Chapter Fifty-Nine – A threat. The repairs at the Wade’s mansion was going smoothly. Damien only wanted to drop by but now he had to buy a meal for every worker. He reluctantly gave his card to his butler who nudged him playfully. “Be happy to give.” The old man said. Damien rolled his eyes. He would have been happier to give the workers if not that they had already extolled money from him just for minor works to be done. It felt like he was building a mini apartment and not rebuilding a broken balcony. All because he’s the young billionaire, everyone wanted a piece of him. As he plopped down on a couch inside, one of the workers came running to him. He noticed the man was of Asian descent. “Sir Damien Sir. Can I have a word with you?” Naturally, he became uneasy with that question. “Stand there while talking, please.” He replied. For all he knew, that could be a henchmen of Debby wanting to inflict harm on him. However when he said that, he noticed the hurt expression the man
Chapter Sixty – I’m cute. There were outside the university building. They just had their last class for the day and Winx was hoping to head home. “About that lunch with your husband, he didn’t really agree to it, did he?” Arya gave her a side glance. “It’s happening, don’t worry.” “Are you going to make him or what?” a small frown rested on Winx’s lips. “You seem like a little demanding wife, don’t be like that. I’m sure he’d be busy with work and all…' “He also likes escaping you know. Escaping work and his office. Eating with us will give him an avenue to escape all that. I know what I’m saying.” Arya convinced. She didn’t actually know what she was saying. All she cared about was setting up this date with Damien and Winx.As for Seth, she would still study. She doesn’t think she’s on his radar yet but his recent attitude with her was making her think otherwise. “Winx? I wanna ask though. Don’t laugh.” She said. Winx glanced at her and then back to the road. “If it’s a funn
Chapter Sixty-One – I accept. Arya and Winx met up with Damien. Winx was still looking around the car, shocked at how clean everything looked. “Arya, you are driven to school in this everyday?” “I do walk sometimes.” Arya replied with a scowl. “That’s because you are a bad driver or you have easily own a car.” Damien slapped back, making Winx to laugh. Arya pursed her lips, glaring at him through the mirror. Was he showing off or really trying to get on her nerves? Either ways, Arya looked impressed with everything. She knew Winx was a contented girl but she’d not mind her wanting a bit of such dramatic life for herself. “Winx, right?” Damien looked back at Winx. Her face lit up. “Uh-huh. Winx Hendrickson.” “Hendrickson. Sounds smart. Are you related to the fashion designer couple, Hendrickson and Sheena?” Damien asked. Winx and Arya’s face beamed, for different reasons. Winx’s head continuously nodded. “Yes, yes! I thought you’d not remember. I mean, they are my grandpare
Chapter Sixty-Two – No choice. Aunt Jenna looked around the apartment again before walking in. Many questions and doubts filled her head but she couldn’t answer any. Why was she obeying this strange person texting her? For fear of being exposed? Who was this person? What did they want from her exactly? What was their issue with Arya? “Hello.” A small voice ran through one of the rooms. Aunt Jenna just closed the main door behind her. Her bones shook vigorously as the house had an eerie feel to it. “Who’s there? Who are you exactly and what do you want?” “Strong voice for a woman who I have wrapped around my finger.” The voice cackled. Aunt Jenna stopped in her tracks. She didn’t like the tone of that person, who was obviously younger than her. “Who are you? And what do you want with me?” Small footsteps came from far off. Aunt Jenna squinted her eyes to be able to see ahead. There was a long dark alley. “I assumed you’d know what’s going on if you saw this house. Or wasn’t it
Chapter Sixty-Three – He fell. (At the Hotel)It had turned from lunch, to a ‘have all you can eat’ then to a ‘buy all you can see’. Arya was already feeling like she spent too much of Damien’s money even if he said it was nothing. And she wasn’t at her room in the mansion, taking all she bought back would be too heavy for her. She rolled on her bed, back and forth before staying at a place. Her mind went back to how Damien had been looking at her closely while she shopped. It made her feel tingly and troubled. “What if this man had already fallen for me?” she questioned. That would be very bad. She wouldn’t be able to reciprocate those feelings. And he wouldn’t be ready to get ‘no’ for an answer. He had the means to keep her to himself. “Damn, it’s been almost four months since our marriage. Anything can happen now.” She began rolling again. All her plans had failed. Seeing him as her big brother didn’t go as planned because he always kept being flustered around her. Winx bec
Chapter Sixty-Four – Second Attack.A new issue rested on Arya’s shoulders.The worst case scenario had happened. Damien had fallen in love with her while Seth hasn’t shown any interest on her yet. Also, she didn’t know if she could keep going after Seth because when she came to school that morning, he had asked her how her date went. It took her a while to remember that she yapping about a man giving her time would make Seth assume it was a date. “He must have checked me out of his books. If I was there in the first place.” She groaned, then sipped on her juice. To add salt to injury, there was a girl that was eating and laughing with Seth at the restaurant and Arya was seething with rage and jealousy. She had been noticing the girl around Seth but at that point, they looked more like a couple than two friends. Worst part was, the girl was a total hottie. Arya gulped down her juice in despair and hit her head on the wall besides her. “I am a total loser at this point!” “What’s
