Her mind was running wild like cricketers on a dark night. She stared at the fire, seeing herself in the red of the flames and the rage of the sparks.
She was looking for answers only she knew the questions to.Day in, day out, there was always something new nibbling at her mind, twisting, turning, tormenting, and burning. It set her mind alight, taking her to places without a trail, dark places with no way home. Or as the world likes to say, a place of no return.However, she liked it there, it was her happy place, it was the only time she was in control, and she loved control. Samantha Grayson loved having the world at the tip of her fingertips. "What is your story with Logan Parker and MJ Billings?" She tilted her head slowly against the couch, her dark eyes landing on her new companion, the girl with the cervical collar. The young woman was like a pest, constantly poking and asking questions. Her curiosity was unnerving."What's your name again?" Samantha asked, intentionally provoking her."Carmen," the girl gritted.Samantha smiled cynically. "Carmen," she repeated as if tasting the name at the tip of her tongue. "Tell me something, Carmen, do you like the place?" She watched as Carmen's eyes wandered around the ceiling and the fireplace, her lips twisting into a snarl. "Well, it is quite fancy.""Fancy as your fiancé's place?" Samantha poked."Not even close," Carmen said confidently.Luxury. That was Carmen's weakness, she was driven by her quest for the high life, money, cars, fashion, and the spotlight. Girls like her were easy to lure and easy to use, and just as simple to dispose of. That was the first impression Samantha got of her, and it was probably the reason she was an easy bait for MJ.MJ Billings preyed on people's weaknesses, she drew power by convincing them that they were in full control of a situation."Tell me something, how did you end up in this situation?" She already knew that the money lured her, but obviously it did not magically land on her doorstep."A man approached me, he said he was working for MJ Billings." Liam, Samantha thought. He never shied away from doing her dirty laundry. "He said MJ Billings would be back in town soon, and when that happens, then I would lose Logan forever. He convinced me that he was trying to keep Logan and MJ apart. ""Oh, trust me, he could have. Love is such a dangerous game, Carmencita."Carmen cringed at her new name. "He told me that he had a plan to make Logan fall in love with me. He said that Logan desperately wanted to have a child to fill a void in his past."A void? Did Liam know things about Logan than MJ did not know about? When MJ sends someone to do her dirty work, quite often, she does not n't give them a user manual to succeed in their plans, she just simply gave them an idea. She told Liam to bribe Carmen, and he made it look like he was sponsoring her.Liam was deliberately trying to cause conflict between MJ Billings and Logan Parker, by now, they both had twisted versions of the truth."You sneaky bastard," Samantha muttered thoughtfully. "Has Logan lost a child before?" Carmen's forehead creased and she scratched her nose in thought. "Do you perhaps know if Logan had a child in the past? Lost a child."She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, looking uncertain.Of course, she did not! The only thing she's been looking at since she met him was his pocket. She did not care about him, she did not care enough to find out or know about his past; his pain or his trials and tribulations. She only cared about his money, about his status and the places it would take her in this world, he was her golden ticket. She did not love him, she only loved herself."Not that I know of," she said after some hesitation. "I mean, he was with Lola before MJ, and I don't know if they had a child or not, but I know that something happened between the two of them and that Logan was never the same after that. It changed them, it changed him."But of course, it had to be Lola! Logan and Lola might have had a child, and then Lola lost his child and left him with a void in his heart, and now he was trying to fill that gap.Liam knew exactly where to press. But how?How could Liam have known about this, how did he find out that Logan and Lola would have had a kid together?There was someone else playing games, there was someone else who did not want Logan and MJ to be together.There was a mastermind behind this game, someone who wanted to keep them apart. Liam and Carmen were just pawns in this game. This mastermind wanted to keep Logan and MJ apart by making them both believe that they were in control of what was happening, while in reality he or she was driving a wedge between them. But who was it? Who could have been whispering in Liam's ear?This only made her mission more interesting. She had to find out who this saint was, perhaps they could find a way to work together. She had no business in keeping MJ and her man apart, but she needed them to be distracted while she continued on her own mission, and if jeopardizing their relationship would help her achieve her goals, then so be it."Is there anyone who could possibly know about this?" Samantha asked.Demi arrived just in time to answer her question. "Jorge Billings," she said, depositing herself next to Carmen. "He is Logan's best friend, he knows everything there is to know about Logan Parker."Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of Jorge, but she knew he could not have betrayed his best friend. Although he was probably the one person who wanted to separate MJ and Logan, he did not like Carmen and would never put Logan through the pain he went through all over again. That was not Jorge.She would not be able to find answers while sitting here, Demi and Carmen would be useful in the future, just not in this case.On a different day, Cameron Parker would have jumped at the opportunity to throw a party, especially since his brother permitted him. However, given the circumstances that led up to that decision, he was doing the complete opposite. He spent the next few days cooped up in the house alone, Logan had not shown up since the night he displayed that footage, he seemed hi and MJ.He was completely fine without the two of them on his case, however, his peace and quiet did not last long, the devil chose this exact time to invite his favourite assistant back into his life.Montana Parker.He could not believe his eyes when she rocked up at the mansion with her son in tow.He had not seen her in years, and the last time he saw her, she was admitted in a psychiatric hospital, and according to his calculations, she was not supposed to be out.She looked just as crazy as he remembered, if not crazier. Montana was the definition of a wolf in sheep's clothing; she had this
