I was the happiest I had ever been in the arms of Oliver Plane, the man I loved, being loved and pampered."You are too happy, and now I'm wondering what's going on in your dream." I heard Oliver's deep and curious voice ask, and my lashes parted to see the face towering above mine, having a curious look on it."Oliver," I called."Ela." He leaned in and kissed my surprised lips. "What were you dreaming about?""I dreamt we got married and were on our honeymoon," I answered, wondering why he was in my room and how he got in.His mouth twitched to the side as if deep in thought: "Well, that's not a dream; that really happened. You are my wife, and I am your loving husband." He kissed my lips again.My hands touched his face, and I saw the ring on my finger, confirming his words. "It wasn't a dream?" I inquired, and my eyes lingered on my finger."It isn't; I have the same ring here." He showed me the ring on his finger. "I am your husband, and you are my wife."Then why did it feel lik
Oliver told Nina we got married, and I could hear her squealing over the phone in excitement. She told us she was happy and couldn't wait to see their parents' faces when they learnt about it. When Oliver told her we would return today, she wished us a safe flight and instructed him to keep me safe before ending the call. He also called, Vivian Aina, his best friend who was studying in the UK and broke the news to him. Vivian, although surprised by the drastic move, video called us to wish us a happy union and journey ahead.On our way back, Oliver revealed that he had gotten an apartment a few weeks ago when the thought of marrying me came to him. He had made a down payment on an apartment near Harvard and finished it on our first day in Vegas. He didn't want me returning to my old place, so he made this purchase the day after we left here. He had begun working on designs and redecoration while we were still on our three-day honeymoon.He also moved his things in but didn't do anythi
"Mom. What are you doing here?" Oliver asked, looking as surprised as I was.She ignored his question. "You thought you would purchase this place, work on it, and we wouldn't know?" she demanded.Oliver's eyes travelled to the side of the wide window to the left, and there stood Seth, looking miserable, and beside him was Robert, their father."I am sorry, Olly," he said.Oliver's brows furrowed. "You told them?""He told us nothing. We are the Planes; nothing happens in this city that we are unaware of, and you knew better than to get this place in hopes of running away from us." Ivory said in a tone of disappointment. "Your brother's silence only confirmed what we already knew.""What do you think you are doing, son?" Robert asked, stepping over and heading toward Ivory. "You are making all these reckless moves.""You always told me to follow my gut, Dad, and guess what? This is it, and just because it isn't what you want doesn't mean I am wrong.""You are wrong," Ivory said matter-
Third POVSeth sat in his room working on his latest piece of art when the door flew open, and in came Ivory. She did not want to be here, and with every step she took, it showed.Seth set down his paintbrush beside the cup of paint on the table and rose to his feet. "What are you doing here, Mom? You have never been here before.""Because there is really no reason to come. We didn't come so far in the world as Planes so that you could throw it away in silly pursuit of art and heaven knows what." She said in a tone of disappointment and disdain, and her eyes did justice along the way.She continued, slowing down her pace as she came closer. "I would like to believe that since you knew about your brother's apartment purchase, you have known about his relationship with that whore from the very beginning." Seth remained silent, as there was nothing to say since she had already figured everything out on her own."Silence wouldn't do you any good." She scowled at him.He shrugged. "I have
Imela POV"I will be late for class if you don't get up!" I yelled, hoping it got into the thick skull of the man on top of me and made him move."Same as me." He said but didn't look ready to move. "You do not see me complaining about it, do you?" He rolled his eyes.I laughed because there was nothing I could do. Oliver was bigger and larger, and the only way I would escape was if he were to let me.You would think that after five weeks of doing this every morning, he would tire, but he didn't seem tired.He would wake up early most mornings and awaken me to his seductive touch. On mornings, when I woke up first, like today, he would find a reason to lure me into bed and take advantage of the situation. "Come on, Olly." I groaned, but he kissed my lips lovingly, and his tongue pushed into my mouth to taste and explore.My toes curled, and my hands came up to touch his chest. He arrested it there, not letting it go."Touch me like that; you know I love it." He mumbled and kissed the
Today was Wednesday, which meant Oliver's classes would end early, and he would expect me home as soon as classes ended, too. Since he didn't get what he wanted this morning, he would want some this night. I didn't want to get on his bad side, but seeing his angry, grumpy side has always been fun.We stepped out of the last class and found Seth standing close to his Prado, and he seemed to be waiting for us at the parking lot.Cecil smiled and hurried over to Seth, and the two kissed.I stepped towards Seth, and my phone rang in my handbag. I reached into it and pulled it out to have a look. It was Oliver, and after a second of debating, I answered the call."Hey, Olly.""I miss you." He whined over the phone instead of returning a 'hey' or 'hi' like normal people do. "When are you coming back home?""In the next hour and thirty minutes, two hours at most."He groaned on the other end of the phone, and it sounded as if he were in some kind of pain. "Are you okay?""No! I want you here,
My lashes must have fluttered too quickly because I felt a massive headache immediately. My eyes shut, and my hand ran up to rub my aching head as I wondered why I was in such pain. I recalled the room I saw for a second before my eyes shut, and it looked nothing like the apartment in which Oliver and I lived. This was a different location.I forcefully opened my eyes and kept them that way despite the pain it caused. I was in a room I'd never been in before. Panicking, I sat up immediately, and the white bedsheets covering me fell off. I was naked from the waist up. I gasped and picked up the bedsheet to cover myself with it again. My eyes searched the room for my clothes while I tried to retrace my steps and figure out how I ended up in a stranger's room this morning. The last thing I remember was Oliver trying to keep me in bed longer than needed.Oliver! This wasn't his room, nor was it our bed, yet I was naked in it. My heart skipped, and my lips trembled, dreading this reality.
