SCARLETT. I was welcomed by the aroma of baked apple pie and grilled meat. I didn't need a magician to tell me they were having dinner out back tonight which was definitely my mother's idea. I walked into the house, looking around and taking note of the familiar furniture and paintings on the wall, and from where I stood, I saw them through the glass doors. Kelvin and his parents were seated around the smooth wooden table. My father was standing in front of the griller and he dished foot into plates. My mother took plates to the table. I scoffed and dumped my purse on one of the chairs in the living room. I remembered always begging them when I was younger. I would set everything up from the grill to the meat and tell them how excited I was to have dinner out back one day but my father always made sure it was impossible. He made sure to remind me that he had no time and was either busy with meetings or traveling around. As for my mother, she was like my father's puppet, doing
SCARLETT. Against my wishes, I had forced myself back to the table outside, apologizing to everyone including Kelvin who I would have loved to punch in the face. "It's good you came back to your senses, Scarlett," My father said and placed a plate of grilled chicken before me. "Learn to put your manners in check," I would have loved to paste this plate on his face just to put him in check but I knew I couldn't even do that. Not even if I dared to. My mother joined a few moments later and I was sure she had spent a good deal of time in her room crying over something she had ruined herself. Her face was dried and covered in light makeup to cover the red, puffy cheeks. She took my hands and squeezed. Feeling quite uncomfortable with the touch, I slowly pulled away from her. Ursula leaned forward and smiled at me. I returned it with a fake one. "So tell me, how are you thriving? Business and all. I see what you do in magazines and tabloids and I am really proud of you,"
SCARLETT. As we walked towards the front of the house, my heart thudded against my chest. Kelvin followed behind him for reasons I didn't understand. I wanted him to die on the spot or something because why was he going after me? The house was really large so we had to take a short walk toward the parking lot. I knew Finn would be with Trenton. They were both seated on one of the stone chairs close to the fountain and as we walked towards them, I noticed Kelvin looked really upset but I didn't care. He could get angry all he wanted. "Is he the one seated with Trenton?" My father asked and I nodded. "Yes," "How did you meet him?" My father turned to me. I was taken aback by this question as I hadn't been expecting it. I had to think for a moment before I spoke. "I sent out a letter to the agency recruiting bodyguards that I was in search of one and that was how I employed him," "Sounds like a shady story to me," Kelvin said, folding his arms.
FINN. From the moment I stepped into their monstrous home, I had a strange feeling. Being rich came with its perks; it also had its bad sides, and it seemed she was only experiencing its bad sides. After she had gone in, I spent a little time with Trenton. Nice dude. He was already done with his duties and we had a little conversation before he talked a bit about the rich. "Picture and public perfect with chaotic homes," He had chuckled. "I don't think I envy the rich. I do not want to remain poor. At least, being able to provide for my family will make me happy. Riches come with its perks and bad sides and I feel sorry for your boss. She's been through a lot she doesn't even talk about and she still finds a way to come out strong. I envy her a lot." And after I had seen how her father slapped her across the cheek, I knew she was indeed going through a lot. She didn't want to talk about it. At least not now. She had even slept off in the car which was unusual an
FINN. I moved aside to give her the space she needed to climb into the bed. Once she was in, I pulled her into me, engulfing her with my warmth and digging my nose into her neck to inhale her scent. We fit so perfectly. Her tall, slender body and my larger frame. She cuddled into me and I pulled her in. She snuggled deep. "I want to be under your skin!" She whined. Laughing, I pulled her in again till there was no space left between our bodies. "Comfortable now?" "Not really, but I'll manage," She said, inhaling deeply. "You smell so nice, Finn," "Thank you, Scar," I smiled. "So what's it you want to talk about?" She was silent for a while. Then she sighed. "It's a lot, Finn. Wish I hadn't been born into my family," She stared into my eyes. "I wish I had a family like yours," I laughed. "Be careful what you wish for," "What? You seem happy at least. You might not have so much, but there's love thriving. Your mother calls and so does your sis
FINN. This week went by in a blur. The presentation had gone well and the Hawaiian clients were pleased and they had gotten a contract. Scarlett decided to hold a small celebration on the last day of work. Meanwhile, I had isolated myself from everyone, only appearing at least once or twice a day. Scarlett had been too engrossed in work to actually pay me any heed. We had sex every night and during those periods, we bonded quite well. Scarlett and I talked, starting from our childhood moments to our moments of adulthood. Every morning, one of us woke up in the other's room. I enjoyed waking up to her but I didn't tell her that. That would be going against the promise I made to myself not to fall for her. Today was Friday and the last day of the week and everyone finished working really early. Abigail had come into my cubicle during the day to inform me of the party which was going to be held later in the day. While dropping a hint of what the ladies want
