BECK- PRESENT
Never has the sight of Alessia comforted me so. But there she is, poised like a Valkyrie ready to go to war as she stands over Teresa. I quickly dart to the gun and kick it farther out of her reach. At the back of my mind, I am thinking about the fact that Alessia, one of the people I was sure hated me the most, had just saved my life.
“Wait,” I frown, “baby brother?” I arch a brow at her and she flushes.
“Well, I am older. Pappy did place you in my care.” She replies, studiously avoiding my gaze. Despite the situation, I burst into laughter which causes Teresa to scream.
“Don't laugh! I was supposed to follow you into the afterlife. We're supposed to have our happily ever after in our next life! Why isn’t anything going my way!&rd
BETH- PRESENTTeresa attempts to murder Billionaire’s baby mama.Billionaire heiress committed to mental facility.Terezo fan club disbanded, leader faces lawsuit.Encore magazine temporarily shuts down, promises to bounce back.Dr. Lara Kent, arrested… medical license suspended.Teresa Vaughn Pierce put in a straight jacket after suicide attempt.The headlines are merciless, almost as merciless as the times I was dragged online. It is poetic justice, but I take no pleasure in her current suffering. As someone who has loved Beck for years, I can understand how she became obsessed with
BECK- PRESENTI know the jig is up the minute Rainbow jumps to her feet and runs out, shouting,“I can't do this.”. I don’t like pity, but I pity myself as I watch her leave, feeling empty.“Go after her.” Chase prods me. “Go now, or I will.”I understand what he means, so I take off after her. I do not run, but take slow strides, using the time to organise my thoughts. There is only one place I expect her to go, so I go in that direction. True to my assumption, she is at the foot of our old treehouse. I had also renovated it, and the stairs are sturdy enough for her to climb, but she doesn't go up them, just looks up.“When did you know that I was pretending?” She asks me without turning to me.“I figured it out last week. Even though you claimed to have amnesia, you were hostile to me. I could tell that you blamed me for your accident, and after Teresa confessed, I understood why. I am so sorry, I never imagined that she was crazy.”“I did, I've been there.” She finally turns to me.
CHASE- PRESENTThe tiny bundle in my arms squirms for the millionth time and I adjust its weight in my arms. From the bundle, a sneeze escapes and the blonde sitting beside me turns to me with a smile. She coos at Rebecca Caliri and the baby regards her in turn with wise blue eyes.“Isn't she pretty?” She asks me. Before I can reply, a voice from behind shushes both of us.Oh God, get me out of here, I silently scream in my head as the wedding march begins playing on the piano. Elizabeth is a vision in white, walking down the aisle. The backyard has been transformed, lit with several blinking lights, shining in the darkness. The tree house has been transformed with roses of various colours rioting in their brilliance and fairy lights.The stars are shining brightly, and one of the reporters hanging around the premises, waiting to get a picture of the event, even commented on their brilliance. According to him, even the heavens are in support of this union.So why am I here holding a b
BETH- PRESENT“I suppose the mulberry looks better than the plum,” Rachel is saying. She hands two scraps of fabric that look the same to me and I smile at her.If I had a choice on how to spend my Sunday evening, time with Rachel would have been my least option. I mean, how much fun can spending time with your boyfriend’s mother be? Especially if said woman believes she is related to the Queen?“Certainly Rachel. You have a good eye for color.” I praise her and set the fabrics aside, before lifting my cup to sip my tea, just to avoid further conversation. My phone vibrates on the chair beside me (you never place your phone on the table when with family or friends; Rachel educated me on our first meeting, and it has stuck); but I discreetly check it anyway.I wasn’t the most popular kid in high school, and I didn't have many friends; just one, a badass miniature spitfire Latina named Alejandra. I called her Alex and she, like everyone pre-Chase, called me Rainbow. We used to go everyw
BETH- PRESENT“What!” I cry softly as he rises to his feet and begins to pace.“You and I are different people now, different from who we were when we met. I love you, Liz, I really do!” He exclaims and pauses in front of me. “But not enough to marry you.”I listen quietly while he speaks, not interrupting, and not asking questions. My ears are ringing and my pulse is racing. I feel like hyperventilating while I have a panic attack. ‘You're not good enough for him,’ a part of my brain informs me and I start to gasp for air.“Elizabeth, Liz!” He exclaims with alarm and grabs my shoulders and I instantly shrink away from his touch.“Why?” I ask. “Why am I not good enough for you to marry?” I ask in a calm voice, after locking my emotions away.“I didn’t say that you aren’t good enough.” He instantly defends.“Why then? Why can’t you marry me!” I deadpan.“Because you are boring! Our relationship is boring!” He yells and resumes his pacing“Huh?” I ask in disbelief.“You used to be fun a