I left Seth's apartment after getting dressed but knew I couldn't return home; it was no longer mine. I stayed at a hotel the first night and then returned to the apartment Oliver, and I shared to get my things. They weren't much because he owned most of what we had at the apartment. What was his used to be mine, but not anymore.He wasn't home, and I got a bittersweet feeling about that. Bitter because I hoped to see him and tell him I loved him and wanted us to figure out what happened together. Sweet because the man I saw yesterday didn't look like one ready to work through anything, especially with me. He was hurt and betrayed, and he was one wrong move away from strangling my neck. I didn't feel safe and thought this was the best.It took twenty minutes, but I had everything I owned arranged in the moving box, ready to leave.I didn't want to leave; Oliver's scent was all over the place, and I wanted to bask in it and inhale the rich, masculine scent of the man I loved until I go
Three months later "You can stop here, Caeser; I will walk on from here," Imela said as the gate came to the cemetery gate. Caeser turned off the car and got down to open the door for her. She told him she would not be long, and he waited for her. She stared ahead at the gravestone not so far from her and walked towards it. "It's been a while, Grandma," she said, placing the red rose on the grave and sitting beside it. Today was the perfect day to visit because Imela had less work on her plate, which made her close early. Having already had it in mind to visit sometime this week, she headed here after leaving the hospital to do the needful before going back home. The last time she came to see was a few days after Christmas, and that was six months ago. She had so much to say then because a part of her felt she was going crazy and needed direction and focus. Since then, she hasn't found the time to return to the series of events taking place around her. "I want you to know that Oli
Third POV Max was almost done with his tie when Nina stepped back into the room. “I just got off the phone with Imela,” she said, slipping her phone into her purse. They were getting ready for Jayden’s release party. It was a get-together and celebration with family and close friends only, and since there wouldn’t be many people, Sir offered Lockwood Corner for the night. It was a secluded VIP corner in his club in the heartthrob of the city. There will be music, drinks, and fun. This would be Jayden’s official welcome. His final hearing was this morning, and with the new evidence that came to light, the judge had no choice but to exonerate Jayden of the charges of drug trafficking. With the news of his release came the need to celebrate the victory. The troublemakers will not pass up this opportunity. Nina was already dressed in a red maxi dress, which stopped over her knee. Her blonde hair was in a neat bun, and her makeup highlighted her already attractive features. Max's eyes g
Joe's body hit the ground with a loud thud. I gasped and took to my heels, running into the bushes around the building as fast as my legs could take me. I didn’t have direction; I just didn’t want to die. I heard another gunshot, and pain shot through my shoulder the next second, taking me down. The gun had grazed my shoulder, and the protection I got was from my dress. I hid behind a tree in the woods, keeping my presence there as minimal as possible. I heard careful footsteps heading to where I was, and I knew it was Cecil's. I had to calm down and calculate my next move if I hoped to stay alive. I counted down the last step, and the first thing I saw was the gun held out. With calculated risk, I reached for it, and we both struggled. Finally, I took it from her hand, but before I could point it at her, she slammed her palm against my hand, and the gun fell out into the bush. I threw a quick fist, which met her in the face, and before she could recover, I kicked her onto the gro
Imela's POV Cecil's phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket to look at it. "It's Dad," she said, stepping back from Joe. "I have to take this; keep an eye on her." She instructed before stepping away from the room. Joe stood at the door with his hands folded over his chest. He had kept his gaze anywhere but near me. It didn’t take a genius to know he was only in this to make Cecil happy. Sad, he didn’t know there was no way to make a crazy person like Cecil happy. He was as much a victim of Cecil and Marlo as all of us were. “I understand.” I told him, and this brought his attention to me. “What?” "Why you threw your life away for her? You love her, and we will do anything for the one we love.” I replied. “You hurt her; she believes she has to do this because of what you did to her.” His defensive response came, sounding like someone brainwashed by love. “Cecil is not a bad person; she has been judged, misunderstood, and abandoned by those she once called family. You did