There is a saying that you will always find what you are looking for, and that was something that came too easily in the mother city.Being a tourist had its own benefits, you got to be in places where no one expected you to be. It was easy to blend in and speak to everyone without looking suspicious; the people here were easygoing and kind, and they were interactive. A person could easily ask them anything, and they would answer without hesitation or holding back.The streets held answers to questions that nobody ever thought of asking, it held way to the secrets of the city. Logan thought he owned the city, and what better way to get to know him if not by knowing his city, his people.One thing that caught Samantha's attention were the street kids. They seemed to be aware of everything, they were vigilant and extra cautious.She was at the marketplace and it was packed but it seemed as though someone was watching her. She looked around and everything se
For hours she sat on the floor with a glass of whiskey in hand, but for some reason she could not bring herself to swallow the strong beverage.She could not believe the last few hours happened, that she had the confrontation she had been dreading for years.It left her with so much pain, anger, and hatred. The truth did not set her free, it chained her to every exchange that happened last night, and it brought back the past like a wave on the shore, making it harder to breathe without thinking about it.For hours she hesitated whether or not she should call Blair. She was not sure whether she wanted to be in complete silence or speak to somebody about her encounter with Logan Parker. She felt lost, exposed, neglected, and abandoned. She felt naked.She felt as though every time she stepped outside, everyone would notice, everyone would see that she was a rape victim. Her hard work would no longer count, her success would not come to her rescue, and her a
How could a person be so heartless? How could someone who was once so sweet be so cruel? Logan wondered, but the warning bells went off in his head; he knew why, it was the same reason he was walking around like a zombie.He did not know what was worse; that she was raped, that she hated him, or the fact that she had no sympathy. Logan knew her too well to know that she would never lower down to his level and comfort him for his loss; MJ Billings was proud, heartless, and unsympathetic – she was cruel, and that was the first thing one saw in her the first time.Logan had known MJ since she was little, after all, he was four when she was born. His father and Jorge's father were the best of friends, and that was how he met Jorge who was seven at the time and they became the best of friends.Most of the time when he visited, Jorge was either spending time with his baby sister, or he was reading since he was home-schooled. Logan did not understand why until a
He watched her run up the stairs and a second later, he heard the bedroom door slam shut.She was right, she did not invite him, he came because Blair asked him to, but he also did it out of free will. However, it did not mean that he was going to leave just because she did not want him there.He walked out of the house and told the driver to go back home because he needed enough people to keep an eye on Montana, but that was only an excuse to get rid of the guard and stay behind.He puffed out and rolled his head back around, suddenly feeling tired and drained like he had been lifting heavy machines, while in reality, he had not been doing anything, at least nothing useful, he was just lazing around in his brother's house.He sighed and walked back into the house. The house was spotless, MJ had done a really great job at cleaning it, nobody would be able to tell that it was a crime scene. The only thing that was a reminder that a crime had taken place wa
"She was admitted at the same hospital as Mr Billings."She sat there for a second, waiting for someone to tell her something else, something that did not need for her to solve.But the prolonged silence killed her hopes. Her mouth suddenly filled with too much saliva, and she felt her stomach twisting and turning strangely, and then she retched. She pushed her chair back and ran past Cameron and Jackson, and barged into the nearest bathroom, immediately falling to her knees and bending over the toilet. Her throat burned as all the contents she just had spewed out through her mouth.She choked and gagged until nothing was left. Her body shivered as if she had not had anything to eat, she felt weak to her bone as she leaned over the basin and rinsed her mouth.She stayed in the room for a minute, thinking about what Jackson just said to her.She could not believe that Samantha Grayson was in the same hospital as Jorge, whoever put her there thought
Logan thought that the days to come would be miserable following the confrontation with MJ Billings, but not even a day later, he was in the greatest mood of his life.He woke up that morning and cooked up a storm of breakfast, taking Antonina by surprise."Is there a problem?" Logan asked when Antonina threw him a suspicious glance at the breakfast table."You were not home when I went to bed last night, and I did not hear you come back," she said.Logan felt his heart beat slowly for a second, but he refused to let it get to him. She did not remember anything from last night, and he did not want to worry her by trying to get her to remember things, it would only make matters worse."I was working till late last night. I missed quite a lot of work when we went London."Her eyes perked up. "Hmm, me too! We should finish up here and leave, there's a lot of paperwork to catch up on." She gulped down her juice and got up. "We can pack some of t
Logan was not particularly happy to see her, but she did not expect anything less from him. He had every right to be mad at her.She was not planning on being in the same room as him after their confrontation, but after everything she heard from Samantha, she wanted to look him in the face and ask him why he did what he did.He put her brother's life in danger and put all their lives at risk.She went to look for him in his office and found out from Natalia that he was at La Café, she did not expect to find his bodyguard with him, but from the look of things, the news of his latest adventure had travelled fast."What are you doing here?" Thuso asked, but MJ ignored him.Her attention was focused on Logan, she had no idea how to feel about him or the situation he put them in, all she felt was a burning feeling in her chest, and it felt as if she was going to explode."Just give me a reason why, one good reason," she said quietly. "I kn