Ariana's POV"You really think I wouldn’t find out?" Zayde asked and his voice hit me like a thunder clap. Something was definitely wrong with this man. I was tired of this and it was not in any way coming to an end soon. My eyes snapped up from the glass of wine I had been absentmindedly playing with in my hand. I had been trying to forget everything. Up till now, I was still fighting with myself concerning the memories we once had.I had tried to avoid him at the event, keeping my distance, making excuses to run away when I saw him coming. The crazy part? Selene and Isabella were the ones who set this up. I don't know how they did it but I knew that they were aware of what they were doing. Don't think too much. You don't have to know how I found out because now, here I was, stuck in this luxurious penthouse. I took a steadying breath, hoping my voice would remain calm because whatever was going to happen now was going to be out of my control. "I don’t know what you’re talking
Zayde’s POV “I love you, Ariana,” I typed on the message box and cleared the message immediately. This was harder than it actually was. I needed to make more efforts so that she would know I was serious. “Do you want to go shopping? I will get you your favourite items. Or, a vacation in Paris,” I typed again but cleared the message for the second time. “No, no! It wasn't working. I need something more convincing. She might ignore this message,” I yelled out, holding my head tight. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I should apologize to myself for feeling this way. I thought seeing Ariana again would make it easier to let go, but it only made things worse. My mind had been consumed with thoughts of her ever since the penthouse incident. I couldn’t shake the image of her standing there, slapping me, and yet, giving in to everything I knew she felt. But that was the problem, wasn’t it? She felt it too. I was quite sure about that. I saw those goosebumps on her skin.
Ariana’s POV.Zayde must really think I was stupid enough to believe his pathetic excuses. He walked away from me like I was nothing, and now he was standing here, acting like he never did. I don’t think he was a man. Calling him that will be an insult to real men. He was a coward and was too scared to face the consequences of his own choices! He was clearly talking from his damn dreams, because in reality, he lost me the moment he chose her over me! I don’t want his apologies, and I sure as hell don’t want him. He should go crawl back to the life he had built without me, because he doesn't deserve a second chance with me!***After their usual battle of words, Gabriel left me and Zayde together and Zayde’s hands returned to my waist. He was holding me too close and he kept on pressing his body against mine in a way that was making my nipples hard. His touch was too sexual and too intimate and his fingers held my lower back as he pulled me closer. I try to pretend that all of t
Gabriel’s POVDid she just walk out of me? Oh, wow. That was quite funny. You know what? I’m done playing nice.I have tried to be patient. I have tried to give Ariana space, to give her time to come around. But I can’t do it anymore. Not when every look she gives Zayde feels like a knife to my chest. Not when I can’t stand the way she still lets him hold that power over her. It was tearing me apart.She was never going to love me anyway. The truth is, starting from now on, I won’t stand by and watch her fall for him again. I won’t.So, tonight after the event, I would make my move.I knew exactly what I was doing. I have watched her closely. I have also watched how she reacted to Zayde and to me and it was very different.I had seen her pull away when I touched her, but I had also seen the way she was unable to breathe when our eyes met. I was confused. Was she trying not to fall in love with me? Or was she confused because she was in love with both me and Zayde?That might be
Gabriel How was I going to eliminate him? Wait a minute, I couldn't kill him because I wasn't a murderer. I was just a lover boy who wanted a lady all to herself. I knew Zayde was the cause of all my problems since day one. Every time I got close to Ariana, every time she so much as looked at me with those eyes of hers, he seemed to be always there in the background . I was done tolerating it. Today, I walked into a bar to have some bottles of drinks before heading home. Then, I found him alone at the same bar that I walked straight into. Good, this was the perfect time and I had to take my chance. I slid into the seat next to him, watching as he stiffened on his chair. He was surprised to see me. That didn't matter, I was surprised to see him too. “You and I both know this can’t continue forever,” I said to him, bringing up a conversation between the both of us and he chuckled dry, finally looking at me. “And what exactly do you mean by this?” he asked. “You're
Zayde's pov I walked into the bedroom, ready to grab my phone and leave the house because I had an appointment to catch up with. I was almost running late and to my greatest surprise, Isabella was sitting on the bed, wearing a pair of lingerie that I haven't seen her in before. I looked at her and continued what I was doing. I felt nothing in me and I didn't know what she was planning on doing . "Zayde," she called, crossing her legs slowly. "Come here, please,” she pleaded and I knew that I was in for it. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck. "Not now, Isabella. I am running late. As you can see, I'm headed off to a meeting and I don't have time to waste.” She pouted, folding her hands around her breasts. "Not now? When then? You are always busy, always distracted. What happened to us? So you are telling me that you don't want to have sex with me? We aren't even going to spend more than ten minutes on the bed,” she complained but all of that was none of my business. I
