Azalea's POV All it took for my world to officially shatter was one sentence from Noah Hale. Rose shifted her gaze from Mrs Drywoods and approached me, stretching her hands forward to offer me a handshake, the innocent smile on her face masking away the wicked person she was. “Hello, Azalea. I'm Rose Valentine. I hope we get along well and work together to bring this company forward." I couldn't shake her hand. I felt like my hand was suddenly heavy, like it was tied to a bag of sand. I willed myself to lift my hand…to shake the creature I called my sister, the one that hadn't hesitated to ruin my life all these years. She was here again. She was here to destroy this for me too. She wanted to snatch this too like she had been snatching everything I had walked hard for. Rose placed her hands on her chest, dramatically staring at me. She widened her eyes to give them an innocent look. “How rude. It's extremely rude to leave a person's hands hanging when they reach out for a hands
Azalea's POV Lara's words rang in my head as I walked into the building of Ash Studios, feeling more confident than I had ever felt. Apart from feeling great, I also dressed the part. Lara insisted that me being pregnant wasn't an excuse to dress as a nun. She helped me in picking out a maternity jumpsuit that fitted my body like a second skin but was also comfortable. The black colour of the clothing made my slightly tanned skin pop out. She also gave me a pair of really sick white Dior sneakers and handbag, and for the final touch, a pair of pearl dangling earrings that she said brought out the colour of my eyes. She forced me to put light makeup on and sprayed so much perfume on me that I felt like I would have suffocated. I looked like an entirely different person and felt it too. It felt great walking around and attracting stares and this time, they weren't disgusted looks. Rose was drinking coffee when I walked in and she spilled her coffee when she took in my appearance. S
Ace's POV I slammed the door to my penthouse shut, heading straight to the couch and kicking my shoes off. Chronic prostatitis. The words the doctor repeated multiple times today rang in my head, reminding me of the reality I wanted nothing but to forget. I couldn't get a lady pregnant. I was sterile. I was never going to have a child of my own.“What's up, dude?" Noah's voice resonated from the kitchen, startling me and making me jump frommy seat in fright, landing on the floor. “What the hell dude?" I hissed, rushing off the ground to lunge at him. “Calm down, bro." Noah laughed, swirling his glass of whiskey. “What the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you even get in here?" He shrugged, walking past me to sit on the couch. “I simply let myself in." I rolled my eyes. No matter how many times I told him to stop coming in when I was not around, he never listened. I had been regretting giving him access to my home. I should have known he'd come and go whenever he wa
Azalea's POV ‘Act like Rose. Be like Rose…be Rose.' were the only words that rang in my head as I watched Lara go into the club, gesturing for me to walk forward and join her. With a deep nervous breath, I walked in after showing the bouncer my ID. I was immediately drowned by music and the stench of sweat and alcohol as I walked in. The club was louder than I thought it would be. Even louder than the ones showed in the movies. I adjusted my short summer dress and used a hand to pat my hair that was packed in a messy bun above my head. I felt extremely awkward and out of place, mainly because this was my first time in a club, and because it felt as if all eyes were on me. I was not a confident person at all, that’s one of the reasons I was here, because I wanted to play pretend, I wanted to fool myself into thinking I could be the same as everyone, especially Rose, my sister. “Here, have this," Lara, my best friend said, handing me a small glass cup filled with a content I coul
Azalea's POV The moment I was seated in the bar, the stranger ordered a drink for himself and asked me what I'd like to drink. I told him to choose a drink for me because in all honesty, I didn't know shit about alcoholic drinks. I didn't fail to notice how the bartender left other customers unattended to attend to my handsome stranger and none of them seemed to care about the biased behavior. “So tell me, what's a good girl like you doing in a bad place for sinners like me to forget their sins and sorrows?" He asked as he handed me my drink. “I am not a good girl. I am as bad as every other lady in this club." I said arrogantly, raising my chin up in unnecessary annoyance. “Oh really? I can tell you're a very very bad girl. It's so obvious with your summer dress, bedroom worthy hair style, duck slippers, and awkward personality that you are a very bad girl." He deadpanned, sarcasm oozing out of him in waves. I drowned the contents of the cup, trying not to cringe at the
Azalea's POV Pulling my legs apart, he watched me, trying to gauge the effects he had on me. If my shivering legs didn't give my extreme arousal away, the wetness rolling down my legs to the bed was enough to prove to the most distrusting person on earth that I wanted him badly. The hotel staff wouldn't be quite happy having me as their guest once they came in tomorrow to clean the sheets. He slapped my thigh when my shaky legs threatened to close up, chuckling at my desperate and obvious need for him. “Someone is super wet for me and yet, she doesn't want to know my name." With that he buried his face in my pussy, first taking a slow long lick of my arousal before going into the main course and eating me out like a hungry man. I moaned in agonizing pleasure, my hands instantly going to my nipples and pinching them to heighten my pleasure. The stranger plunged two fingers into my cunt, pumping them like he was searching for a treasure buried inside of me. I realized tha
