KATERINA"Are you sure you are okay? I mean, you are working harder than usual lately." Whitney asked me as she sat on the loveseat in my room while I worked away on my laptop, sitting in a crisscrossed position on my bed.My brows creased as I looked over at her, shrugging my hands in the air. "I just have more work than usual lately. Stop making it look like such a big deal, Whit." I told her, rolling my eyes.She laughed. "Like I always say, I wish I could work like you. Shit bores me to death. What to you mean I have to sit behind a laptop all day long struggling to focus on little letters when I could be out there going from one trip to another, getting myself all the best things. If I really must work, I could just open an establishment that does not exactly need my presence there. I could simply leave it to be handled by other people and I just come once in a while to check stuff out.""I.e, your cleaning agency and your salons which you rarely check up on. What kind of busin
KATERINA"The pleasure is all mine, to be honest." I nodded, already tired from all the praises, so I just went straight to it."Yeah, so um… the girl you were just with. She's your girlfriend right?" I asked him, trying to sound as casual as I could.He looked at me quizzically, then smiled. "Why? Interested in me already?"That sounded ten times more disgusting than it should have.I tried to keep my facial expression in check as I answered with a small laugh, "Well, not really. Just loved the whole bond between you two and I thought—""And you thought what? You thought the best thing to do was trail after my friend and quiz him to death?" I spun around immediately, facing the direction of the voice. Reina was standing in front of me, her attire as mismatched as ever, with her head tilted to the side in some sort of challenge.I scoffed, "I hope this isn't you trying to scare me off because it looks a lot awkward, to put it nicely.""Well, thankfully, I do not need you to put anyt
VINCENT"You injured four men that answer to me. Who do you think you are, and where do you think you are in? You think the cops would keep shouting on us to keep it down forever? Of course they would get tired and do you know what happens then? You become all ours…" The bulkiest man in the cell who called himself the boss spoke in what he probably felt was an intimidating tone, but I just sat there on the dirty floor, my back against the wall as I looked up at him with a monotone expression on my face.They had spent a week and a few days trying to bend me to their will. I had a few slap marks here and there on my face and body, and even bite marks as well. I was given those slap and bite marks every time I said no to doing what they wanted. It did not sit well with them, most especially with their boss.Slap for slap, God forbid the bite for bite… The men were too fucking dirty, I did not want to think about what I could contact if I dared to sink my teeth into any of them's flesh.
VINCENTThe bullying reduced drastically in the next few days. Well, for me though. The other guy was still being treated like trash from time to time. I could not really care less.I was currently on a call with James, hiding at a corner of the cell, as calls were prohibited until it was officially call time. It was a stupid new rule that I simply wondered why they had started with me."We are working on it. We thought we were close to finding out who the culprit was a few days ago, like I told you when I had said we got a lead, but that lead was just a dead end. I promise you though, we are trying our absolute best to ensure that we do everything in our power to get you out." He promised. I ran a hand through my hair. "James, I would say yes, I believe you, but we are running out of time. I heard that the court hearing would be in a week's time. These people want nothing than to throw me in jail as soon as they can. If that court hearing holds, I would definitely be given a sentenc
KATERINAMaybe he was lonely in there. I heard that sometimes rich people like him were kept in separate cells from from other people. He kept texting me from time to time, telling me random things. What he ate, about the boss there, how he wanted to kill everyone, how he wants to start with me but for some reason, he doesn't want to do it, at the same time.Sometimes, he would tell me how beautiful I was, how stupid he was for still texting me despite knowing that I was the cause of his predicament. How the hell was he so sure of that?It might be a wonder why he was still texting me despite the fact that I had already blocked him. Well, my fingers might have skipped and unblocked him again right after blocking first. What? I was so lonely these days, and somehow I just knew that he would try to talk to me.I looked over to the side of my room to see the packages I had been sent over the last few days, most of which were as a result of Vincent clearing my expensive carts.I mean, t
VINCENTI knew it was her. Everything in me screamed that she was the one, but I needed more than my intuition to prove what I already knew.She had dropped lilies for Grace too. How had she known Grace's favorite flowers if it was not her? She had never been good at lying to me. I was not surprised when she had embarrassingly started to stutter while we talked. Everything started to make sense. Well, almost everything. My plans had changed. I had started to accept how I felt about her more now that I knew who she was and why she was doing what she was doing.Well, I did not know why she was actuating it, but I had a clue. She had been hurt, and maybe she felt I was the one who had hurt her, because I had only walked in on her when she was getting up on her feet and blowing Grace's grave a kiss. Her eyes were red and swollen. She looked like she had been crying for a while.James and I were currently in my office as I told him about my suspicions. He looked confused. "You mean, you
THIRD PERSON POVThe restaurant was alive with chatter and the soft clinking of silverware against porcelain plates. Waiters glided between tables, balancing trays of delicately arranged dishes, while the warm, ambient lighting cast a golden glow over everything. At a corner table, near the window, Whitney sat with Vincent, her hand resting lightly on his arm as she laughed at something he had said. Her laughter was bright, her eyes sparkling with an affection that, to anyone else, might have seemed genuine. But Katerina knew better. She watched them from across the table, her smile fixed but her eyes sharp, taking in every detail. The way Whitney tilted her head, the way she leaned in just a bit too close to Vincent, her hand lingering on his arm a moment too long. What was she doing? More precisely, what was he doing? Da’ana told her that he hated Whitney, so what was this?Vincent smiled back at Whitney, his expression warm and easy, but there was a flicker of something in his eye
KATERINAI stood by the door, holding my phone in my hand as I swiped through the notifications. It was empty, and while I hadn’t expected them to text, I had at least hoped they would disappoint me a little.I pushed off the feeling that was digging a hole in the pit of my belly, and I released a deep breath as I shoved the phone in my pocket, ignoring the way it seemed to burn a hole there.Simon’s silence hurt more, and I tried to push away the look on his face when I saw him the last time. Vincent, I could handle and I was used to it a little, considering our past, but Simon had always loved me like a brother.Right from the start.I shook off the feeling and moved into the room, just as my phone buzzed. I knew it wasn’t going to be either of the boys, and Kevin hadn’t still texted since our last conversation, so I brought out the phone.Surprise flooded through me when I saw the name at the top of the notification bar. It was Whitney.She hadn’t exactly texted since the last time