ArianaI was still alone in my room and I knew I was already dying slowly. If no one came to my aid, I might rot in here. It was sad to think about it but what could I do? Clearly nothing!I had already shut down my company for the meantime and some of my staff had gone to other places to search for new jobs. No one even had faith that I would bounce back stronger. It was a rather sad thing to think about.Luckily for me, Gabriel called me that he was coming and we were both in a fortified house that protected us from the outside world. "Do you ever regret meeting me?" I asked him because I had been having that feeling for a long time. I don't think I had anyone around me who truly liked me. They were all around me because they had something to gain. Now, that the worse had happened to me and I was losing my feet. They are all no where to be found. To me, this words slipping out of my mouth was very necessary and I could do nothing to stop them. Gabriel sat away from me in the
Ariana"I can't believe I'm doing this. This was not part of the plan,” I thought aloud and I knew that I didn't have control over myself anymore. I knew quite well that Gabriel could hear everything I said and he was obviously judging me but I didn't mind anymore. I held my phone which I was scrolling through and Gabriel kept smiling at me. His white teeth could be visibly seen and he leaned into the chair lazily. Gabriel had been with me for weeks now and I was beginning to reconsider a lot of things. Maybe I made a mistake from the onset. Could I correct things now?Just looking at him brought a lot of memories and I began to join dots together to be able to make things better. But where was I going to start from? Was he going to forgive me for all that I did?"You say that like it’s a bad thing," he said, slightly disappointed and I gave him a pointed look. "It might be. You don't quite understand what's going on inside me.”“It doesn't quite matter, my sweet girl. At least
ArianaIf an angel told me that I would be outside my room after weeks of locking myself indoors, I would never believe it. Gabriel had succeeded in bringing me out of my house and I had no idea if I should be happy or sad about it. I was only clueless about how things would go. Especially now that we were going to an event that would be filled with the same people who judged me. “You are so insane.” I blurted out after letting out a breathless laugh as Gabriel pulled me through the crowd of journalists who were flashing cameras at me. My God! I don't think I would ever get used to something like this. I was so ashamed that I almost melted into the floor. “And you love it. I know you do,” He kept on reading me and his grip tightened around my wrist as he maneuvered us past a barricade of reporters who were doing everything possible to get me. “Relax, Ari. They won’t get near you. I'm here. Don't you trust me?”I wasn’t convinced by all that he said. I knew his intention was to ma
Zayde’s POVYou might not be aware but….I recently made a deal with Isabella after divorcing her. I could still remember the evil smirk she gave me after I agreed to her terms. She was still very much in love with me and promised not to inform my mother about our divorce. Although, I knew that it was only a matter of time that my mum knew that I was no longer with Isabella. The most annoying part, I get to make Ariana jealous. That was my own plan of making her pay for the lie she kept from me. “Fuck you, Ariana!” I kept cursing under my breath. Isabella and I were even now. We were getting what we wanted but for me, the countless dreams I had about Ariana didn't seem to stop. ***"I saw the way you were looking at her when she walked past us with Gabriel!" Isabella yelled at the top of her voice and I became confused. She was accusing me of looking at Ariana who I didn't know would bump into me.Wait! Was she trying to act like a jealous partner when she's not even my partner?
Isabella"Look at you! You are nothing but a failure. How did I ever fall in love with a dummy like you?” I kept thanking Zayde as I trailed behind him. I was going to make sure I make his life hell. That's what I do anyway. I make people's lives miserable and he was not going to be an exception. What a fool! I laughed within myself when I recalled the plans I had lined up. I was yet to see a person who was smarter than me. None of them were! From Ariana to Zayde to Gabriel to anyone involved in this mess. They were all foolish! “I'm talking to you, bastard!” I kept insulting him, forgetting that he was once the person I loved. Oops! I still loved him but he didn't deserve me and I was no longer going to beg him. My expensive heels clicked against the polished floor and my fingers cracked as I watched him in that stiff posture of his. He had been ignoring me since the moment we left the movie hall and I was not going to leave just like that.He was going to respond to me no mat
Zayde "You think you have me cornered, Isabella? Oh, I see. You want me to plead with you so that you would feed your ego. Have you forgotten that I'm a man and I would do no such thing?” I asked Isabella and she never saw that coming. Oh dear! The look on her face was so funny that it made my heart glad. I wish I could see more of this. I forced a smirk to appear on my face as I moved my head. I kept staring at the woman in front of me. I hated one thing about her. She was too confident in her abilities. That was why she thought she could harm someone and go scout free but I was not going to allow that to happen with me. I would make sure that the wicked smirk on her lips and the amusement in her eyes disappear. She thought she had won but I was only getting started with this. I hated her. I hated that she had the upper hand but more than anything, I hated that she wasn’t entirely wrong. "Oh, but I know I do," she finally said, clapping her hand together and making me mo