"I was never crazy. It was you all along." Imela said as Cecil got down from the Jeep and walked towards the uncompleted building on the left side of the road, and Joe pulled her along. Cecil and Joe had taken Imela out of the Garcia Group firm and into the parking lot, where she saw Benjamin unconscious beside the car. She tried going to him, but Joe held onto her and pulled her into the black Jeep parked opposite her car. "You killed Kimberly and framed me; you killed Elena; you tried to kill Ocean, just like you tried to kill me many times. Did you kill Chan, too?" Imela demanded. If Chan were alive, he would have uncovered the truth that Cecil was out and behind everything a long time ago. He had died suddenly at the beginning of it all, and she had believed the McCann brothers had done it. That wasn't true; Cecil was behind the murder of Detective Chan. The satisfied look that appeared on Cecil's face further proved it. "He helped you put me in prison; he had it coming. Beside
Oliver's POV Flashback I made my way over to where Nina stood, waiting for me outside the restaurant. I didn’t know why she had decided to meet outside today when we had always met at my place. We hugged and walked into the restaurant for lunch like every Saturday. After I got my place, she began coming there, and we would cook and eat and catch up on everything we had missed out on during the week, from study to work and everything. “You know, when you said you wanted to see me, I thought you would come to the house like you used to,” I said as we took our seats at the table on the left side of the restaurant, close to the window. She gave me a half smile and said, “I cannot come; Cecil is there.” She didn’t try to hide it, and most of the time, we have just moved on from the discussion altogether. She disapproved of Cecil, and I saw it in her body language and how quiet she tended to be whenever she was around Cecil. I brought Cecil along for her last birthday party, and Nina
Trigger Warning! Violence in this chapter Third POV It all started a year ago. “The first time I saw you, I knew a day would come when I would need you,” Cecil said as she stepped towards Gloria, a splitting image of her. She had met her when she travelled to Puerto Rico on vacation two years ago. They didn’t look so alike at first because Cecil had red hair, a thin eyebrow, and pink lips, while Gloria had blonde hair, a full eyebrow, and red lips. Cecil could also tell Gloria was financially struggling, and it showed in the way she was dressed. Cecil didn’t know why, but she wanted Gloria close, so she helped her into the States, waiting for her to get her papers. After the sentence was carried out, Cecil reached out to Gloria, telling her to play out her part, and in return, she would get her the papers she needed. She already had connections with not only the correction centre but also the warder, so leaving the prison was easier, and all Gloria had to do was pretend to be her u
Imela's POV Jean’s words echoed in my head. The result of the many tests showed I couldn’t have killed Kim; there were more than the two of us at the apartment; someone else had killed her and framed me for it. They had hoped I wouldn’t wake, having injected me with a high dose of lead and solvent. Waking up had thwarted their plans, and the test results vindicated me and showed my innocence.I wanted to think of who could have been responsible for this. I didn’t want to say Cecil; after all, she was in my head. I couldn’t give her credit. Cecil was in prison, and even if she wasn’t, she alone couldn’t have pulled off all of this. There was someone else—someone close to me, someone who knew me and could influence my mind.My phone rang in my bag as I stepped out of the car, snapping me out of my thoughts. I thanked Benjamin, who held the door open for me to step out and pulled the phone out of my purse to see Nina as the caller ID. I answered and pushed open the door. “Nina, hey,” I
My lashes fluttered, and I released a loud yawn. I covered my mouth to reduce the noise so I wouldn’t wake Ela up, but when my hand dropped from my face, I found her already awake and sitting in bed. “You are awake,” I said, noticing her intense gaze on the ceiling. “I remember,” she said. I pulled myself up to sit down, and my brows furrowed, wondering if it was what I was thinking, but I waited for her to keep speaking. “Not everything, but I remembered how I got to Kimberly’s apartment. She called me and sent me her address. She was going to call off the engagement with Marcel and wanted me to hear her reasons first.” She said. “The police checked your phone after you were arrested; they didn’t find a call or any such message,” I told her. Her gaze moved to me. “I am telling the truth.” “I believe you,” I replied, meaning every word. Getting this memory back was a miracle, and this meant there were more than two people in Kim’s apartment, as at the time of her death, the thir