Gabriel’s POV I have had enough. So, I thought. I had already been thinking of committing to her, but she was still refusing to fully commit to me. I had been serious about this, about her and about us. Also, I had been doing this because of the game I was playing with Zayde. That night, I decided to take her out. This was not just any dinner. It had to be high-profile, the kind where the whole world was watching. There was going to be paparazzi flashing their cameras on us and everyone's eyes on us. It was a perfect stage for what I needed to do. It was a public display of ownership and love for her. Ariana would be mine that night, I could feel it and there would be no running away from me. I picked her up as I had promised, and she looked stunning as always. She had dressed really well, with good makeup on and she looked so beautiful. But, she wasn’t mine. Not fully, and that had been eating me up. I was getting tired of it. I was getting tired of waiting and of being
Zayde’s POV “This has to be a joke!” I yelled and my eyebrows looked like they were about to come off my face. I had just finished a meeting when I saw the first flash of the phone screen. My new assistant, Sarah, had placed the latest news report in front of me, and I was about to dismiss it when I saw her scratch the back of her neck. It was unusual for her to care about the gossip moving around my personal life, but this time, something was different about the way she presented it. "Is there something I should know?" I asked, looking at her with so much irritation all over me. I didn't have time for things that might waste my time. She hadn’t even said a word, but my instincts were already telling me that I was about to find something that would ruin my day. She took some time and she glanced at the screen before speaking. “It’s... it’s about Ariana and Gabriel. I just thought you should know,” she informed me and I froze but I tried to not let it get to me. Anythi
Gabriel“The mistake you two made was calling the cops on me!” I yelled at them, not scared of what was going on. I already had a lot of things in place. I was going to outsmart them and there is nothing they can do about it. What do they take me for? A criminal? Just because a girl who I was in love with made me mad?I sat back in my chair, watching the swarm of cops flood in with their guns drawn out. They were all barking orders like wild dogs but I couldn't blame them. They were doing their job. My wrists were already cuffed, but I barely felt the metal against my skin because I wasn’t worried. Not even a little.One of the officers, an ugly square-jawed, no-nonsense man stepped forward. "Gabriel, you are under arrest for…” he tried to speak but I laughed out loud. Idiot! Who said I wanted to listen to him? "Oh, spare me the script. We both know how this goes. You slap on the cuffs on me, drag me out, parade me in front of cameras like you had caught a criminal. But the rea
Zayde’s POVI was halfway home when I checked my phone again, expecting a reply from Ariana but I got nothing from her. She hadn’t responded to my last message, and she always texts back quickly even if she is angry at me. The least she could send was a rather short reply .Something about it made me feel very concerned. I got to thinking that something was off somewhere. Her silence for over an hour was something I could question. I frowned, pulling over to the side of the road. My fingers moved quickly, opening our shared location app.The location showed that she was at Gabriel's office but that was not what she told me earlier when we spoke briefly. She had mentioned that she would be at her office for a short while if it was too late for her to still be working. Then, why on earth was the location map showing that she was at Gabriel's office?Something was not adding up. A bad feeling curled in my gut even though I didn't want to think about it too much. None of this was
Ariana’s POV I had no idea how I got into this small dark room but I knew that Gabriel was also with me in here "You really thought you could outsmart me, didn’t you?" He asked and he sounded so dangerous. His voice made my skin crawl and I struggled against the ropes tied around my wrists. The ropes were too tight and I wish I could get them out by pushing too hard. My heart pounded as I scanned the room. There were no windows. There was also no easy way out. It was just me and him. "I swear to God, Gabriel, if you don’t untie me right now…" I blurted out. My eyes were almost falling out of my socket as I tried hard to push my body against the wall. "You will what? Tell me, what the hell are you going to do?” He asked with a smirk on his face. I wished he was as tense as I was but no, he looked too calm and was at ease, like he hadn’t just kidnapped me and shoved me into some dark, empty office space. "You’re insane. Heaven helps you if I don't get out of this place a
