds. I stood up, ran into the bedroom to have one last look at myself before going to open the door. I stood in front of the door for some seconds to regain my breath. I reached out and turned the key in the lock. Twisting the knob, I pulled the door opened. I nearly fainted when I saw that he was actually there. “You’re here,” I said, staring at the smart man. That day, Jake was dressed casually. He looked good in a white t-shirt and blue jeans. His black blazer completed the lock, making him look like a delicious snack. My body was going wild just looking at him.He was holding a bag of goodies with a logo of Jines, an upscale restaurant I’d never been to. “I’ll help you,” I said, and he handed everything to me. “Be careful. Can I come in now?”“Of course,” I said, laughing nervously. The boldness I had while making the call had vanished. “I’m so sorry.”As he walked
Lilly.“I’m curious,” Jake said. I was piling the used plates together so that I could take them to the counter. I paused when I heard his words and waited for him to continue. “What happened between you and your boyfriend?”I stood up and carried the plates to the sink then returned and sat down.“Nothing much,” I told him. “I realised that he and I were not good for each other. There were a lot of issues that I didn’t think we could work out. We had to part ways for everyone’s sake.”“Okay,” Jake said. “I’m just glad he’s not here. He did seem like a nice guy, though. He was happy to see me. I don’t even remember him, but then again I rarely participate in the employee recruitments. I know very few of the staff.”“Is it because you’re not interested?”“Not really. We employ so many people so it’s hard to keep track. The two hotels and the insurance company have a lot of people. I also supervise some of my father’s companies. I mostly interact with the managers and never get enough t
Jake“What are you talking about? What do you mean by that? Why would you sign a contract to stay away from me?”Lilly sat up straight. “By then I did not have any reason to get close to you. And there was a lot at stake.”“By a lot, you mean?”“Your mother kidnapped my sister’s five year old daughter.”I stood up. “Are you kidding me?”“I’m telling you the truth. I had to sign a contract that forbade me from going near you or writing about you so that little Amy would be released. It was why I backed down. I’m already scared of what your mother might do if she finds out that I have already broken the contract. It would be best for us to stay away from each other but sometimes I listen to my body instead of my mind.”I went and sat back down. “I’m very sorry that my mother did that to you.”“It’s not your fault”“I was the one who called her back and asked her to take care of my problem. I knew how evil she could be but I didn’t care. My mother does not control me and I’m not going to
LillyI had never been as happy with someone as I was with Jake. Although our relationship came with a lot of limitations, it greatly improved on the quality of my life. i felt alive once again. I had not realised that I had been missing out on a lot for a long time. Having someone that makes you feel safe is underrated. It is the best thing in the world. To know that someone out there is looking out for you because he loves you is one of the best things ever. My fear of Kyle reduced when I was with Jake. The good thing Kyle kept a low profile during that time so I was able to relax. When I saw a photograph of him posing intimately with another woman, I felt relived. At least his focus would be away from me. If he thought those photos would make me jealous, he was barking up the wrong tree. My feelings for him had not been that strong, and had ended long before I ended the relationship.Jake was always there for me. He spent a lot of his free time at my place and I wasn’t complaining
Ashley.Billionaire Mark Humphries did not like to be kept waiting. He would blow up a fuse if anyone did not promptly follow his orders. This was how I ended up forgetting the tracking phone liked to Jake’s at home, right before a two week vacation in the Netherlands. I only realised it when the plane was already in the air.“Fvck,” I said, immediately getting agitated. “Are you okay, darling?” the old man asked, glancing at me over the newspaper he was reading. “Yeah,” I said and rolled my eyes when he turned back to his paper.“What’s wrong?”“I realised I forgot something.”He placed the paper on the couch and smiled at me. “You do not need to worry about anything when you’re with me, sweetheart. You have my unlimited card. When we land, you can by whatever you wish. You can replace everything that you’ve forgotten with new ones.”What an idiot. Did he think anything could just be replaced with money? The man had lost touch with reality because of having too much money. The fact