ArianaI shouldn’t feel bad for him. That was exactly what I thought to myself but, I found myself feeling bad over and over again. Now, I was beginning to feel like a villain after sending that kind of message to him. How would he feel?The thought ran through my head over and over, but the sick feeling in my stomach wouldn’t go away.I was fucked!Zayde had stood on that stage, frozen and humiliated. He was completely lost in front of hundreds of people. And the worst part? I saw the exact moment he lost his confidence. That was the second his gaze locked onto Gabriel and me when our lips were pressed together in a kiss neither of us should have shared at that point in time. I clenched my fists, hating myself for caring too much for a man who was meant to be in hell burning. This wasn’t my problem anymore. Zayde and I had a past, but that was all it was…a past. It should remain so. That was what I thought to myself and yet, seeing him like that, so completely shattered, did s
Gabriel’s POVI could bet a million dollars that Ariana was mine. She had always been mine but now, I was beginning to doubt certain things. I had no idea what was going on anymore. That thought burned in my mind as I watched Ariana, the woman I had loved for years, slip further into the grasp of a man who didn’t deserve her.Zayde.I hated that name. I hated the way he looked at her. I hated the history they shared and both had together. Most of all, I hated that even after everything, she still felt a certain way towards him. Ariana wasn’t as cold to him as she wanted to be.I saw it and that only made me more determined.Right now, Ariana was standing by the balcony of my penthouse. She looked so lost in thoughts and all that hit me was that she was thinking about him. I just concluded even though I could read her mind. I stepped closer, pressing my hands against the railing beside hers, careful not to touch her."You have been quiet all night. What's going on with you? Remem
Zayde's pov "You should have stayed away, Isabella. I never had good intentions for you. Now, you are going to meet your end by coming to see me.”I said the words calmly, too calmly, considering what I was about to do. I was going to destroy her and put an end to this nonsense since she thought she could run back to me like a child running back to his mother. I was not in the mood for that. I didn't like her a bit. I hated her so I was going to eliminate her before she goes around causing trouble for me. Surprisingly, my mother has not called me. She used to be the first person who called me when there were issues between Isabella and I. But, now. I didn't receive anything like that. Maybe Isabella forgot to tell her this time around. She was such an idiot! A fool who thought she was very smart. But I was about to show her now that she was far from that. Isabella stood in front of me, completely unfazed, like she had already won everything. Like she knew no matter what, she h
Isabella After I was kicked out by Ariana, I went back to my room and cried my eyes out. I was not crying my eyes out because she sent me out of her office but because it was clear that I could no longer manipulate her to do my biddings. As if that was not enough, my conscience began to prick me hard simply because I haven't heard anything from Zayde. I knew we were done and I was trying to move on but I couldn't help myself any longer. I had to call him and hear that heartbreaking word from him one more time. “Isabella, you called? Don't expect me to ask you the reason for the call?” He asked over the phone and I wiped my tears with the back of my palm. "You don’t love me anymore, do you? I'm sorry that I'm disturbing you with my calls but my mind has not been at rest ever since we stopped talking,” I said to him and the words slipped out of my mouth very neatly. I wished I could hit my head on the wall because I already knew the answer to the questions I just asked. I just
IsabellaI was not happy for her and I could never be. Yes, my heart was still hurting from everything I had passed through because Ariana existed. I wish she didn't. It's been weeks since Zayde left me and I have been trying to move on. I have been to bars to drink my heart out and I have also had one night stands with men I knew not. Don't be too quick to judge me. I was just a young lady suffering from heartbreak who thought doing this would fix me. But, it didn't. It only made things worse for me. I had lost my looks, my spark and even the weight I had tried my best to gain. "She really thinks she’s better than me! I guess she must be laughing at me right now in her head!” I lamented and I knew I sounded so bitter. My fingers gripped the phone tighter as I stared at the breaking news on my screen.“No way! This shouldn't be happening. I had destroyed her life. I had wrecked her to the extent that she would never be able to get her feet back for a long time. How could this h
ZaydeAriana and I had been getting really along because of what happened between her and Gabriel. She promised me that she was not going to meet with him again and I told her to cut ties with him. In my presence, she blocked his number and deleted everything about him. It was a welcome development even though I knew that I might not have a chance with her. I loved her so much but yet, I couldn't remind her of that everytime. I had to make sure she sees it in my actions. We decided to go to a library to relax and read a few books since that was what she wanted. My mind was not fixed on the book we were meant to read because I wanted to talk to her about us. "Have you ever had a moment so perfect you almost think it's a setup?" I asked her, trying to strike a conversation and Ariana turned to me with her eyes narrowed and her lips curled in suspicion. “What are you talking about?" She asked and I cleared my throat. I wanted her to be able to hear me and pause to listen to all
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