Azalea's POV The lights in my house were all turned off when I got back home. I didn't have a key and unfortunately, the door was locked. I brought out my phone, dialed my mother's number, hoping she wasn't far into her beauty sleep to pick up. The phone rings a couple of times but she doesn't pick up. I tried my father's number too and got the exact same results. Having no other option, I knocked on the door as hard as I could but again, nobody showed up. After a while of fruitlessly trying to wake my parents from their sleep, I gave up, resting my exhausted body on the wall and slouching down. I raised my knees up, placing my hands and chin on it to get into a comfortable position. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, so I decided to call Lara to make sure she got home safe. My call went straight into voicemail and just when I'm about to dial her number again, the screen of my phone became blank. “Damn it, I forgot to plug it in earlier. Shit! Now everything is dark
Azalea's POV Lara took me in willingly and happily and even scolded me for putting up with my parents for that long. I caught a cold after the night out incident and she forced me to be on bed rest for two whole weeks, taking care of me as if I were a child. She got me new clothes and shoes and even bought me a new phone since the last one got damaged by the rain. I kept insisting she was doing too much and promised to pay her back but she'd always tell me that her parents money is her money which means that she had more than enough money to take care of us both. My sister and my parents never reached out to me. They didn't care to know where I was staying. They knew I was unemployed and didn't care to find out if I was surviving, they didn't care to know if I were still alive or if I had been eaten by some wild animal that night. In the third week, I refused to be forced to stay home. Instead, I went job hunting, much to her disapproval. Everywhere I went, they kept sayin
Ace's POV I slammed the door to my penthouse shut, heading straight to the couch and kicking my shoes off. Chronic prostatitis. The words the doctor repeated multiple times today rang in my head, reminding me of the reality I wanted nothing but to forget. I couldn't get a lady pregnant. I was sterile. I was never going to have a child of my own.“What's up, dude?" Noah's voice resonated from the kitchen, startling me and making me jump frommy seat in fright, landing on the floor. “What the hell dude?" I hissed, rushing off the ground to lunge at him. “Calm down, bro." Noah laughed, swirling his glass of whiskey. “What the hell are you doing here? How the hell did you even get in here?" He shrugged, walking past me to sit on the couch. “I simply let myself in." I rolled my eyes. No matter how many times I told him to stop coming in when I was not around, he never listened. I had been regretting giving him access to my home. I should have known he'd come and go whenever he wa
Azalea's POV Lara's words rang in my head as I walked into the building of Ash Studios, feeling more confident than I had ever felt. Apart from feeling great, I also dressed the part. Lara insisted that me being pregnant wasn't an excuse to dress as a nun. She helped me in picking out a maternity jumpsuit that fitted my body like a second skin but was also comfortable. The black colour of the clothing made my slightly tanned skin pop out. She also gave me a pair of really sick white Dior sneakers and handbag, and for the final touch, a pair of pearl dangling earrings that she said brought out the colour of my eyes. She forced me to put light makeup on and sprayed so much perfume on me that I felt like I would have suffocated. I looked like an entirely different person and felt it too. It felt great walking around and attracting stares and this time, they weren't disgusted looks. Rose was drinking coffee when I walked in and she spilled her coffee when she took in my appearance. S
Azalea's POV All it took for my world to officially shatter was one sentence from Noah Hale. Rose shifted her gaze from Mrs Drywoods and approached me, stretching her hands forward to offer me a handshake, the innocent smile on her face masking away the wicked person she was. “Hello, Azalea. I'm Rose Valentine. I hope we get along well and work together to bring this company forward." I couldn't shake her hand. I felt like my hand was suddenly heavy, like it was tied to a bag of sand. I willed myself to lift my hand…to shake the creature I called my sister, the one that hadn't hesitated to ruin my life all these years. She was here again. She was here to destroy this for me too. She wanted to snatch this too like she had been snatching everything I had walked hard for. Rose placed her hands on her chest, dramatically staring at me. She widened her eyes to give them an innocent look. “How rude. It's extremely rude to leave a person's hands hanging when they reach out for a hands
