MORENO’S POVI sat frozen with my eyes glued to the screen as I scrolled through the news article. I stared at it in disbelief, who would have resolved to such childish tactics? I considered the possibilities and there were so many people who would have done something like this. Whoever it was was playing with fire and was surely going to get burned. It could be anyone, my business rivals, or even Alvaro, but he wasn’t one to resort to such underhanded tactics.It was clear to me that this sex scandal was no mere coincidence. Someone had engineered this entire scheme, and the faceless woman in the video was fortunate not to be exposed to the wrath I would bring down upon her and her conspirators. The puzzle pieces were starting to fall into place, yet the motive remained elusive. One thing was certain, I would not rest until I found out who was responsible for this.I called my secretary immediately. "I need you to arrange a press conference right now," I said. "This scandal has to be
MORENO’S POVI left the doctor's office with my head hung low, I couldn’t think straight and my head was spinning. How could I possibly tell Bella that I put her and our baby at risk because of a mistake I made in the past, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her. I was terrified and ashamed. I slumped on the chair outside the room trying to gather my thoughts, but all I could think about was the horror on Bella’s face when she found out the truth.Mateo walked up to me, “How did it go boss?” He asked. “Everything is fine, she just needs to rest,” I could see the worry in Mateo’s eye, I didn’t want to lie to him, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth. I knew he didn’t believe me but he didn’t push the issue. I took a deep breath got up and walked into the room Bella was in. She was already awake when I saw her face, all I wanted to do was tell her the truth, but instead, I forced a smile. “Hey cupcake, how are you feeling?” I asked putting on my best smile to hide how I felt i
BELLA’S POVMoreno gave us a little distance which I appreciated, it took everything in me not to break down in tears, but I didn’t want to do that in front of this man whom I had spent my whole life with only to learn that my whole life was built on lies. “How have you been?” I managed to ask, “Good, good.” He replied arrogantly “And you? How’s your husband treating you?” He asked and I replied forcing a smile “Good.”I took a sip of the glass of water that Moreno had ordered for me before he left, it helped to serve as a little distraction from the intense conversation I was about to have with my father. I held onto the glass tightly, using the cool feel of the water to calm my anger. I wanted to lash out, to yell and scream at my father for what he had done. But I knew that wouldn't be wise. I swallowed my anger and tried my best to remain calm and in control.I gently placed the glass on the table and asked, “How’s your new family?” He looked at me surprised, then his expression c
MORENO’S POVI glanced at the document one last time, unsure of how to break the news to Bella about her condition but I couldn’t, I was terrified she would blame me and hate me all over again, I didn’t want that, the thought of it was too much to bear so I made the difficult decision to keep it from her, I convinced myself that it was for the best. If she found out the reason it could make her mentally unstable again and it was a risk I couldn’t take.I placed the document on the table and left in a hurry after I received a call from my mother’s caretaker that she was causing a disturbance again, I didn’t kill her because Bella begged me not to, unfortunately, my mother's erratic behavior was as a result of her failure to take her medication, she was struggling with drug addiction.As I entered the compound, my men greeted me with a nod. “Take me to her,” I instructed one of them. With a swift response of “Yes, boss,” I followed him to her room. Upon entering, I saw her lying on the
MORENO’S POVAfter waiting for what felt like hours, the doctor finally came out of the theatre. “How is my wife?” I asked anxiously. “Congratulations Mr. Moreno, Your wife gave birth to a bouncing baby boy.” He said and I didn’t let him finish out of excitement and relief. “Thank you so much Doctor, I’ll repay you for this.” “It’s fine Mr. Moreno, I was just doing my job.”“Can I see them now?.” I asked eagerly and the Doctor motioned for me to follow him, “Your son is currently in an incubator, he’ll be there for the next two months, where we’ll monitor him closely.” The doctor said and I nodded in understanding.As we entered the room, I was overcome with emotion I never imagined I would feel. I didn't even realize I was crying until I felt the warm tears streaming down my cheeks. I rushed to Bella's side, my heart aching with love and gratitude. She was still asleep, but I couldn't help myself.I grasped her free hand, the one not connected to the IV drip, and kissed it repeatedl
MORENO’S POVAfter bathing and dressing, we ate dinner and went to check up on Gustavo, then Bella and I went back into our room, just the two of us.As soon as we entered the room, I closed my eyes and took a deep calming breath. I didn’t want to lie to Bella anymore, I knew I would have to tell her the truth eventually. “Come here,” I said and she sat on my lap obediently. I knew she was waiting for what I was going to say.“I brought you both here to keep you safe,” I started and I searched her face for any form of reaction, when there was none I continued. I plan to do something very dangerous and it wouldn’t be safe back home. I would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to you both, the weight of that responsibility will crush me and haunt me forever,” I said squeezing her hands softly, my thumbs tracing circles on her skin. “I came so close to losing you once and I won’t let that happen again, the mere thought of reliving that terror is unbearable.”“You should