BETH- PASTThe first time I set my eyes on ‘the hostel’, I immediately hated the place. The little house must have been lovely once, but age and depreciation has sapped all its beauty.Mary Roberts, the woman in charge, is waiting for me at the front porch and welcomes me with a smile. She sends me to play with the other children while the adults talk. The lady that brought me was explaining to Ms. Roberts that my stay would be temporary since her home only had boys. Just before I find the other children, I hear her reply that she wouldn’t mind the presence of another woman.I smiled brightly because she said I was a woman and peer at the children playing in the backyard. Two of them are engaged in a fierce battle of tug, and the other just watches them. I assume he must be the shy one that always watches, rather than joining in so i approach him first.One look at him though, and I am lost. He is the most beautiful boy in the world, and I have seen many! His hair is so dark; it is al
BECK- PRESENTLong meetings with potential new clients are hard and tasking both mentally and physically; emotionally too, sometimes. However, no amount of ornery new clients can shake me as much as a ‘talk’ from my father.At sixty-five, my father still strikes an imposing figure, with his full head of gray hair and well-kept and groomed body. Many find it attractive and have even ventured to call him debonair. He runs a tight ship and every one rushes to do his bidding, whether family, friend, staff or paparazzi. They all simply adore him.But I know the truth about him. I think Alessia knows it too, but she is too much of a kiss ass to do anything about it. I know that my father is just a manipulative thug. Be it business or pleasure, he is used to getting his way; and everyone he has ever taken advantage of never knows that they have been manipulated.I suppose that I am like him in a lot of ways, not just in looks. That is why I can sense his plotting a mile away. So, when he cal
BECK- PRESENT“I must confess though, that I am not very pleased about this matter with Teresa.” He gets to it, and I groan loudly. “Don’t give me that! I thought that we had an understanding that friends of the family are out of bounds? Even Dante understands this.”Do I need to remind him that Teresa has pursued me for over a decade, since the first time we met at her father’s birthday party? No. Should I tell him that three months ago when we had sex, I had been drunk as skunk? Also no. Did I expect that Teresa would seize the opportunity to declare us a couple to the world? Heck no!, but I should have expected it.I down my drink and go to pour myself a fresh one, bringing the bottle with me. All thoughts of the leggy blonde waiting at home vanish to the back of my mind, and I preoccupy it with thoughts on how to get out of this conversation.“Men need women; I know that more than anyone else. But only on the biological level. Anything else and you become Carlo.” He adds with a gr
CHASE- PRESENTThe tiny bundle in my arms squirms for the millionth time and I adjust its weight in my arms. From the bundle, a sneeze escapes and the blonde sitting beside me turns to me with a smile. She coos at Rebecca Caliri and the baby regards her in turn with wise blue eyes.“Isn't she pretty?” She asks me. Before I can reply, a voice from behind shushes both of us.Oh God, get me out of here, I silently scream in my head as the wedding march begins playing on the piano. Elizabeth is a vision in white, walking down the aisle. The backyard has been transformed, lit with several blinking lights, shining in the darkness. The tree house has been transformed with roses of various colours rioting in their brilliance and fairy lights.The stars are shining brightly, and one of the reporters hanging around the premises, waiting to get a picture of the event, even commented on their brilliance. According to him, even the heavens are in support of this union.So why am I here holding a b
BECK- PRESENTI know the jig is up the minute Rainbow jumps to her feet and runs out, shouting,“I can't do this.”. I don’t like pity, but I pity myself as I watch her leave, feeling empty.“Go after her.” Chase prods me. “Go now, or I will.”I understand what he means, so I take off after her. I do not run, but take slow strides, using the time to organise my thoughts. There is only one place I expect her to go, so I go in that direction. True to my assumption, she is at the foot of our old treehouse. I had also renovated it, and the stairs are sturdy enough for her to climb, but she doesn't go up them, just looks up.“When did you know that I was pretending?” She asks me without turning to me.“I figured it out last week. Even though you claimed to have amnesia, you were hostile to me. I could tell that you blamed me for your accident, and after Teresa confessed, I understood why. I am so sorry, I never imagined that she was crazy.”“I did, I've been there.” She finally turns to me.