SCARLETT. I was afraid of nothing. I and Lucas had fucked here several times without being caught and that was because we had to search for the blind spot of this room before doing whatever we wanted. I kept pulling till we got to the other end of the room, close to where the tall air conditioner stood. Finn looked around before turning to look at me in confusion. "It's so cold here, Scar!" We both burst into laughter, doubling over. Finn caught me by the arm before I slipped to the floor in amusement. "We can do whatever we want here," "You know we can't!" Finn said in amusement. "I'd be flaccid the whole time and we'd end up frustrated," "Let's be frustrated then," I said and pulled myself into him. I loved how he felt towards me. I loved to touch him. He was so addictive. There was something about him that made me always want to be around him and this week without him had been nothing but hell. Abigail had received the end of my frustrations and even at tim
SCARLETT. "Quick! We have to be out there before she gets the card!" Finn quickly put on his shirt and in no time, he was done. I had trouble putting mine on so he assisted me while making sure he touched me. I laughed and slapped his hand off. "You're incorrigible!" "And you're irresistible." He grinned. Soon, we were done dressing up. I wiped the crease from my dress. Sighing, I turned to him. "Leave me to it. I'll speak to her myself." We walked out of the conference hall and there she was, packing about. "Girl! Everyone is waiting for you!" "I'm sorry, Abigail. We were having a meeting," "Is someone else there with you? Seems like it's a conference meeting I am not aware of," "Shut up, Abigail. Let's get going. Finn, we'd talk about whatever we were talking about later. I'll give you the papers to give to them, okay? Don't worry. You won't be evicted," Finn nodded and left. As soon as he was gone, I turned to her. "Can you stop snoo
THIRD PERSON’S POV "You know, it would do no damage if you told me where you were going that night," Scarlett asked as she leaned back on the lounge close to the pool area, hands on her belly, watching as Finn flipped steak on the grill. It had been three months now and that question had gone unanswered. No excuse for the lie Finn told could exonerate him. He turned towards her and sighed. "If you worry less about that night and more about the babies we are to have in less than six months, it'd be a good thing." She sat up. "Really? My husband sneaking out of the house late at night when he's supposed to fuck me the next morning doesn't deserve an answer?" Finn blew out a heavy breath and flipped the steak again before he turned to look at her, both hands on his hip. He looked really funny in the apron he was wearing. "I am starting to believe that the only reason you keep asking me this question is because I should have been fucking you instead of sneaking out of
SCARLETT. Worst day of my life. I didn't want to think of how things had gone this morning; how I had cried several times and ruined my makeup. How I had yelled at everyone, not minding if they were just there to do their jobs. None of the bridesmaids were my friends. I had told my friends I didn't want them to be bridesmaids when I was getting married to a man I hated the most. Wasn't it weird to be married to another man while going through a heartbreak from another to whom you had confessed your feelings to and he had done the same? Things were only going to get shittier from here and my parents were to blame. I hadn't spoken to either of them and as my father curled his arm for me to slip mine through, I cursed the day I was born into this family. I should have been poor and less privileged. Maybe Finn and I would have gotten married. I wondered what he was doing now. Happy with his family, on his way to falling in love with another woman who wasn't as problematic as
FINN. I'd gotten to the verge of telling her that I was her groom. It had taken a lot of restraint for me to actually walk away. As I drove towards the warehouse, I stared at the bag she had returned to me and sighed. I hated to put her in this position but that was it. After dealing with Kelvin tomorrow, I was to see the designer in charge of my wedding tux to get it fitted. It was going to be a long day for me tomorrow. As soon as I got to the warehouse, one of the guards standing by the entrance of the warehouse hurried towards me and bowed. "Boss, they are all waiting inside for you." Was I ever going to get used to being addressed as boss and treated like one? Because why did it feel a little weird that this man was treating me like a god? My father must have really had a huge impact on them for them to show me this much respect, age regardless. The warehouse was filled with people. Some worked on cars, and some sat around tables with drinks in front of them,