BELLA’S POVI still couldn’t believe it, had Mateo fabricated the whole thing? Was Moreno pulling some kind of twisted prank? No! I couldn’t accept it. He had promised to come back home and He always kept his word, I clung to that promise refusing to entertain any possibility that he could be dead. My heart clung to the text he sent me, “I’ll be back soon, I love you and our son.”"I crumpled to the floor, overcome with grief, my face buried in my palms. I had to muster every ounce of strength for our innocent child, but the weight of my sorrow was crushing me.Three excruciating weeks had passed since Mateo delivered the devastating news that Moreno was dead, yet I still refused to accept it. If Moreno was truly gone as they claimed, then where was his body? I wouldn't rest until they brought him back to me, until I could hold him in my arms once more. I demanded proof, and I wouldn't settle for anything less.My heart chose to believe that Moreno is somewhere recovering, after he ha
Welcome to the second half of my book, TAINTED LOVE: THE SEQUEL. I hope you enjoy it.~~~~~~~I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar environment, I looked around and realized that I was in a hospital room but I couldn’t remember how I got here, my mind was blank.I tried to get up,“Please you can’t get up yet.” A young lady in a nurse's uniform said, I wanted to ask her where I was and how I got here but I could only make up one word. “Water,” she hurriedly handed me a glass of water. After I had drank it greedily to my satisfaction, she took the cup away. Then everything came back to me. Bella, our son, the ambush, an explosion, Shit! I needed to get out of here, I needed to find Mateo and find out what happened after the explosion. how did I even get here?The nurse noticing my confusion said, “You were brought here by the boss, I’ll tell him you’re awake now.” She said and hurriedly left the room before I could ask any questions. Boss? Who could she be referring to?The door to
BELLAI called my secretary to inform her that I wouldn’t be able to go to work and that I wanted to take the day off to spend time with my son. Mateo didn’t try to reach out to me again, no surprise there though. I met with Sandra again and I made sure to ask for her name. To maintain discretion, I altered my appearance. I stared at Sandra, as tears streamed down my face. The revelation was crippling I had been with the enemy this whole time, and I couldn’t believe it. Sandra gave me some time to sob, she didn’t mind. She must have been through something too, because what she was doing was betrayal, I didn’t care, Mateo betrayed Moreno by selling him out to his enemy. “You have to be careful, Mateo can't know about this, about our meeting, and about what you just learned, is that possible Bella?” She asked and I nodded. She handed me a phone, “You can reach me with that, my number is already saved.” I nodded and thanked her. "Will I be able to speak with...with Moreno?" I asked desp
BELLAAs soon as Mateo left I couldn’t stop thinking, I was convinced that he was hiding something from me and it had to do with Moreno, I couldn’t trust Mateo any longer until I found out what exactly he was hiding and planning behind my back. He had been acting suspiciously and I plan to get to the button of it. I sat on the chair staring blankly at the wall, lost in thoughts. If I remember correctly, Mateo and Moreno went for the ambush together, Mateo came back barely touched and Moreno missing. Before I was informed of anything, the scene had been cleared and that fake body was found. I closed my eyes trying to remember the painful memory of when Mateo informed me of the bad news. I hit him and cursed him for letting Moreno be in the building when it collapsed, he claimed that he took some of the men out and he was lucky to be alive. There was no flaw in the story and it was difficult to doubt, I had no idea where I was going to start and I couldn’t shake off the fact that Mate
MATEOI had to find a way to convince Bella not to hold a press conference or make her say that Moreno was dead. It didn’t make any difference whatever she said to the public I just didn’t want her to believe Moreno was alive. It was going to make things difficult for me and ruin my plans. The next day I hurriedly went to the mansion to meet Bella and try to change her mind. The press conference was scheduled to hold by noon today and I was at the mansion as early as 6 am. I met her in the study already preparing her speech. “If you’re here to stop me, don’t bother.” She said without looking up at me as I entered the study. “I didn’t come here to stop you, I’m here to support you,” I said shocking her and she looked up and me for a while. “Okay,” “I need to know what you plan to say.” “Exactly what I told you yesterday, I plan to tell them that Moreno is still alive, our stocks are dropping, you know how people in this business do not value and trust women. Inasmuch as I’d love to pr
MATEOI tried to convince Bella to hand over the paper to me but she insisted that she hold onto it. The note was left here recently and there was no way Moreno could have written it, someone must have been playing a twisted game with me.To avoid raising suspicion, I wrapped up the conversation with Bella and offered to drive her home. As we pulled up to her place, she reassured me she was fine, but I lingered.“You're sure you're okay?” I asked, searching her face.“I'm good, Mateo. Go,” she said firmly, her eyes exhausted.I hesitated, then reluctantly left, my mind still racing with questions. Who could be behind this? And why?I went straight to where Moreno was kept, determined to uncover the truth. It was either him or one of my men."Who's been in contact with Moreno?" I demanded, my eyes locked on the guard."No one, boss," he replied, his expression unwavering.The silence was deafening. If no one entered, and Moreno didn't leave, how then did the note get to Bella's office?