Lilly.“Kyle is here,” Leah whispered.“What?” I said, immediately starting to feel scared. “He’s two rows behind us,” she said.I waited for a minute before turning. My eyes met his. Instead of looking at the stand-up comedian on stage, he was staring at me. The familiar woman behind him was laughing hard at something the comedian had said. Leah’s held and squeezed my hand, giving me some reassurance. Kyle smiled at me and I turned back to face the front. My evening was already ruined. Even the funny lines the comedian kept dropping were no longer funny to me. I couldn’t wait for the show to be over so I could go far away from that jerk. Had he planned it? Did he find out that we were coming? I remembered telling him that I liked that comedian. He probably knew that if Justin Hayes was performing nearby, I wouldn’t miss. When the show finally got done, Leah and I were out within seconds.Most of the taxis had been taken by people who had come out first, those that had been seated
Lilly.“Good evening, miss.” Jake said to Leah who looked like she was about to faint. “Good evening, Mr. Rylland.” She managed to croak out.“Hello little miss,” Jake said, crouching down to Amy’s level. “Hi,” Amy said. “Are you my auntie’s boyfriend?”My face heated up when Amy asked the question.“Yes, I’m Jake Rylland, and I love your aunt very much. What is your name, little princess?”“Amy Whitmore,” she said.“You’re a lovely child,” he said while placing the flowers and a package on the table. I was smiling while watching him. Jake leaned over and kissed me although I probably smelt like medicine. “So sorry this happened to you, babe. How are you feeling now?”“My head feels a bit heavy but I’m lucky to be alive,” I said.“Do you have any idea who might have tried to this to you?” he asked.After what Hailey had said, I was now also suspicious of his mother. What if she had somehow found out that I was seeing her son? It was only a matter of time until she found out. As evil
LillyIt was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in the pack. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming and we were was strolling along the winding path. Jake and I were enjoying the serene ambience and talking about the future. We approached a fountain and I stopped walking to observe it.Suddenly, Jake dropped to one knee.I gasped.“Lilly,” he said, looking up at me, “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. You make me happier than I ever thought possible and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”My eyes welled up in tears and I took his hand, helping him to his feet.“Yes, yes. I will marry you.”He slipped the exquisite ring on my finger.“I promise to always love and cherish you, and to make you the happiest woman in the world,” he said, kissing me softly on the lips. We then embraced before devouring each other’s lips. It was only after we pulled apart for air that I saw a photographer and my friends a
Lilly.I nervously clutched my bad as I walked through the white corridors of the station. I was led to a small, windowless room. I sat down at a table and waited, my heart pounding in my chest. After a few minutes, Jake was escorted in by a guard. He looked tired and pale but still fairly good.“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual.“Hey,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.We sat in silence for a while.“I didn’t do it,” he finally said. “I could never do that to my own mother. She was driving me crazy but not once did I think of killing her.”“I’m sorry about what happened.”“Do you believe me?”“I don’t know. I find it hard to believe most of the things you say.”“I’ve never lied to you.”“You said you loved me.”“I love you. I never stopped.”“But when we broke up, you ran off with another woman. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I just wanted to… I don’t even know why I’m here. Whether you killed your mother or not is not my business.”“I did not kill her. I’m many things
Lilly.“Johnny Knightley,” I said. Leah was watching me in silence as she ate an apple. “That’s the man who fooled me. He made me fall in love with him and ruined my life.”“Are you surprised? He’s Jake’s best friends. Birds of the same feather blah blah blah.”“How did I not know about him all that time I was doing my research? I get that he was away in some small town but I’m really surprised that his name did come up.”“He has a nice name, actually, better than Ian.”“That’s not helping.”“I pity that beautiful girl. Imagine falling in love with such a person.”“Well, maybe she’s as stupid as I am. I mean, I fell in love with the one who started the plot. Johnny was just helping his friend out, but Jake created the idea.”Seeing Jake and Johnny so happy had opened the wounds that had been just about to heal. When I saw them, I felt so much pain that I couldn’t stop myself from lashing out even though I knew my boss was right outside. I had thought Athena would be mad when she found
Jake.Although my father and I lived in the same city, we never spent a lot of time together. We did not have a lot in common. He was not very business savvy and had little interest in running the family business which was why he couldn’t wait for me to become old enough to handle everything. As soon as I took over, he decided to move to a quiet area in New Jersey and continue with his scientific research. I liked to think of him as a mad scientist. One of the reasons I didn’t like being around him was that he was always talking about science. After separating from my mother, he met some science teacher of his age and they started living together. They were both crazy about science since they even had a lab at home. Since my mother was driving me crazy, I had decided to go and see him because he was the only one who could understand what I was going through. He was the man who had married the devil, so he had idea what being a son of the devil was like. “I don’t understand why you