SCARLETT. All day, I waited for Finn to return with mixed feelings. What if something went wrong again? Wasn't he going to see Raya? He was supposed to be back in about three hours. But it was seven hours already and quite late. I had tried distracting myself with movies but then, my father had sent a text, telling me that my wedding dress was ready and would be delivered on my wedding day because he didn't want me ruining it. What the hell was going on? When I sent him a text, informing him that I was no longer getting married and that I didn't care if he was going to take all that I had, I didn't get a response. Calling him was futile because he didn't even pick up my call. I had to call my mother, who informed me that everything happening right now was out of her control. I had been infuriated by her words but that was it, I guess. I had spent the rest of the day fuming and waiting for Finn to return so I could narrate my ordeal to him. I was in the
FINN. For someone who I had believed was so powerful and controlling and could do anything he liked, Scarlett's father could really be humbled. After he had asked me to wait, he had led me to his study, his demeanor changing from one of scorn to the utmost respect. It was really amusing to see him humbled. We spoke for minutes and he decided that we had to work together. I hadn't made it easy for him anyway. I kept throwing jabs of how much of a terrible father he had been to Scarlett. "Finn, I know all of these," He had said at one point. "But I had to do certain things because she was my only child. If I hadn't been hard on her, she wouldn't be where she is today." "By that, you mean being aware that she was molested when she was a teenager and you did nothing about it? Going ahead to get her married to the same man who molested her when she was young. That's how you thought you were training her?" I asked, my voice laced with disgust. "You really did a bad job
FINN. I watched as she slept in my arms. We had talked after our kiss and she'd told me how she'd been at the therapist's twice this week and was getting better. I was so proud of her. She could actually do without me having to be there. She was becoming a better version of herself and I was extremely glad that I was there to witness it. I was never going to let her leave my side. She belonged to me now and it felt refreshing to know that this woman loved me as much as I did and had, in fact, loved me for a long time. Things were starting to fall into place. Meeting her was a miracle. I had to admit that to myself. Ignoring the ups and downs, she was really a blessing to me. Somehow, she has made me a better version of myself to her and my family. With her, I'd been able to afford a whole lot and I found out the truth about my father's life and how he was killed. I couldn't tell her. This was top secret but there was someone else I could tell. Someone who knew
SCARLETT. I had been pacing about the living room when I caught a glimpse of a black, matte Maserati stopping in front of my house. I had paused, wondering who it was, and when a familiar figure came out of the car, dressed impeccably and looking like he hadn't gone through a series of tortures from the man I hated most in the world, my heart flew. The glass of brandy I had been holding slipped into my hand and crashed to the floor as I burst into a fit of tears while still running toward him. Just as I opened the door, he was there, standing before me with a smile and I just knew, I just knew I had to tell him everything. I just knew he meant a lot to me. We were seated on one of the couches and I couldn't just take my hands off him. I touched his face, searched his hands for any form of bruises, and even had to pull his chest up. I covered a hand over my mouth and more tears slipped down my cheeks when I saw the red marks, he had gotten from being constantly electro
FINN."Your father, Fernandez Edwardo, was the Lord of the Dark Knight Mafia," Jason began. "He was the founder of this great foundation. He picked us all up when we needed to be helped. We were wanted for crimes we didn't commit and he stood by us till it was all resolved. We were recruited by him and that was when he created this group. After years of working hard, and putting in sweat and blood, we became one of the most influential Mafia groups in Italy. He finally decided that we extended to other parts of the world and America was one of them."This had to be some sort of movie set I was about to act in, right? This was the script being read out to me? The summary? But I listened."Things went well here and then, when it was time for us to return to base, he met your mother. Eliana. He fell for her. Hard. But one thing he didn'
FINN."Finn Davis?" He frowned. "Trenton Davis's son.""How do you know my father?" I asked and coughed."Damn!" He turned to the men by the door. "Lose him the fuck up!"But Kelvin stopped him. "Why should we do that?! He's my prisoner and he's going to be killed anyway!"The man turned to him with a glare. "You seem to have forgotten your place here, Kelvin. I advise you to step aside if you don't want things to go down wrongly for you.""And who the fuck is he that you want him untied, huh?!" Kelvin grumbled.The man turned to him. "He's the son of our late boss! So you better pay your fucking respects because he's now in charge of everyone as soon as he has been sworn i