LeakedPov: WinstonMaddie was avoiding my gaze and i didn't know why.It troubled me. It troubled me a whole lot than I was letting on.She was walking at my side as we walked from the building where I just had a meeting with my board of investors and we were making our way to the car."What's next on my schedule?" I asked her as we got seated in the backseat of my Sedan.I noticed that she pressed herself into a tiny little corner, leaving ample space between the both of us and pushed herself up against the door, her knees together, her fingers clenching her iPad in a tight grip.I almost felt sorry for the poor device.She sat up, almost as if she had been zapped by lightning, at the sound of my voice... Something she had been doing all day, sitting upright, standing straighter, clenching her stomach, fisting her hands... Almost like she was scared of me.But i didn't understand, why would she be scared of m–And then it all came coming back to me.The night I had dropped her off a
ProfessionalPov: MaddisonTurns out that trying to be more professional with Mr Winston was harder than I thought. For starters, he was totally fine with my decision to do a complete one eighty on him.He kept his distance from me. He didn't even look my way. He didn't ask if I was fine or if I slept well. There were no covert looks. No warm smiles. No lasting gazes. No inside jokes. No more inviting me to his office to have lunch with him. There was none of that.I should love this. This was what I wanted, right? This was what I asked for... Right?I sighed as I walked into the building that morning. Olivia greeted me with a cheery wave and smile and I had smiled back tightly at her and kept on working, not wanting to strike a conversation with her...I wasn't in the mood. I walked into the elevator and pushed the button to take me to the suite reserved just for Mr Winston. I got off the elevator the moment I arrived and went to get those early reports printed, made his early morn
Decisions and RepercussionsPov: MaddisonWe finished up our lunch and were heading back to the office in Olivia's Mercedes, since she had carpooled all of us in her car."Speaking on this Mr Winston topic–" Olivia said, strapping herself to her seat and reapplying her lip gloss, whipping open her compact mirror she carried along with her all the time.A cold chill tickled my spine and my ribcage felt like it was constricting my lungs and heart until it became almost impossible to breath and my heart was skipping beats in my chest. "How're you two getting along?" She asked, touching up her mascara and wiping an inexistent smudge from the corner of her lips. "It's best you two maintain a good relationship so that I can get employee benefits for Mr Winston being hopelessly in love with you. String him along if you have to, until i get my money's worth, ya hear?" She said, snapping her compact mirror close and adjusting herself in her seat to key in the ignition.Kat turned around in he
sack lettersPov: MaddisonI was up bright and early the next day, my mind refreshed from my good night sleep and the pleasure of having the bed all to myself throughout the night. Shower was even more refreshing and i dressed in a finely knit cashmere sweater that almost exposed a sliver of skin if I raised my hands too high and a pencil skirt that stopped a few inches above my knee. There was a little slit that exposed some skin on my thigh and I had tied up the simple chic look with a pair of my favourite bombass snow white prada heels. The ones I had gotten on sale and nearly broke a tooth for.I hadn't really dressed up for work in a long time, throwing on whatever official looking pair of clothes I could find, but still coming out looking effortlessly chic. I loved clothes, I loved designs, I've always loved to dream and create and style outfits but I had switched my major to business administration mid–way into my second semester because I had listened to the voices in my head
Telepathic ConnectionsPov: WinstonI could feel the connection between my mate and I going more and more taut with the weight of the distance she had put between us these past few days.But that didn't mean I was immune to how badly every cell in my body was screaming to claim and be claimed by her.I had kept my distance, respecting her wishes and trying to find healthy distractions that would not make me appear in a gossip column of a magazine the next day.I had tried to fuck her out of my system. I had tried and failed. I never even made it to second base with any of these women. I was genuinely not attracted to them. The only person on my mind was Maddie and it seemed that no part of me would rest until I was safe with her.She had walked into office today, looking as beautiful and pristine as ever and I had nearly fallen off my swivelling chair when she showed up at my desk. There was something about her that was even more beautiful to look at today and as we ran through my va
back to lifePov: MaddisonI was feeling refreshed and happier from the awesome dinner I had had with Mr Winston and his college and childhood friends last night.Will had not been at home, probably off looking for a job or something. I had prepared some pasta and left some for him in the fridge to heat up when ever he returned.My mother had wanted me to come visiting this weekend and I stood in front of her door, ringing her doorbell and waiting for her to open the door for me.She didn't take long at all, one moment, I was pressing the button, the next, the door was flying open and she was pulling me into her tight, warm, motherly embrace."Maddie!" She cried, "Maddison, how are you?! How are you?"I hugged her softly, my arms going around her to hug her back as I breathed in her familiar scent that smelled like laundry and detergent and starch. "Maddie, what happened?" She asked when she pulled back from the hug to look at me, concern etched into her eyes. "You were hysterical wh
