I agreed to this, so why does my heart still beat like this?Odette is my…friend, I guess. She has gone through some recent misfortune, but there's no guarantee that this could add to her catastrophe.I look like a fancy French mademoiselle. I even have fur draped over my shoulders, my hair styled by one of the best, in a pixie kinda do, encrusted with real rubies.Liam took my appearance tonight to the extreme, and, yes, I'm wearing red. There was no other color to choose from anyway. I was presented with five options, all red, and although what I had on wasn't my initial choice, the V-cut open-back dress suited me better, according to my stylist, Alberta Ferretti.Yes, I was styled by Alberta, the Alberta Ferretti, a prominent face of European fashion. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd ever meet her, not even be styled by her."You look elegant," Liam complements the moment our limo arrives at the destination.I give him a small smile, "Thank you."It's too late to change p
I didn't have to come to Marco, the arrogant asshole made his way to me instead. I conceal my small smile by raising my glass to my lips, oh, I hope I'll be able to hold my laugh when he hears the news. "Surprised to see you here," he begins, flashing me his Cassanova smile. I cringe internally at the sight of it. "I thought this wasn't your kind of event," he finishes. "You're right," I admit. "But, I have to be by my husband's side." "You two get along now huh?" He hints at an obvious poke to see if Liam told me about what triggered the event of late between them. "We just fight less, a called for a truce of some sort," I moderate. He says, "I guess nothing is impossible." I laugh softly, "So, you and Serena? What's that about?" I can't help but ask. "It's something alright. I enjoy her company, as she does mine," he glances at Serena, who's glued to her father's side like a kid to their parent in the mall on Christmas morning. I smirk, he thinks I'm some fool. Regardless
I feel terrible, gut-wrenched.Is this how it feels to betray someone you care about?Odette isn't picking up any of my calls, or replying to any of my messages, and I have no one to blame but myself.Yes, indeed, I didn't expect the write-ups to be so cruel and equally criticize her, opening up a wound that was starting to heal.There's only one way to fix this, so I head to Liam's study and knock."Come in," he says and I open the door.He's wearing his glasses, looking ridiculously handsome and almost distracting me from what I have to say."Any problem?" He asks, his voice edged with a tint of sass and impatience."Take the article down, all the ones talking about Serena and Jeanne," I try to sound firm.He clears his throat, looking at me squarely."Please," I add.He takes off his glasses and places them down on the desk, "I can't do that.""Why not?""Because Emma, the damage has been done," he spells."Fine, if the damage has been done then just take them down, right?" I reaso
I predicted this, so when I heard from my assistant, James, that Marco was insisting on an urgent visit, I let him in.Now, he's seated in front of me, tapping his foot relentlessly, while I wait for him to have his first word.He needs a shave, he has a rough-looking stubble scattered across his chin, his hair is ruffled, his eyes red, and two of his buttons are undone. He didn't even bother to put on a tie, and he smelled slightly of alcohol.A good businessman always has his shit together, regardless. This just proves how incompetent he is, he's reckless, a sore loser, and had everything handed over to him.But not this time, the damage I made will be irreparable for a while. If only Emma were here to see this.He opens his mouth to speak, then rubs his chin instead and continues with the ceaseless foot tapping."Get to the point Mr. Giovanni, I have a meeting soon," I lie.I don't.I'm hardly busy these days, everything is going smoothly. I only came to the office these past two d
I hug him tight, savoring his scent, and the way his hand holds my head, patting slowly. I swear I felt him inhale, the scent of my hair, I hoped he was not bothered by my cheap shampoo.It's cheap but works well enough for my hair, so I haven't changed my shampoo to anything fancy despite having access to Liam's card at any time.When we pull out, I can't look him in the eye. My heart is beating like crazy, and I can feel him staring at me, my face feels flushed and hot.I hugged him without thinking out of joy, for taking down the articles. Surely a dramatic way to express my thanks, but like I said, I was not thinking at all. I didn't expect him to take them down, but I noticed all the links were invalid, I was shocked.I guess he actually does have a heart…or maybe he's growing one now.I finally muster up the courage to look at him, trying to decipher what he's thinking. He chuckles a bit and rubs his face.Is Liam Caruso…shy? Blushing?!Why? Did the hug take him off guard? Now t
Emma suggests we get burgers from McDonald's, not my regular type of meal.I can't remember the last time I had a burger, and the last time was the first time as well."There's no way! I know you're rich, but does the myth exist?" Emma asks after I tell her."What myth?" She always comes up with absurd stuff."That the rich don't eat stuff like that, burgers, and whatnot.""I can't speak for others, but it's a personal preference. I prefer not to plague my body with junk like that, building up toxicity that can be easily avoided," I admit.She groans and rolls her eyes, "Damn, my bad. I must have activated Boring Liam. Please bring back Bearable Liam."Boring Liam? Bearable Liam? I wonder what other versions of me she has in her head."But, I can sacrifice one night of my healthy routine," I clear my throat."Yeah yeah whatever, Mr Healthy." She turns to me as we approach the drive-in."So, tell me, will I die of cancer or something, or sicknesses? I ate burgers most of my life, they
I waited a few days before reaching out to Odette. Now, I stand in front of her apartment, hesitant to ring the bell. She should know I'm here now, security must have alerted her, but she will still be waiting for me to ring.I still can't bring myself to face her, and, I have no excuse whatsoever to justify what I did. I smooth my skirt with my hands before pressing the intercom."Yes?" I hear her calm but slightly on edge voice, and the guilt comes back tumbling in again."Uh, it's me…Emma."The door beeps and opens, and I enter.This is no apartment, more like a luxury penthouse. She's so nice and friendly, I forget she's part of the elite, and very rich. She comes down the stairs, with a little, white-furred dog, a Bichon Frise I think.The dog rests on her hand, and she does not take her eyes off me the whole time she descends.I don't know if I should get nervous all over again or take it as something else."Hi," I manage to croak."Hey," she drops her dog down. The little creat
The only reason I had agreed to this dinner is because this is the closest we'll ever have to a family gathering.I am having dinner with Mother, Enzo, his wife, or soon-to-be ex, Linda, and Adelina.Adelina is poised today, suspiciously quiet and behaved, or perhaps she doesn't want any trouble tonight, a classic move.Or, at least that's what I thought until she finally spoke."Where's Emma?" She asks, cutting into her steak.Everyone looks at her puzzled, and stunned, including Mother. Impressive."She's not a part of the family, and this is a family dinner," Mother replies curtly."Why not? Last I heard, marriage qualifies you as a family member, right mother?" She turns to look at Linda, who has a shocked expression on her face."Adelina!" Linda yells, setting down her fork."What?!" Adelina yells back. "This family is filled with hypocrisy, we sit here and pretend like the both of you aren't on the verge of divorce and like we're a normal family, and now what? The biggest issue