Chapter Sixty-Five – Press. Arya held her phone tightly on her chest. She was glad she didn’t expose her fear in her voice tone when calling Damien. Now she knew he had feelings for her, she was trying her best not to make him worry about her, and focus on his company. If he worried about her, it’d make his feelings grow stronger. Also, as part of the Wades, this unknown group was attacking, she shouldn’t burden but help in her small way. Winx ran back to her with more information. “Okay so I can’t get a hold of Lena, your cousin. You said she was involved last time, right?” Arya nodded. “Yeah, but it’s okay if you can’t reach her. I’d try again. I’ve called my sister so everything will be okay. I’d be heading home….” Her hands were held by Winx as they were trembling. “Chill, girl. Everything’s going to be okay.” “I… I know… but why… why is this group after my family? That explosion could have killed people. What do they want from me? Is it because I’m his wife or what?” She m
Chapter Sixty-Six – Belittled. “How did he know the middle school I attended? Was he my classmate?” Arya wondered while standing outside. The door to the hotel closed and she rushed towards it. “Okay.” was all she could reply with. She wasn’t feeling very excited to talk anymore if he was truly someone from her past – a haunting traumatizing past that she should have gotten over by now. Her mind kept going back to it. She watched Master Ken curve to the reception table, possibly to get a room in the hotel. Her eyes darted around, searching for an avenue to run to her room. Talking about her middle school was the last thing she needed now. But Ken walked back to her seconds after. “Don’t you remember attending Melissa’s Middle School? It hasn’t been that long.” Ken asked with an eyebrow raise. His tone was condescending and Arya frowned. “Of course I do. What do you want to know about them.” She wasn’t happy responding but she wasn’t liking his tone either. Did he always talk
Chapter Ninety-Eight – Interest. It was the second wedding Arya was attending but the first she was feeling really excited about. It was Anna’s wedding. The reception had taken place immediately and ran out to look for Connor. He was with her phone and she needed to take lot’s of pictures of Anna. She has to show them to Winx who couldn’t attend the wedding due to her injury. Arya wished Jim could have taken it back so Winx would attend as a bridesmaid but the groom was in so much haste to marry his bride. One of the reasons being that he had to return to his base as soon as possible. Arya finally caught sight of Connor with some girls. Should she walk over to him or just let him be? She wasn’t sure. He once told her how he grew more popular at school after his issue with the reporters went viral. All she hoped was he didn’t repeat it again, it might take a different turn. Thankfully, Connor turned around to look at something and noticed her watching him. “My phone
Chapter Ninety-Seven – Paired up. Lucy had heard the news on the radio. The part she didn’t hear, however, was how her mother was the murderer of Juliet Marbles, her aunt. How in the world? Lucy was still fighting with the fact her mother conspired to kill Arya, she was hoping her mother was still her mother while holding on the fact she wasn’t the mastermind. But to think she had actually masterminded and perfectly executed the murder of her own sister years ago? It blew Lucy’s mind away. Everyone at the work place was talking about Debby and Winx issue while Lucy racked her brain over her mother’s. It was revealed that one of Debby’s accomplice had been caught, while the other escaped. No name was mentioned. Lucy knew she was safe even still because her mom didn’t share her surname. She divorced her father and went to Mr. Stark so decided to go back to her maiden name. “And to think that Mr. Stark was also killed.” Lucy shivered. Her mother had really gone down a dang
Chapter Ninety-Six – Parting gift. Winx accepted to be a witness to keep Deborah Chan in rehab. Many protesters wanted her to be kept in jail despite her being a minor. She was losing fans by the minute. The media had caught whiff of what happened because a popular celebrity had been in the boutique when it happened, while shooting a video for her fans. She also witnessed that Debby just walked into the store then went after the girls. The identity of the other girl wasn’t necessary to the media, they only wanted to know why the genius attempted murder. Also, it seemed they forgot Debby was once acquainted to the Wades or they’d begin asking barrages of questions. Meanwhile, while detained, Debby desisted from answering unnecessary questions. All she said was she didn’t regret going after the girl because she wanted her dead. The girl being Arya but to the masses, Winx. Debby’s reason was unknown and since there was no prior relationship between Winx and Debby, the med