DUAL POVMORENO“Can you hear me,” I heard Sandra ask. And I was too weak to answer or even shake my head. What was going on with me? Why was I unable to move my body? “Blink if you can hear me.” She said. And I blinked, “Oh! Thank God, you’re fine, you’ll be fine. It’s the drugs, just stop taking them. You have to stop taking them, no matter what.” She said in a hurry and left the room immediately without giving me a moment to process what she had just said. Ever since the day in that room with Mateo, I was injected with a drug every single day, and it drove me crazy every single time like I was going insane. After taking the shots for 5 days, I was given a pill to swallow every day, they said it was going to help alleviate the symptoms I had and I always took it under the scrutinized gaze of a doctor. So it was the drugs all along? Mateo was trying to drive me insane. Fuck! At this rate, I would not be able to get to Bella in time. The next day, the doctor came in with the drug aga
BELLA’S POVI hadn’t seen Mateo since last night after he somehow ended up in my room. I didn’t know what had gotten into Mateo, he had always kept his distance from me before even after Moreno’s disappearance. I tried not to think about it, but it was so difficult not to. I took a deep breath feeling exhausted, my secretary came to inform me that Mateo was here to see me, and I told her to let him in. Mateo never came to my office, I just prayed it wasn’t about last night.I heard a knock on the door, “come in,” I said calmly taking a deep breath.“Hi,” Mateo said giving me a look I tried so hard to ignore. “Hi, you never come to see me. I guess this must be urgent.” I said.“No, not really, and I’m sorry I haven’t been around here much.” He said as he started walking towards me and he sat on my table like it was the most random thing to do. I took a deep breath trying to ignore how close we were.“You don’t have to apologize, we all have a lot on our plates right now,” I said and wa
The takeover was a lot easier than Mateo had expected, everyone naturally followed him because he was Moreno’s right hand man, while some men left because they didn’t want to be under Mateo. Mateo had thought that Bella would be easy to win over but it was taking too long for her to run to him for help and he was getting impatient.He expected her to run to him crying and depending on him for everything, but instead she had become a strong independent woman. He was there for her even when she claimed she didn’t need anyone. He looked after Gustavo like his own son, deep down he loved Gustavo but he hated the fact that he was Moreno’s son and the thought that Moreno was still alive irked him so much. He planned to use Gustavo to get closer to Bella, but she built up a wall around herself making her unreachable, but she loved Gustavo and she wasn’t going be able to get rid of Mateo easily if Gustavo got used to him. Which was already happening.He did everything a father would do for Gu
SANDRAOn the day I turned 18, the door opened and my name was called out. I quietly got out and walked out of the room. I met a lady outside the room and I was ordered to follow her. She took me to another room where I showered and changed into clean clothes.“What have you always wanted to become?” She asked taking me off guard with her question. “A nurse,” I said quietly and she nodded. I followed her outside the building and into a car, I didn’t ask any questions. While I sat in the car, I looked as we passed buildings, people, trees, families. I closed my eyes to stop the tears from running down my cheeks. It’s been three years with these people and I told myself that I wasn’t going to cry anymore. We got to another building and I followed the lady inside, ignoring the men around. It looked like we were in a hospital but from outside, it looked like an abandoned building. No one spared us a glance as they continued working. She took me to an office and handed off a file to me.
SANDRAI kept begging my father as he pulled me out of the house, hatred visible on his face. “Please don’t hurt me, I won’t tell anyone.” I cried. I was just 15 and came home from school to find my mother’s lifeless body in the kitchen. My dad used to always beat us when he was high, he must have beat my mother so much that he killed her. But he sat on a chair with a white substance which he sniffed on the table. I tried to back away slowly but he had already seen me. “Come here!” He ordered and I shock my head, “If you don’t want to join your mother, do as I say now!” I tried my best to hold in my tears so I wouldn’t annoy him further, but I knew that no matter that I did he was still going to do what he had in mind. Immediately I stood next to him, he pounced on me like I was a prey and he was the predator, I tried to get away from his grip but he was too strong. He subdued me on the floor as he tried to rip my clothes off. “Please father,” I begged, but he didn’t listen. Then I