Azalea's POV Hazel ran her hands through her face, clearly fighting herself, not knowing if she should reveal the name of the person or not.Seeing her plight, Mr Hale decided to step in. “Hazel, it's in your best interest to tell us who made you frame Azalea. Not only have you breached the trust of the company, you've also committed a crime which is punishable by law. I'd advise you to confess now before I involve the police." Hazel eyes widened, sweats breaking out on her forehead. “It was Miss Cowell. Miss Cowell not only threatened to make me lose my job if I don't do it, she also promised to give me a loan to pay for my mother's chemotherapy. I couldn't resist an offer like that. I just couldn't. It was either that or watching my mother die. No daughter would want her mother die when she can help. I was desperate to save her." Her revelation touched my heart so much that I felt a tear slip down my eyes. How could Ciara be wicked enough to use someone's weakness as an advantage
Azalea's POV I would have practically dragged Noah out of the hospital and back to the office to clear my name if not for the fact that he insisted my baby daddy should come to pick me up, because I wouldn't be going back with him.He kept insisting that I needed rest and should go home and when he asked about the father of my child, I panicked and told him the first thing that came to my mind, which was that he was at work. Noah proceeded to ask where he worked and when I refused to tell him anything, he demanded the number of my baby's father. We have been going back and forth as he kept saying I should be picked up by the father of my child, even though I had told him countless times that I would rather walk home than call the non-existent man. He immediately concluded that my baby's father must be abusive or a man who neglected me and the child. He thought I had refused to call him over because he was a bad man. He had been stylishly attempting to get information about him and
Azalea's POV At the sight of Noah Hale, Ciara's tears, which had stopped flowing when she was accusing me, suddenly came back, her loud wails was the only sound in the room as everybody silently observed.Ciara was by Noah's side before anyone could blink, crying and using his chest for support as her legs almost gave out. “Noah, I told you the woman is bad news. Would you believe that she stole my precious necklace and has been saying bad things about me to the others because of what happened yesterday, even though I apologized? I knew something was wrong with her when I fired her the moment I saw her." Noah rolled his eyes in annoyance, tuning to me for an explanation. “Miss Azalea, what do you have to say about this?" “I did no such thing, Mr Hale. She ordered me to get her handbag which she claimed she threw somewhere and I did so. Not even for once, did I check the contents of the bag. I gave her the bag the same way I picked it up. I am not a thief, Mr Hale. I might not be a
Azalea's POV I was given the rest of the day off by Mrs Drywoods who felt guilty for making me work with Ciara. She admitted that the only reason I was employed in the first place was because no one else wanted to work for her, given the ugly reputation she had made for herself over the few years she had been working with Ash Studios. Mrs Drywoods apologized multiple times for setting me up, claiming that it was desperation that forced her into doing such. I forgave her because unknowingly to her, she did me a huge favour. Even if I only work with Ash Studios for a month, other companies wouldn't think twice before employing me because I'd have enough experience to work with them. I just hoped I could put up with Ciara for at least one month. She reminded me so much of my sister. Seated on the couch in Lara's place, I watched my best friend pace around the living room, describing the one million ways she would make Ciara Cowell pay for what she did. “Once I get hold of that blon
Azalea’s POV “What…why?" My voice came out heavy with emotions. I was a few seconds away from bursting into tears. Again, another effect of the pregnancy hormones.“You are infected with those freakish things that destroy a woman's shape and beauty. You are shapeless. You are the most ugly thing I've ever seen. You have zero fashion sense so I wonder how the hell you will be dressing a high class one of a kind model like me.” She paused for a moment to catch her breath. “And lastly, the only difference between you and a homeless beggar is that you are the first to stand in front of an award winning beautiful model like me." She finished, fanning herself like she was on fire. My world felt like it had crumbled as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch Ciara Cowell's interaction with me.“You can't fire me, you didn't hire me."My whole body began to shake under the intense stare of the other employees and Ciara Cowell. I have always hated attention. Whenever people stared
Azalea's POV A let out a shaky breath as my wary eyes stared at the building towering over me, the bold sign of ‘ASH STUDIOS' glaring at me and making me more intimidated than I already was. I felt out of place, in all honesty, and I find it funny since I haven't stepped foot into the building yet. If I'm this intimidated by the building's outside look, I wonder how I'd feel when I finally went inside. With a sigh, I walked into the skyscraper, breathing in deeply to gather up all the courage I could get. It's useless since apparently, air isn't polluted with leftover courage. Running my shaky hand through the hair that Lara had helped in curling, I walked across the lobby to the receptionist, bracing myself to talk to her. I cleared my voice before speaking, trying to avoid embarrassing myself by stuttering. “Hello!" The young lady blatantly ignored me as she furiously typed on her phone as if she was in a typing competition. “Humm…hello?" I greeted again, scratching my head i