Photoshoot troublesPov: MaddisonAs i worked into the company that morning, the first thing I saw was a huge poster of me spread out like a wall paper on the entirety of one of the walls on the ground floor. I walked towards the wall and my heart was doing backflips and cartwheels throught the time it took for me to reach the giant wallpaper of (gulp) me.I looked good, I realized.My hands were shaking at my sides and I was hyperventilating out of control, a light sheen of sweat had gathered on my face... But I looked great.I had picked my favourite shots of the entire photoshoot and those were the two shots now plastered on the wall for every one to see. I liked the fact that Mr Winston had made good on his promise to let me have the final say in what got published and what got chucked in the bin. I had discarded the only one shot that had been even the slightest bit provocative or sleezy and kept the rest. The shots were going to be on fine print, in magazines, on billboards, on
Raze the earthPov: WinstonI was having a meeting with the executives of my technical department from Los Angeles when Maddie bursted into the conference room with the morning cup of coffee and morning news reports she usually summarized for me every morning.She was late and I raised my head to reprimand her for being late today, when i saw the look on her face and my thoughts came to a screeching halt. My heart stopped beating for one terrifying moment in my chest and my mouth turned dry.Her eyes were red and bleary and her face was puffy and swollen. Her cheeks were stained with tears and her face looked like it had been wiped clean of all her make-up hastily. I was out of my sit and walking over to her in seconds, my heart, beating out of control in my chest, my hands shaking at my sides and balling into tightened fists.What had happened to her? Who had hurt her? Why had she been crying? These questions thrashed around in my head as I walked over to her.I wanted to wrap her
It was a blur from then on.They whipped me with whips laced in silver, fed me Aurum and argentum and made me inhale wolfesbane, the grounded petals of a flower that attacked our cardio vascular system. They flogged me with silver studded sticks and kicked me with silver soled shoes and stabbed at me and poked fun at me and laughed at me.Maddie was struggling so hard in her seat, crying and begging in mumbles for them to stop.I was weak. My eyes were closing. I could have died any second...And then, i heard a growl so gutteral, so beast like, from the other side of the room, in the direction where Maddie was.At first, I thought that it was all in my head, because no no no... It cannot be.But the others fell silent and stopped their assault on me.Maddie was growling, deep in her throat, her eyes were flashing yellow with beast like slits as pupils. Fur sprouted out of her skin. She seemed to grow bigger and bigger on the seat and stood on her feet, still tied to the chair, and ke
daysPov: WinstonIt took me a while to rouse to consciousness. Gwyn had been the first one to wake and porge the sleeping pills out of her system, because she had the lightest weight and then, she made a disgustingly smelling potion and held it up at each of our noses, to wake us up too.And so, that was how I woke up to a pungent, egg smelling potion bomb, exploding in my nose.I looked up at the grim faces of my best friends, together with Cerulean and Lapis' worried gazes and wondered what the fuck their problems were.Why were they in my room, looking at me like that? I turned to my side to ask Maddie if she was seeing what I was seeing... And had the shock of my life.Maddie's side of the bed was empty. "Where is she?!" I had growled desperately."We don't know," Gwyn had whispered, "but from the looks of it, she had drugged us and ran away.""What?!" A tremor shook my spine. I was up and out of the bed immediately, tugging on a shirt and pants and grabbing my car keys, a mill
The ghost of a smile stayed on my lips but as I continued the story, my smile dropped and fell from my face. "I stayed with Mr Winston for a while, but one day, I decided to go back home to get the rest of my things and really leave for the last time... Or at least, the last time before I start the divorce process... My husband. He was a raging angry drunk that night. There was a party playing in the apartment and I had already packed my things but he cornered me and... And he..." my voice shook.Olivia looked at me worriedly, her beautiful face twisted into a concerned scowl.I took a deep breath. "He beat me up, Olivia."A shocked gasp escaped her lungs."Yeahhh... Winston kind of... Saved me that night, and took me away to one of his islands while I got healed up. He took care of me, Liv.""Like he should," she beamed at me. She suddenly froze,her eyes going wide. She snapped her fingers. "THAT'S why the two of you have not been at work lately!" She exclaimed, her eyes softening. "
