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
KATERINA A yawn escaped my lips as I left Whitney’s apartment. God, I was so tired. I was too tired to do anything else right now, I just wanted to go home and rest. I sprinted towards the elevator and turned wrong multiple times hoping that the people that had chased after Whitney were not currently chasing after me. I walked to the elevator, my heels clicking on the floor and echoing in the empty hallway. She had gotten what she deserved, and it took me all my strength to not laugh at her while she cried. Took my all of my power to console her and act like I was truly sorry for her while she was wailing. I ran my hands through my hair just as I got to the front of the elevator, my head was turned to the back when the door to the elevator opened and I just ran inside before turning to see who I had entered with. I paused when I saw him. Vincent. I gritted my teeth, my eyes narrowing as I considered my options. There were two ways, either I take the stairs or let the door close.
WHITNEY (Surprise POV) "I don't want to go to a bloody seer, okay? That's a complete waste of time and very… just a complete waste of time, and I am absolutely not interested." I smiled up at the new acquaintance I had just made at the private beach house I was currently in, reapplying my lipgloss. The poor girl looked disappointed, and kept glancing back at the ugly hut which the seer stayed in. As if it was not traumatizing enough that I had been at a beach like this one just a few days ago, where I was embarrassed and called out like a criminal. The media still had things to say about me until today. With every passing day came a new narrative, and it was not long before I gave up on reading captions about me in blogs. I was not the perfect woman, far from it, but everything those blogs wrote were lies. Big, fucking lies, and they had just managed to ruin my reputation on the media and paint me to be the biggest faker ever. The difference with this beach was that I did n
VINCENT "Kurt's funeral is tomorrow. You asked me to represent you there, so I'll just temporarily hand over my duties to Miss Smith. Is that okay?" James asked me. I nodded absentmindedly. At the moment, I could not even fully remember who the hell 'Mrs Smith' actually was. Whoever she was, she would be working for me for three days, until James was back. I hoped she was a bit different from other women who would see this as a chance to leave their chest areas almost bare whenever they were around me. When I was a few years younger, I seized the opportunity and taught a handful of them serious lessons in bed. Now, I was not old and aging or anything.. I simply was rarely in the mood to play games anymore. Whitney kept trying to seduce me when we were together. I had to constantly remind her that this whole thing between us was not real, and I was big interested in her body.. not in the least. She would laugh it off and assure me in the end that I would 'come around'. Or
EPILOGUE KATERINA Forever and a long ass day; that was how long I wanted to be with Vincent. It was finally happening today, our wedding, and I was the happiest bride. Ava stepped into the suite where I was getting my makeup done, all dressed and looking every bit of the princess she was, and I could not help but fight back tears. Within the past few months since she got here, she had grown so much. She was so beautiful, looked happier now and more healthy. I loved this child so much… She had a single rose and a box in hand as she walked towards me and I shook my head, my smile refusing to leave my lips, "Vincent, right?" I questioned. She nodded with a wide smile, "Daddy asked me to give this to you, mommy." Yeah, she called out me ‘mommy’ not too long ago, and has not looked back ever since. With a grin on my face, I took the gifts off her hand and then tore the box open to reveal a blank cheque which read; THANK YOU FOR MARRYING ME… AGAIN. And I would do it o
VINCENTI could not believe what I was hearing. That fucking nanny had almost killed my wife-to-be, and her death was made that easy? I could not let my driver take the wheels on this one, I took hold of the steering myself, heading straight to the hospital I had been directed to.Katerina was not picking up any of my calls and I hated it. I wanted to know how she was doing, how my daughter was doing too. I wanted to make sure they had not ingested that fucking poison in any manner. If by any chance that poison had gone down any of my girls' throat, next believe I would be killing that bloody woman all over again.The drive to the hospital was long as hell, but I finally got there and practically jumped out of the front seat, heading straight inside the building.The moment I walked into the hospital room and saw Katerina sitting there, alive and well, I felt like I could breathe again. There she was, her face pale and tired, yet still the most beautiful thing I had ever laid my eye
KATERINAThe house was quieter than usual that night, and I was starting to get that uneasy feeling again.I sat in the living room, reading a book while waiting for Ava to finish kissing her nanny goodnight so we could go to bed together.Vincent was out for the night handling some business, and I was left alone with Ava and the domestic staff. That's when I heard it—hushed voices from down the hallway. I couldn't make out everything, but the tone caught my attention. It was sharp, scolding. The words became clearer as I stood and crept toward the kitchen. "How could you mess this up, Ava? I told you to make sure she ate the eggs, not the chicken!" Her nanny hissed. "I—I thought she ate everything. I saw her do. I didn't know." Ava's small voice quivered, her words barely audible through the door. I could not then laugh at her little grammatical blunder at that moment, as I froze where I stood, my stomach twisting into knots. The eggs? What was she talking about? "Your mommy
