Thomas doesn’t text or anything, and that makes me feel so damn disappointed. It’s two in the morning and I can’t sleep. I spent the whole of Sunday waiting for him to come to his senses, but he didn’t do that. He’s been silent, and honestly, I don’t think I should be the one to reach out because he was the one who was unreasonable. To even imagine that Anthony feels about me that way is so wrong and feels sinful. He didn’t believe me when I told him so. So, it’s whatever. I don’t have the time or energy to even deal with such a relationship, so if he wants to cut our ties, then he can do it. I’ll only blame myself because I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved with anyone when my life is already so complicated. But if there’s one thing that’s clear to me now, it’s that I’m going to work tomorrow. I’ll ride this wave of uncertainty and I’ll see how far it will take me. Evan will undoubtedly try to approach me in order to figure out more, and when the time is ready, I’ll tell him
Julius is waiting for me at the door when I arrive. The sight of him makes my steps falter. Son of a bitch. Why does he have to be waiting for me right by the entrance to the cottage? Did he think I wouldn’t come?“You look lovely,” he remarks when I climb the steps toward the door. “Thanks,” I say, keeping my voice light and cheerful. “Come on in,” he says as he rolls himself inside the cottage. “I’ve missed your breakfast. Nobody makes eggs quite like yours.”“Come on,” I say playfully, even though what I want to do is punch the back of his head until all my fingers break. “You’ve probably had breakfast in the fanciest of places. My eggs are really nothing special.”“It’s not the way you cook them but the energy you put into them,” he tells me. “The fact that you’re the one who’s cooking them for me makes them way more special. I could say the same thing about sex.”The word makes my breath catch in my throat. He’s not even giving it a break. He wants to cut straight to the chas
Evan’s POVI clench my jaw as I make my way around the house to the place where my car is parked. I’m fuming because I’ve now realized that Veronica doesn’t fucking exist. I’m being lied to and I was an idiot for even contemplating it. I’ll blame it on the confusion of the situation and also on the fact that I’m unsettled as shit by all of this. Oh, she wants me to prove it to her face that she’s Leonora? I’ll do it. I’ve already got my guys started on researching her background. I gave her the name I know and I’ve found a copy of the ID she presented to Julius for the job interview. It’s a good thing because our housekeeper was the one who accepted the application, and guess where the fuck it was couriered from?Her hometown. The place where I met her. The place where we got married. Now, that should be enough proof that she’s Leo, but I want to go deeper because when I confront her, I want to have the proof in my hands. She has to be staying somewhere, and she must have register
My workday has never felt this long before. It used to feel way shorter. I’d just make him breakfast, we’d talk, and then I’d leave to pick Victor up from school. Now, he wants to do less talking and more ogling, and I have to play the part. He asks me for a massage and I have to give it to him, and I have to make sure that my breasts touch the back of his head. It’s so disgusting and takes everything for me not to vomit on top of his head. Maybe that’s what I should do in order to let him know how I feel about him. He groans when my fingers press into his flesh. “Your fingers are heavenly, baby.”“I bet they are,” I tell him as I massage him. My fingers are starting to cramp but I can’t stop. I glance at the clock in the kitchen and realize that I have thirty minutes or so left to go. If I can keep massaging him like this, then it’ll be over. He just can’t ask anything else of me. I close my eyes and force myself to continue. I’m doing this for a good cause. That’s what I tell m
When I wake up, I’m in my bedroom. I sit up quickly with a gasp and look around. The sky outside is still light, and so I deduce that I couldn’t have been out for too long. That’s not my biggest concern, though. If I’m up here, that can only mean that Evan was the one who brought me up here. The last thing I remember is fainting as soon as I stepped out of the car. I get up with my heart in my throat. The first thing I look for is the envelope with his documents. I didn’t make a single copy so if he took them, I’m done for. I lift my mattress, which is where I put it, and there is it. I pull it out and quickly go through it. Everything is there. My bedroom door is closed. I hide it in a better place and then make my way to the door barefoot. My heart is slamming against my chest and my mouth is too dry. I open the door and step out into the hallway. As soon as I do, I see Evan seated on the couch. For a fraction of a second, I saw his side profile and thought that it was Victor
Evan's POVI step out of Leo’s apartment and sit in my car for a handful of minutes, just thinking about everything. I can’t believe I have a son. The boy in the pictures looks just like me. I’ve never experienced anything remotely similar to this. Seeing those pictures hit me like a wave. It knocked me right off my feet. It’s like I was seeing a version of myself that I knew nothing about, and the longer I looked at the pictures, the more I yearned to be closer to him. This deep sorrow hit me, too. I’d missed out on so much. I saw all his milestones stamped all over the photos. His first birthday. The first time he rode a bike. His first science project. And all the while, he smiled, this big wide smile that can only be associated with happiness, the kind I never experienced in my childhood. It was like finding a treasure I never knew I was searching for. I started looking for pictures when I saw the door across from hers after carrying her to her bedroom. I opened it and saw the
Once Evan steps out of the apartment, I lean against the counter and cry. I can’t stop thinking about how bad things have gotten for me. I try not to crumple the check in my hand but I have very little control over my fingers. It doesn’t even matter that I have the money to get away from here anymore. Julius forbade me from going anywhere earlier, and he’s using Victor to blackmail me into staying.When his bodyguard grabbed my arm and dragged me downstairs, I thought that I was being abducted. That was the first thought that crossed my mind. I couldn’t fight him as he dragged me down the steps with a force that was unquestionable. The same car as before was parked right outside my building, and the man opened the car door and shoved me inside. Julius was in the backseat, and he didn’t look happy like he usually did. His cheeks appeared even more sunken than before, and his black brows were drawn. “What’s the meaning of this?” I asked him. “What are you doing?”“My people saw you
The next morning, I arrive at work on time. Since Anthony thinks I still have until the end of the week, he doesn't call me. My guess is that he wants me to approach him first. I don't even think that there's a point to telling him about Julius having people follow him. He's smart enough. He knows. I just have to do my part, which is give Julius what he wants so I can be free. This time, I'm hoping that I really won't come across Evan, but even as that thought crosses my mind, I realize how insane it sounds. Of course, I'm going to come across him! This is his house and anyway, at some point, he'll want to make sure that I'm gone. He paid me enough money to make me disappear. Only, I can't risk my son's life. That's why I'm here.He and Julius can deal with each other when the time comes. All I know is that I've put myself in considerable danger already. Julius opens the door with a smile on his face. Everything about this creeps me the hell out because he acts like he didn't jus