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
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
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
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
ARIANAThe moment I stepped into the house, I met Zayde and his mother in the living room. They looked livid spotting me at the door. Before I got a chance to speak, the woman lunged at me. “How dare you? How dare you betray my son like that after all he's done for you?” She spat angrily. I stood there confused and looking to my husband for help. Not once did he raise his face to look at me. “Where is this coming from?” “Don't play innocent with me, you dumb whore!” She took another step into my space and I stepped back. “You said you were going into town to run a few errands. Did that also involve riding another man's cock? Your husband's rival of all people?”Now I was pissed. “I understand that we don't get along at all but lying to my face like this is so low of you.”“Don't you dare…” came Zayde's voice as he rose from his seat and approached me. “Don't you dare try to gaslight us here. Now, look at this…”He put his phone in my face and on the screen was a photo of Gabriel an
ZAYDEAriana had been distant. I could tell because of how nervous she usually got, the impatient tap of her ring against something, how fidgety she was becoming. It had been too glaring and I discarded it as small fry.At first, I thought it was work as usual but deep down, my instincts pointed me in the lane I didn't want to venture down into. And like my mom usually said, “your intuitions are always right.” Of course, she was right. Maybe I'd been a fool blind to it.Some days ago, she had replied me in clipped tones, avoided my eyes a few times and even pulled away from my touch. Something was off. My gut twisted every time I thought about it.I sat at the dining table, staring absently at the meal on it. It was sumptuous alright, but not enticing enough to distract me from the burdens of my heart. When I raised my eyes, I found my mother watching me carefully from across the table.“Is something bothering you, Zayde?” She asked, her tone sharp as always. She used that tone on m
ARIANA“Maybe you should stay back one more day? It won't hurt.” Mom said, following me to where my car was parked vertically in the driveway. I'd parked it wrongly last night when I drove in, blind with tears. I spent the night in my old room with her arms around me, consoling me till morning. But now was the time to head back home and prove my truth to them. “No, mom. I need to call Gabriel and have him speak to Zayde. I don't care if they are rivals or not. I need to clear my name.”She sighed with a facepalm, wrapping her sleeping robe around her again. “With the way you described the situation last night, I doubt he'd want to listen to you. And his mother —”“Oh she can go fuck herself. I'm married to Zayde, not her.” She gave me a gentle smile. “Why don't I come along before she tries anything else stupid? Nobody gets the right to touch my daughter. Give me a minute, baby.”I put out a hand to stop her. “No, mom. I'll be fine. It won't be like last night. Nothing will go wron
ARIANAFour years later…The buzz of the city filtered through the glass walls of my office. On the table was a plaque on which my name was boldly inscribed.Unapologetically mine. My empire, fashion-forward and bold. It had risen like a phoenix, taking the other fashion houses in the city by surprise. Every event I attended, there were whispers of my name and achievements under a short time. Those whispers fueled me, plus the words from Gerry, a chef in my ex-husband’s home. “Your accident was more than meets the eye, ma'am. Isabella had it planned.”That devil. Plotted my accident and when she thought I was dead, got herself pregnant for Zayde and married him. By the time I'd be done with them, they'd be a sorry sight. “Ms. Ariana,” my secretary's voice cut through my thoughts. She peeked her head in, her hands gripped a sleek tablet. “It's almost time for the stakeholders’ meeting. Oh, and there's a man in the conference room. Says he's a representative from an old friend.”I no
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
Ariana’s POV“I never thought it would come to this. I thought I had everything under control,” that was what boomed in my head, distracting me from everything. I kept staring at the anonymous message on my phone screen. It was strange to look at and the more I looked at it, the more fear settled within me. Now, I had believed that everything I had now was crumbling around me. The message had come out of nowhere, and there was no way to trace the source. But it hit me so hard in the right place. "Gabriel isn’t who you think he is. His love for you is all part of a game. He doesn’t even care about you the way you think he does. He’s just using you like he always uses everyone else. Ask yourself why you are with him when you know how he really is.”I read it over and over, hoping for some kind of sense to emerge, something that would convince me to dismiss it as a lie.But the more I thought about it, the more I couldn’t ignore the nagging feeling in my gut that something was not ri
Isabella’s POVI was able to make sure that Zayde was still very much afraid of me and it was. It was quite easy. Everything’s going exactly as planned.I leaned back against the chair, the cold surface of the phone in my hand, feeling a wicked satisfaction wash over me. The video I wanted to use was out now. I had sent it to the media, knowing exactly how it would spread like wildfire, destroying Zayde’s reputation further. I didn't give a damn about anything whatsoever. I was going to take him down. That was what mattered to me. He thought he could escape the consequences, but no one ever escapes me.Not Zayde, not Gabriel, and certainly not Ariana.The video had been recorded months ago, when Zayde and I were... well, less than friendly. The moment I saw it, I knew it had the potential to bring him down completely so I had already kept it with me ever since. Zayde had always been careful about his image, always playing the role of the untouchable, perfect CEO. But that was
Zayde’s POVIf you’re going to take down a man like Gabriel, you don’t just attack. You make sure you think properly before attacking.That was the exact thing I thought about when I leaned back in my chair. My fingers tapped against the polished desk. I had paid an ex-reporter to get me the news that I needed. "You always had a flair for being so dramatic, Zayde," he said, scribbling something on a piece of paper. "But I like it. It's for the good.”I didn’t respond to that yet. Was that necessary?My mind is running in a hundred different directions. Gabriel had made his move. He thought he could publicly claim Ariana like she was some prize he won in a game neither of us agreed to play.He was wrong.I was about to make sure of that.I reached into the folder beside me and slid a document across the table. "I want to teach Gabriel a lesson. He has been getting on my nerves lately and I'm trying to find out the area he fucked up. If possible, I want him to be kidnapped,” I infor