KATERINA "Can I speak to mommy on the phone?" Ava asked quietly, looking up at me with desperate eyes. This was not the first time she had asked it, and it broke my heart for her that I could not give in to her request. "Sweetheart, I told you many times… mommy is out of reach. You cannot speak to her yet, but you will, I will take you to see her one of these days. I promise." I did not care if Whitney wanted her to see her like that or not, they'd have to meet, I decided. "Alright, K. Thank you." She muttered. The nickname always filled my stomach with butterflies. Fun fact; she had come up with it herself. In fact, she had requested to call me that. Though I secretly hoped she would eventually call me mommy, I decided to make do with this. We sat there while she colored on a new drawing hook I had bought for a while, until the smell of roasted chicken wafted through the room, and I looked back, noticing the nanny walking towards us. I almost moaned in relief. Finally. "So
KATERINAWhitney refused to tell us anything more after that. We stood there, threatening her with all manner of things, but she never budged. She just sat there, smiling crookedly and laughing occasionally.I finally convinced Vincent to leave there and we both went home, hoping to figure out what exactly Whitney meant with everything she said about Ava ourselves.This morning, I woke up in his arms and peered up to see that he was awake already, focused on his phone. He had wrinkled lines in his forehead and dark circles around his eyes, and I could not help but feel a twinge of worry for him.The man had been working so hard these days and somehow, I knew that it had something to do with what Whitney had said about his child.Ava was acting… well, she was still detached from her father but she was every bit the bubbly child around me. Her nanny lived with us now, and continued to take care of her, in better living conditions… it was what she wanted, and she had been very grateful.
VINCENT I slammed my car door shut before I went over to the other side to open up for Katerina. "Thank you," she muttered, looking as eager to see Whitney as I was. She looked even more eager, but then again that was probably because the woman literally wore her emotions like a sleeve. We walked briskly inside the prison walls without really saying anything else to each other; we had talked enough on our way here. It was only when we were getting to her cell, that Katerina turned to face me, telling me, "I am going to let you talk to her. You are the one who is mostly affected by this, I would let you question her and whatnot without any interruptions but I also want to say stuff to her too, just so you know." She informed me, and I nodded, not wanting to say anything in response at first, except that nod, but after a quick glance at her face, I could see the desperation in her eyes for me to be okay and just like that, I just couldn’t keep to myself any longer. I threw m
KATERINA"Oh God, Ava!" I cried out as the little girl bolted away from the living room as we all had reacted too slowly because of course, no one had expected that from her.Vincent was the first to run after her, and also the first to recover from the shock. He was behind her in no time, and I was next, followed by the nanny.Luckily, the butler was quick enough to stop her. Ava was crying and kicking in his arms, demanding to be set free, but he was not having it."You aren't going out of here without adult supervision, woman!" He yelled, but she was not having it."Let me go! My mommy will hurt me, she says he's the bad guy, I cannot be around him, please…" She continued to cry. My heart broke in pieces for her. What kind of a mother was Whitney for crying out loud? "Your mother hurt you, and you still think your daddy is the bad man?" Vincent blurted out and I pinned him with a look, but he did not spare me a glance, his eyes were still transfixed in his daughter who refused to
VINCENT Katerina pulled the door open for me, mumbling to the butler, "Never mind. I got this." And then she smile widely at me after opening the door, wrapping her arms around my body in a tight hug. Her smile was nervous as fuck, as if she had something to tell me, and I knew that she did. A child was in here, at the living room. I had peeked through the surveillance, because my girl sounded nervous as fuck and I had to know what was making her like that. It was either that or me storming out of the meeting I was in. There was a nanny with the little girl too. She was claiming that the child was mine, and Whitney was her mother. But how the fuck did that even happen? Katerina pulled away from me, her face twisting in an offended frown, "You don't want to hug me back?" She started to step aside, but then my hand gripped her waist and I pulled her to me with force so her body collided with mine. Katerina gasped, then burst into a fit of giggles as I planted kisses al
KATERINA There was some commotion outside the front door. I had just heard it as I got out of the bathroom, trying to prepare to go shopping at the mall for a few essentials since I did not have work today. I ended up just throwing on Vincent’s T-shirt and a pair of shorts before heading downstairs to see what the noise was about. The noises grew louder as I approached the door and I pulled it open at once on reaching it. When my eyes met with a little girl's with her dark curls falling softly around her face, clutching a worn stuffed bunny, I almost thought she’d stopped at the wrong house. But then I noticed her eyes—a striking, familiar gray. The same piercing color that belonged to Vincent, with a touch of softness that reminded me of Whitney. Next to her stood a woman, exhausted, holding the little girl’s hand firmly, as if afraid she might lose her any moment. Our butler was asking questions, his gaze shifting between the woman and the little girl with polite suspicion.