Jake.Johnny had been right. The sandy haired woman with wide and sharp eyes was quite the looker. The photo I had seen before did not do justice to her in a way. She was way more beautiful and warm in person, especially when wearing a casual red dress and heels. Her hair fell down the sides of her face in beautiful curls and her smile could melt the coldest heart. Had I met her first, I would have totally taken her.But Katarina Hayes belonged to my friend Johnny Knightley. Johnny and his beautiful girlfriend had decided to come to New York for a vacation. He also wanted to show her everything the big apple had to offer. As his best friend, I was one of those things. I was happy because they had come at a right time when I really needed a friend. Everything was driving me up the wall. Now that my best friend was back, I was starting to feel better.“So Katarina, do you see yourself living her or do you like your town better?” I asked. Katarina smiled. “That’s a hard one. I like my
Jake Some years back, I arrived at my first ever apartment, not far from the University of New York where I was to study. A lot of my high school friends had joined the same university and I had lived in New York my whole life so it was not a big change. It was like being home away from home. The only difference was that I was nineteen and had a kind of freedom that my parents had never allowed me before. I could do whatever I wanted.At Castle apartment building, I met James Milner. James Milner was your typical jock. He looked like those thirty something year old men who play teens in movies and series. He had a muscled body, pretty face and was the quarterback of the football team. My family was rich, but James’ family was crazy rich. While we were of new money, he came from old money. The riches had been in his family for generations and generations. James did not have to work for anything. James was in his last year of college, older than me but he took me under his wing. We qu
Lilly.“I think someone is stalking me,” I told Leah a week later. I had just sat down at the diner where she had been waiting for me after leaving work early. Walking from the office to the diner, I had felt that someone was watching me. Even in the morning when I arrived at work, I had felt it. I called the officer in charge of Kyle’s case and he confirmed that Kyle was still behind bars. “Are you serious?” She asked before closing the book she had been reading and placing it on top of the table. I glanced at it before turning back to her.“Yeah.”“Are you sure you’re not worrying too much about Kyle?” she inquired. “Maybe it’s the stress making you hear things.”I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m very sure that someone is following me.”“Who do you think it could be? Kyle’s still in jail, right?”“Yeah.”“Maybe Mrs. Rylland is having you followed. Maybe she found out about your little tryst with Jake.”I looked around the diner. None of the people inside it looked suspicious.
Ashley’s POVOf course I was not pregnant. I had made some stupid decisions in my life, but I was not that stupid. I only lied to Jake out of boredom, to see what he would say. I needed an excuse to see him and possibly seduce him. Since I had slept with almost everyone in my circle, I needed fresh meat.The door opened and Richard Eyck walked in. He was a 60 year old real estate billionaire I had been in and off and on relationship with for some time. What I liked most about him was that he never cared how much of his money I spent, as long as I gave him what he wanted. The best thing was that he always finished so fast.“Hey baby,” he said.I faked a smile. In the past, age had never really mattered to me but after being with young and energetic Jake Rylland, older men did not seem fun anymore. I wanted someone like Jake. I wanted Jake.There were a lot of men who looked like Jake, and had the kind of money he did. Most of them were total jerks. But Jake was different. Sure, he coul
Lilly.He looked so peaceful as he slept. He was perfect even in the morning when I looked like a ghost with a birds nest for hair. Jake, on the other hand, looked like an angel. But, he was far from it, and I had been full to let him in despite knowing that. He was the second worst male devil I knew, first being Kyle.I kept making the same stupid mistakes. But, I was done. No more. Reaching out, I shook Jake awake. He opened his eyes, and smiled when he saw me. “Good morning, baby.”“You need to leave now, Jake.”He frowned, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”“Just go. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend that everything is okay after what you did.”A few minutes after we broke up, he had gone off to Catalina Island with a woman that wasn’t me. If Jake thought I could act like that never happened, it meant he thought I was a total idiot. I was tired of being a fool for a man. “There are so many things I need to tell you. I can explain everything.”I shook my head, not wanting to hear it. “Ja