AmbushPov: MaddisonIt was an entire month and half before I hatched my failproof plan. Before I got the motivation at all.I was able to sneak out of the Grand Mansion without Winston noticing that morning.It actually helped that I had taken charge of dinner and I may or may not have drugged everyone's food.I left the conservation at five in the morning, when Winston was still sleeping peacefully beside me, his arms around my waist, pulling me close and tugging him to his torso.I had made the call last night and the recipient was probably eagerly awaiting my return, back in the city... But I needed to do this right, and I didn't want any distracrions.I hadn't slept a wink last night, and we had talked and laughed and even made love and I swallowed a sigh of relief when the drugs began to take effect and his speech started slurring and he was mumbling and falling over his words.My eyes were wide open, i slid his arm away from my waist, slowly, quietly, just incase I had not give
see for yourself Pov: Winston "Drive me back to my mother's home," Maddie said, weak and exhausted as I held her quietly in the car. "But we just got back from there," i said confused. Nonetheless, I extracted myself from her body and strapped myself to the seat. She was quiet as I inputed the address information into the gps all over again and I understood why she would be so rattled. She had just lost her best friend. What I didn't understand was why she had suddenly stopped consoling Olivia, the moment she saw that thing on her phone. I was dying to know what it was. I was dying to let her let me in. But her end of the telepathic bond I shared with her had gone depressingly silent and cold. It took a while. Hours and hours and more frustrating hours on the road, but we finally got to her house. She stepped out of the car and looked at the stately brick house surrounded by a green lawn in front and green fields at the back. The front door had been smashed in, thanks to me,
The SetupPov: MaddisonSomething is wrong.Something is wrong.Something is terribly wrong.That was the sound track playing in my head when I roused from my sleep that night and checked my phone.It was almost eight o'clock.It was almost eight o'clock and I was still asleep.Any moment now, Ethan would knock on the door to inquire about why I wasn't down in the courtyard for the early morning jog.I never sleep this late in the mornings... Because, since the assault from William went down my mother always calls me up at seven in the mornings.But today, I didn't see her phone call."Winston!" I cried alarmed. "Winston, wake up," I begged, already sliding out of bed.He sat up, awake and alert immediately, searching my face frantically. "What happened, Maddie? Did anything happen to you?""Yes. I need you to drive me back to the city. I need to see my mother," I explained hurriedly as I slipped out of my nightdress and shimmied into a pair of jeans and tugged on a tank top.Winston
Heart to HeartPov: MaddisonAfter the study and books aspect was out of the way, I found out that I actually looked forward to Gwyn's lessons the most.I was currently sitting cross-legged, high up on a cliff, eyes closed, facing the setting sun.I felt her presence all around me, her voice was soft and delicate as she explained to me the basics of the technique she had used on Nathan that time."Chakra is a Sanskrit word and it means “disk” or “wheel” and it represents the various energy centers in your body. These wheels or disks of spinning energy each correspond to certain nerve bundles and major organs. To function at their best, your chakras need to stay open, or balanced. If they get blocked, you may experience physical or emotional symptoms related to a particular chakra."There are seven main chakras that run along your spine. They start at the base, of your spine and extend to the crown of your head. But these are only your main chakra points where energy is gathered in the
fighting stancePov: MaddisonEthan was a brutal taskmaster. Cold and calculating and belting out orders, pushing me to my max.I had changed my diet to contain more protein and carb contents as per Nathan's instructions and I had jogged and worked out and pushed my body to the extreme under Ethan's tutelage and Gwyn helped with my meditation and tutored me in basic human anatomy.The first day of my training with Ethan, I was a sweating, sobbing, puking, breathless mess on the floor of the sparring courtyard in the big house that was really the grandest mansion I had ever seen.On the fourth day, I wasn't doing much better, but at least, I had learned to throw a punch without causing much damage to myself, and I wasn't as breathless and winded after each early morning jog."You're punching all wrong," he told me in my first day. "When you hit your target, you want to strike with the first two knuckles, not that flat front part of your fist or the smaller knuckles on your ring or pink
Favourite fixPov: WinstonMy entire body freezed mid strike as I felt another presence join me in my private sparring room."I thought I would find you here," the very familiar voice said aptly.I exhaled the breath I had been holding and completed the punch–kick sequence I had been been doing on the sparring dummy, before I turned to him, grabbing my bottle of water and draining the contents thirstily."Who invited you in?" I asked my best friend now, raising an amused brow.He looked at me, shocked at first, and then he caught on to the fact that I was actually smiling at him, and his lips stretched into a conniving grin that was so Nate... That grin that made him look like you two were in on a private joke or something. Even if he had no idea what you were talking about, his goofy grins made you think he did."Thanks, man," he said now, his voice turning serious as he went to perch on the raised steps to the boxing ring. "I... I was actually going to leave today, immediately afte