BRIAN'S POV I wasn't sure if to be excited about her welcome, or suspicious about it. It sure didn't feel right, but I was just happy to be seeing her wearing a smile again, and at the time, that was all that mattered to me. I picked her off the ground, in my arms like a baby and headed straight in. “Welcome home, Cinderella,” I said. She looked at me with a broad smile and I walked right up the two flights of stairs to my room. I placed her gently on my bed and took a deep breath. “It sure feels good to be home,” I said, looking around. “I'm sure it does,” she said. I knelt in front of her, as she sat up right, with her legs on the floor on the edge of the bed. “Princess,” I called, holding her hands in mine, “I know that no amount of apology would fix what I have broken, or make it right, or bring back what was lost.” “But I want you to know, hard as it is to believe, that I would never do anything intentionally to hurt you,” I said. “I've been through pain, I have lost
BLAIR'S POV Three days later, bright and early, we were packed and ready to return to Vegas. “Common, let's go,” Brian hurried me up. I was a little behind schedule, putting a few details to my plans for our stay in Vegas. I pulled out my suitcase and, walking by, decided to make a quick stop at Stacy's.I knocked lightly on her door, hoping that she was kind enough to respond, or worse, present at the house. Over the last three days all she ever did was go out, shopping spree after shopping spree, with Brian's card, and although I had complained a couple of times, Brian insists that she's a lover of new clothes. In his words, “I've known Stacy for the longest time. Shopping is therapy for her, and it's the least I can do. I'd be mean to take that away from her.” Brian always spoke about Stacy from a place of familiarity and I couldn't help getting pinched in the heart, everytime the conversation came up, but I was learning to live with it. I was knocking at her door for a whi
BLAIR’S POV CONTINUES We were barely an hour into our journey and Brian did not fail to complain about every tree or passerby he saw, which of course came after he made nasty comments about half of the population on the bus. I had the window seat and he begged to switch places with me. I was getting up when I sighted his royal blue Rolls Royce phantom trailing us, and of course Stacy was the driver. “You can't sit here,” I replied, with an urgency in my high pitched tone, and immediately got back in the window seat. “Common, Blair,” he expressed some exasperation, “it's bad enough I am on this trip, the best you can do is give me a comfortable seat,” he said. Stacy noticed I had caught sight of her and she quickly hid behind the high bus. I wasn't sure how Brian got us into this hovering presence of an ex, but it wasn't at all pleasant. “What's wrong Blair?” He caught my distraction again, but this time, his query drew attention to us. I couldn't explain and certainly not whe
BLAIR'S POV CONTINUES I could take anything from Brian, but what I couldn't take was him blaming me for Stacy's recklessness. He had no idea how much she threatened me. I was still struggling to wrap my head around why he never saw any wrong in her. I walked out, slamming the door pretty hard behind me. However, I couldn't leave the building. I was exhausted and didn't want to be roaming the streets aimlessly, so I sat right outside. I was there until the setting of the sun and Brian didn't, as much as, come out the door in search of me. A few minutes to 6pm, I left the house, doing the very thing I didn't want to do - running into the streets aimlessly. Halfway into my directionless journey, I was met with a pleasant surprise. “Ashley!” I called excitedly, as I ran towards her, throwing my arms around her neck. She seemed very excited to see me too, and I was glad to be more knowledgeable on navigating the streets of Vegas. “How are you doing?” She asked, looking at just h
BLAIR'S POV CONTINUES We were awake not very early the next morning, but still up in the attic when we heard shouting and loud thuds coming from downstairs. Ashley peeped out of the small window, since she was closer, being that she was preparing for her day. I, on the other hand, only had one job, and that was to stay put in the attic and not get discovered by my parents. “It's Brian,” she said. His name sounded like I was ‘booed’ into a jump scare. “Williams, give me my wife! I know she's here!” We heard Brian yelling at the top of his voice. Brian's yelling was more than chaotic enough, but it got worse with my parents' arrival on the scene. “There is a reason you didn't find any dog around here in the course of your stay and even after, Brycee,” My mother came down heavily on him as soon as they were out in the premises. “Where is she?” He demanded of them. “Who?” My father asked. “Blair,” he replied harshly, “I know she's here,” “You must be out of your mind,” my mothe
BRIAN'S POV “Hello,” I heard a familiar voice. “It's Stacy,” she introduced, her voice feeble and fainting. “If you're not alone, you don't have to say anything,” she spoke one sentence after another, not giving any room for me to say anything. That didn't matter though, because I was too stunned to speak. “I will send you an address, we need to see, Brian,” she said. “Make sure you come alone,” I said, “and come right now Brian,” she added, hanging up. It sounded like she was so sure I was with someone. Steven's call came in, just after hers. “What's happening Brian?” Blair asked, I stared at my phone, buzzing with Steven's call. I walked away from Blair without another word to her.“Steven,” I replied, shutting the door behind me and walking farther away.“I traced the car, Brian,” he said, his voice revealing a sense of urgency. “That wasn't your car in the accident,” Steven said, “and I'm beginning to think Stacy wasn't in the car either.” He said. “Yea, tell me about
BRIAN'S POV CONTINUES I slowly opened my eyes, recognizing the ceiling of the luxurious house. It had a pure white ceiling top, with lights buried in them and a chandelier right in the middle. The walls were painted in gray, with shape patches of black on the left and right wall, which were my favorite colors. The color coding of the room instantly made it a place of comfort, but it didn't erase the million questions in my mind. ‘Where the fuck is this?’ ‘Was Stacy abducted?’ ‘Who’s behind all of this?’ ‘Why?’ The list went on and on, every question opening a link to another. I tried to get out of bed, but my head was still very much aching from the blow it received. Additionally, I found my hands chained to the bed rails below. “What the hell!” I exclaimed out loud. “Hello?” I yelled, calling the attention of anyone at all who could hear me. Hello?” I yelled even louder, dragging the chains on my hands forcefully. “You're up,” I heard a familiar voice, with bold footste
BLAIR'S POV After waiting out for hours, with no sign of Brian, I was restless and had to do something about it. It was at that moment I was upset as to why I didn't own a phone. Mother and father would never allow it, but what was the excuse now? I also barely had any access to money as Brian took care of everything around here and wouldn't let me work. I returned to the mansion, dragging Ashley along and we headed to the police station together. The police reported not seeing Brian the whole day. I walked out of the police station with my head to the floor, not very sure how to feel. “Ashley, is he lying to me?” I asked, even though I wasn't expecting her to reply. “I'm sure there's a good explanation for this,” Ashley replied, sounding so soothing. “Is he in trouble?” I voiced out all of my concerns. “Blair, you have to calm down,” she said, “perhaps we can reach a family or friend?” She asked. The only family or friend that Brian had was Steven, and considering the dynam