Ariana’s POV"You have no choice, Ariana. You either come back to me, or your mother pays the price."Gabriel’s words still kept echoing in my head like a death sentence and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I knew that he was not joking after he said such a thing to me.I had now convinced myself that Gabriel was a psycho who wasn't capable of loving. My hands trembled as I gripped my phone, rereading the message over and over. The evidence he claimed to have, the threat he had so casually thrown at me was all real and I could feel it.He couldn't possibly be joking about something like this. I stood in my apartment, resting my head on the wall. My mother had her faults, but she didn’t deserve to have her name dragged through the mud. And the child... my child.His damn child too…no, no. Gabriel was heartless. I pressed a hand against my stomach, and my tongue tasted so bitter. How had I let it come to this? How had I become so trapped here?I couldn’t go to Zayde. No, I ca
Gabriel’s POVI was guilty as charged. I was not just a man who was in love. I was a stalker and I made sure I monitored wherever Zayde and Ariana where going. It had become a daily routine for me. I had not seen myself taking my eyes off my phone. After the last encounter with the both of them, I was very humiliated. Zayde punched me so hard and I couldn't fight back. When I got home, I slapped myself countless times for allowing myself to get beaten up by Zayde in front of Ariana. Why couldn't I fight or defend myself? I thought I had taken taekwondo classes the other year. Yet, he keeps beating me anytime we fight. I think I might have forgotten why wee were rivals. Zayde seemed to be ahead of me in most areas and I didn't want that. You think you have won, Zayde? You have no idea what is coming. I'm preparing something that will come to you as a shocker. I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth, rolling my jaw. The bastard got a good hit in, I had give him that. But
Zayde’s POVI knew I had to try one more time. You can't blame me for trying to get Ariana back to me. The truth is, I love her and I was going to do anything to get her back if only she let me. I had called Ariana out and was pleased to see because I had a lot of things to tell her. We were in a dark park with few people around. She stood in front of me, standing akimbo like she was shielding herself from me, from this moment.“I don't think we can keep doing this Zayde. We have to cut ties and stop seeing each other,” she informed me and she pressed her lips together.“That might not work quite well. If you want that, I need you to look me in the eyes and say it,” I said, almost pleading with her. She lifted her head and for a second, I saw everything that was hidden in her. The love, the pain and the confusion. But then she blinked, and it was all gone.Ariana once loved me. I didn't want it to be so. I want her to love. “Zayde, this isn’t fair,” she said to me and I couldn
Isabella pov“Are these people joking?” I asked myself after letting out a thunderous laughter. I leaned back in my chair, watching the chaos unfold on my screen. The video of Zayde and Gabriel’s fight had spread like wildfire. Social media was on fire with their clips, memes, and heated debates about who was in the wrong. Some defended Zayde, calling him a hero. Others insulted him, painting him as a violent and possessive monster who didn't Wang But one thing was clear. He had already shattered his reputation. It was clear that I had been the one saving his reputation all these while. “Very good. I hope he learns something new about this. He would know that the only way he could keep up with the public is when he was with me.”A slow smile crept onto my lips as I scrolled through the comments. I loved everything I was looking out because this was another type of revenge that I was getting. Now, everything was working in my favour. “Zayde totally lost control. Can’t believe
Ariana’s POVCall me stupid for all I care but, I didn't know when I called Zayde to come and save me from Gabriel's cruel hands. I was beginning to regret everything that I did simply because he was acting so caring. I made a mistake. I shouldn't have called him. Myself and Zayde had hurt each other for a long time, yet he still came to help me when I needed him. My conscience won't let me take it all in so I had a quick switch that threw him off balance. "You should have let me handle it!" I yelled at him, pushing him off my body. My voice was raw, shaking, but I didn’t care. I shoved Zayde’s chest, hard but he barely moved and his dark eyes couldn't leave my body. “What do you mean? You called me on the phone and you kept crying because you couldn't handle it and you are in danger. Why are you now suddenly saying this?” He asked and he wiped the blood off his knuckles. His breathing kept coming in heavy but I had already made up my mind not to allow him close to me. He sud
Zayde’s POV"Zayde... please. Help me. Please.”I was enjoying my peace when Ariana’s voice shook through the phone. I had not expected her to call since we were both not on good terms but from her voice, I could tell that she was in trouble and I needed to be there to help her. I know fear when it comes to me. I had seen it in others. I had felt it in myself more times than I cared to admit. But hearing it in her voice? That was different. That was a kind of fear that set my blood on fire."Ariana? What happened? Talk to me now! I swear, I'm listening to you and I'm going to come and save you," I said to her and my grip tightened around my phone. My body was already moving and I grabbed my car keys. "I…it's…Gabriel…"she tried to speak but her breath wasn't letting her to. I heard a sharp sound in the background, something crashing into something and then her voice dropped to a whisper. "Please, just come. Now.”I didn’t need to hear more. I was already out the door.My mind rac