Chapter Ninety-Five – Sorry end. Chen broke into boisterous laughter, then he pointed the knife at Aunt Jenna and slowly menacingly towards her. “You want to meet your man?" He scoffed."Didn’t we both have a deal? You should protect the woman I love and I’d not harm your loved ones, right?” Jenna’s eyes shook. What ever did he mean by that? Had something happened to his loved one? Had Debby been caught? And even if she wanted to, how did he expect her to protect Debby when she was Debby’s hostage? And between she and Debby, she needed protection against Debby than she needed to protect the girl. Aunt Jenna looked at the blood on his knife, and her stomach turned. Who did that belong to? “I-I don’t understand you.” Did something happen? “Well, Since it has come to this, I’d flee the country, never to return here.” Chen seethed. “But you, the police will come for you next.” Next? Jenna realized what had happened. Debby must have been captured. “Did you go after her? Those
Chapter Ninety-Four – Last Card Arya arrived at the Wades’ Mansion. Kane dropped her then drove out again, without speaking. She knew his head would be filled already. She slowly walked into the living room but was immediately embraced by someone. She patted Connor’s back when she realized it was him. A part of her wanted to see Damien first. Kane had called home to inform them what happened. When Connor let go, Arya saw that Damien wasn’t home yet. “Are you alright? And was it really Debby?” Selena asked quite agitated. It's the first time she showed concern for her. Arya smiled, nodding. “Yeah, it was her. Winx protected me and was stabbed at her right collar bone. The nurse said she’d be okay though. It was very sudden.” Selena gasped, rubbing her face. “Winx. My poor girl. I can’t still believe Debby became this selfish, became this monster!” Mrs. Wade just had a sour expression, looking down at her hands. “Arya, go and rest. This incident must be frightening.”
Chapter Ninety-Three – Fear. The dark circles under her eyes had increased, along with the heaviness of her eyes and her heart. Debby didn’t know if she was still alive because she felt so dead. She could hardly walk around in public for fear that the police could be unto her. And she really needed to stroll. “Chen?” she called but no one answered. Since he spoke to her, asking her intent on killing Arya, he had been distant after she didn’t give a satisfactory response. Had he left her alone too? She just wanted that bitch dead. Why was it too much to do? Why didn’t anyone get her? She slammed her hand at the desk and screamed. “Arya, I’d kill you if it’s the last thing I do!! Bitch!!” The fact that she was somewhere, excited and with Damien made her furious. Damien rarely showed excitement with her, how was he able to open up with Arya within a short time? Debby grabbed Chen’s hoodie and forced it on her body. She needed to move out and plan her next attack. She had been to
Chapter Ninety-Two – I’d stay.But why did it feel like a miracle she stayed in the marriage? Arya wondered if he didn’t expect her to stay. “Did you plan to divorce me?” she asked jokingly. “Ah no. I actually thought you’d find someone else. You know, the contract permits you to.” Connor smirked. Arya shrugged. “I thought so too but…” she paused. Wait! He knew about the contract marriage?? She grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “You knew about it? How?” Damien would definitely not have told him. “I married you, you know. I had gotten curious and read the contract during the court marriage.” He revealed. Arya clenched her teeth. Then all these while, he knew their marriage wasn’t real? Did he tell anyone? Even when she had asked him from relationship advice. She felt so stupid. “Well, I was bent on making it work out, though. So I didn’t tell anyone about it, if that’s what you’re worried about.” he added with a pat on her back. Her expression changed to a sober one. He wante
Chapter Ninety-One – Wedding She had been having second thoughts about lots of things lately. It was partly Debby’s fault, but the other, hers. Arya washed her face with water then left the restroom. Winx was waiting for her, she stared at her best friend and smiled. “Something’s been on your mind.” She had been noticing her stalling or standing at a place, lost in thoughts. “No shit, of course.” Arya agreed with a smirk. “I don’t want to talk about it, though. I’d like to sort this out myself.” She always had a way of sorting out her emotions, the ones she needed and the ones she didn’t. Crying and feeling overly excited weren’t things she grew up doing due to her strict father so she didn’t have time to ponder about strange feelings. “Wouldn’t it be weird if I liked Damien now after trying to stay away from him for months?” She muttered to herself. But could she do anything about what she felt? She was matured enough to like someone. Only that her feelings for Damien were qu
Chapter Ninety – Satisfaction.Jenna tried the knob of the door but it didn’t still open. It’s been hours since Chen left to check on Debby. She sighed, plopping down on the bed besides her. The only thing in the room. She had ended up being kidnapped and forced to be an accomplice. Her current situation was far worse than she could contain. She was beginning to harbor thoughts of turning herself to the police, after all, Stark, who she was hiding her dark side from was already involved. Chen had drugged him for days, keeping him unconscious. Jenna knew it wasn’t healthy but she had no say as Stark had seen Chen when he came to her house to drop instructions and he began asking questions. The both of them were basically hostages at the moment. She hadn’t been able to contact Lucy while Debby had been sending strange letters to her. “I don’t want Lucy to get involved, really.” She groaned. “If only there was a way to reach the outside world now.” She regretted everything. Her h