BETH- PRESENTTeresa attempts to murder Billionaire’s baby mama.Billionaire heiress committed to mental facility.Terezo fan club disbanded, leader faces lawsuit.Encore magazine temporarily shuts down, promises to bounce back.Dr. Lara Kent, arrested… medical license suspended.Teresa Vaughn Pierce put in a straight jacket after suicide attempt.The headlines are merciless, almost as merciless as the times I was dragged online. It is poetic justice, but I take no pleasure in her current suffering. As someone who has loved Beck for years, I can understand how she became obsessed with
BECK- PRESENTNever has the sight of Alessia comforted me so. But there she is, poised like a Valkyrie ready to go to war as she stands over Teresa. I quickly dart to the gun and kick it farther out of her reach. At the back of my mind, I am thinking about the fact that Alessia, one of the people I was sure hated me the most, had just saved my life.“Wait,” I frown, “baby brother?” I arch a brow at her and she flushes.“Well, I am older. Pappy did place you in my care.” She replies, studiously avoiding my gaze. Despite the situation, I burst into laughter which causes Teresa to scream.“Don't laugh! I was supposed to follow you into the afterlife. We're supposed to have our happily ever after in our next life! Why isn’t anything going my way!&rd
BECK- PRESENTMy face must look as dark as I feel because everyone goes out of their way to avoid me when I resume back to work. It's been over a week since I took my impromptu leave to be beside Rainbow. Now that she's awake I have no reason to be by her bedside, or so Mary insists; especially if she doesn't remember me, and for some reason, my presence seems to agitate her. The doctors say that amnesia is common with head injuries and that I should be patient, but patience is not one of my strongest suits. The last thing I feel is patience.The first person I see when I make it into my office is Alessia. What is she doing here and why in my office so early in the morning? I'm a bit surprised to see concern on her face, it's not an emotion I am used to seeing her direct my way."Are you okay?" She asks.
BETH- PRESENTSomeone is trying to kill me. I panic and try to escape, but everywhere is pitch black, so dark, I cannot see my feet under me. I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't work.What is going on? I can't move my body. I want to escape this lonely dark place. I can feel the passage of time, but I don't know exactly how much time has passed. Somebody help me! I call out with my mind and, like an answer to my plea, I hear a voice."Hey, baby!” I feel hands run through my hair and I feel a mixture of happiness, anger, and anxiety. I have to get away from those hands, someone is trying to kill me. I'm near hysteria when the voice comes again.“The doctors say that our daughter is fine and that you are too. They put you in a coma so that your brain can heal;” Daughter?
BECK- PRESENTWhen was the last time you saw a grown man cry? I don't cry because it is unsightly and makes me feel emasculated. But seeing Beth hooked to life support breaks me in ways I didn't think possible. It brings back memories of my childhood and my mother’s accident. That feeling of waiting helplessly for a miracle can be overwhelming. In my mother’s case, she had been rushing home to watch a recital of my latest hobby when she got into the accident. In this case, Beth had been running away from me.“Why don’t you speak to her?” My blurry gaze settles on Mary. “The doctor says that she can hear us, and I'm sure she would like to hear from you.”It's been three days since the accident, three days in which I have only left her side to do the bare minimum needed to survive. My once immacula
BECK- PRESENTVivid images of days spent in this place flash like a kaleidoscope. I remember Mary, she had filled the void that the loss of my mother had created. I remember goofing around with my brothers, Jace and Embee. Shining brighter than the colors she used to wear is Beth, my Rainbow. I remember cuddling in the treehouse trading stories with her. I remember everything; every laugh, tear, argument, and banter.Before I can collect my thoughts and sort through the images rushing through my head, I hear the sound of a gun cocking behind me.“Turn around slowly and put your hands where I can see them.” A shaky voice instructs. What is going on? I comply and begin turning slowly. “Don’t try anything funny, or I will shoot.”When I turn around, I see a frail-lo
BECK- PRESENTI drive to the address that Mr. Phil gives to me brooding throughout the drive. That snake had purposely taken Beth away from me just to provoke me, I know this. Why then did I beg with such desperation for him to tell me where she is?An emotion that had been nagging me all evening shoves its way into consciousness. I am not a man that has ever lied to myself, and I am not going to start now. I will admit that Elizabeth fascinated me from the start. Meeting her had given me a strong sense of deja vu; and after finding out that we have a history, it had made me feel closer to her. I will also admit that I had been too cowardly to delve deep into the history we had, rather I skimmed the surface of the report I had been given by my security agent because a part of me had been scared of what I'd find.But she intrigues me. I'd