“What makes you think he’s working against you?” Charlotte asked. “He has been acting weird lately. I can’t put my hand on it but something seems off. I’m thinking of getting some other private investigator but Private is the best. He will figure it out,” Xavier said with a sigh. “Do you have anyone in mind?” She asked, her mind going different places. “Yes,” Xavier nodded, and that’s why I have to be careful. “I think he’s working for Laura. I started to suspect him when he told me he couldn’t find anything incriminating about her, like someone was preventing from doing so. I got my confirmation when the same videos I asked him to destroy found their way back into Laura’s phone. I don’t know how much Laura is paying him to make him think he can get away with stabbing me in the back but I hope it’s worth it because he’s definitely going to pay.” Charlotte nodded. No wonder he was so angry. “Thanks for the flowers,” she said after, hoping to change the subject and ease some te
“Is there anyone he talks to?” The therapist asked Xavier after Caleb’s session. “Is there anyone he’s comfortable around? His mother for example?” It had been almost two weeks of therapy and yet, Caleb was showing no signs of recovery. He was still as scared and quiet as he had been the first day Xavier brought him to the house and now, even the therapist was giving up hope. “There’s this woman at my house, Kate,” Xavier said, hoping they would take the lead from there and not have to invite Laura. The therapist nodded. “His mother?” “No. She’s not in the picture. We’re divorced and she does not have custody,” Xavier lied. He looked right at the woman who he suspected must have run her research about him and definitely knew all about Laura, but his gaze did not waver because he knew she wouldn’t dare to cross him by involving Laura. “Tell me more about this Kate,” she urged finally, going back to scribbling on her notepad. “She’s my wife’s sister. She has kids of her own and wh
Alone with Caleb in the waiting room, Charlotte remained silent while she watched the boy stare at the wall. It was obvious he was special, and she sincerely wished there was some way to enter his mind and talk to him, assure him she wasn't a bad person like he probably thought. She sighed and turned when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching. It was just someone with a stack of papers in their hand passing, who reminded Charlotte of Xavier's secretary. Even though she hated her guts, Charlotte wondered if she could have done things differently. She had never been one to slut-shame anyone, but desperate times had called for desperate measures. "Ouch," Caleb's squeak of discomfort pulled her away from her thoughts. "What's wrong?" she asked him, placing a hand on the foot he had pulled up. He stared at her but didn't say anything for a while. She gave him a tired smile because his silence didn't shock her. "When I was little, each time I had a bumpy, my sister would always
Charlotte chuckled when she watched Xavier chase Caleb around the park. Whenever he got close enough to touch Caleb, he slowed down on purpose, so that the game wouldn't come to an end. Caleb screamed in delight as Xavier played with him, and when Charlotte wasn't bursting out laughing, she was marvelling at what a delight it was to see how great he was at being a dad. She took a few pictures and videos of them running around on her phone and uploaded them to her personal social media account. Xavier waved at her from a point in the park, where he and Caleb had stopped to rest from their running, and she waved back with a proud smile. She ignored her phone that was buzzing with notifications and focussed on watching the other people with their children in the park. It was a beautiful sight, and she was more than happy to be there. When she checked her notifications however, the proud smile on her face diminished entirely. What had she been thinking when she uploaded those pictures?
"You could have just sent a text or something, and I would have taken it down immediately," Charlotte said and brought out her phone from the picnic basket where she had dropped it. She wasn't in the mood to argue or exchange words with someone like Laura who apparently enjoyed it. "I'll take the post down right away." "I didn't come here to ask you to take the post down, you skank!" Laura snarled. "Why on earth would you show my baby's face in public without my consent? Who the fuck do you even think you are? If I had known you were still around Xavier, I would never have let him take my son. I don't need you corrupting my son..." "Now, that's enough from your uncouth mouth," Xavier yelled, making all of them jerk in surprise. “What's the point of this stunt you're pulling now? Insulting my wife in public? What exactly do you intend to gain from it. She has already agreed to take down the posts, so what's your deal? I'm sick and tired of your shit!" "Xav, I..." Laura began in a
"Your guest is here to see you ma'am," Laura's assistant announced to her."He's not a freaking guest," Laura muttered to herself. "Bring him in.""Hello," Private greeted, coming along with the assistant, but Laura completely ignored him. The assistant pointed to the other chair in the room and he nodded and sat there. When Laura saw that he was sitting and that the assistant had left the penthouse, she threw the bottle of vodka she had been drinking on him, but he moved right before it could reach him and watched it shatter hard against the floor in a loud crash. His eyes widened, but he maintained his composure and straightened his tie. "Good morning to you too," he said sarcastically. "Don't 'good morning' me!" she snapped. "Will you tell me why I can't find the pictures I had of Xavier's wife? Why have they suddenly disappeared from my phone? You're the only person I know with the ability to make things like that appear and disappear, so care to explain?" Private furrowed hi
"I can't find the pictures anymore," Charlotte said, alarmed. She was holding her phone in her hand, refreshing her page over and over to verify if it was a technical problem. It wasn't."What do you mean?" Xavier asked, taking her phone from her. "Look at my page. It just disappeared. Right now. I don't know how. I didn't delete it," she said. "Hmm. I'm sure Private must have had something to do with this," Xavier muttered under his breath. "What do we do now?" she asked, feeling afraid. The fact that someone could just delete a post she had made a few hours ago from her own account without her consent was so scary. It made her feel like she had no privacy. If someone could do this whevener they wanted, what else could they do? If someone like Laura had the power and the means to do soemthing like this, what else would she try next? Xavier stood up."Where are you going?" she asked him."I'm going to do something I should have done a long time ago.""Xavier, wait," she called, r
“What’s wrong?” Mia asked her daughter after she returned from the grocery store. Julia looked away. “Nothing.” “Don’t start this, Julia. Just tell me what’s bothering you.” “I’m tired of working there, mom,” Julia said finally. “You said it would only be for a while. Why are we being punished for what Jonah did. It’s not fair.” Mia sighed and went into the kitchen to sort out the things they had bought. Julia followed closely behind. “As much as I would like to pin everything on your brother, that’s not entirely fair. Both of us, especially me are responsible for what we’re going through.” Julia frowned. Since when did her mother become such a wuss. The old Mia would have been concocting some genius, devious plan by now, but here she was, sadly recounting their pain. It had been close to three months since they started working in Xavier’s company. Scratch that- it was close to three months since Xavier had punished them by employing them in the most despised jobs possible. Jul