JACKSON~•~“I have a suggestion, but I feel like you’re going to punch me for it.”Kimberly eyed me warily. She knew she wouldn’t like what I’d say but her curiosity got the better of her. “What is that?” I shifted away from her, sitting at the far end of the couch so there would be enough space between us. She chuckled. “Just spit it out already.”“I know you’ve seen all the articles and every other thing the news outlet is saying concerning us.”“I have…” she said hesitantly like she was scared to hear what I had to say after she knew the topic of conversation.“Amelia will be enrolled in a new school soon.” I didn’t know if attending three different schools in the space of two months was going to traumatize our daughter but I sincerely hoped not. Kimberly was considering homeschooling but then, she thought of how much Amelia loved school so we had to start searching for a new school with very tight security.We finally found one. It was a lot more expensive than the last one but i
KIMBERLY~•~Jackson thought a good way to show the public that we were together was to follow him to a charity gala.Those were my worst types of events. It was just a farce. It was a bunch of rich people pretending they had humanity. It was filled with fake ass people who would love to see you crumble but would worship the ground you walked on as long as you were on a higher level than them.How could I ever say no to that?Well, I did say no but Jackson ended up convincing me and now, we were in front of the hall where the event was being hosted.We were still in the limousine and the reporters were eagerly staring at it, wondering who was coming out.“Can I go out now?” Jackson questioned, staring at me.I’d told him to give me a minute before he went out and I was hoping that minute would stretch into two or three. Jackson was unnecessarily punctual. “Fine.”“Don’t worry, it’ll be alright. You don’t have to talk to anyone you don’t want to.”“I don’t intend to.” I scoffed.Jackso
KIMBERLY~•~It was weird to think that Chris lied to me. I only met him once he acted like he only recognized me when he saw me with Jackson.What exactly was he up to? What was his deal? What would he gain from pretending he didn’t know who I was?A lot of people in New York knew me as long as they knew Jackson. Whether I liked it or not, I was automatically an extension of him. If Chris was Jackson’s rival as claimed, then he definitely knew me. Business rivals tried their best to find out everything about each other and news about me and Jackson were plastered everywhere on the internet. He didn’t even have to dig deep.“So what? I’m not supposed to talk to him because he’s your rival? Even you have to talk to him.” I pointed out.I didn’t like being caught in between petty beef. Maybe this one wasn’t so petty but I didn’t want to be in the middle anyway. The more Jackson reacted whenever Chris came close to me, the more Chris would do it just to mess with Jack.“I don’t want you
JACKSON~•~I was on cloud nine and it had nothing to do with being listed as the fifth richest man in their thirties.No, I was happy because of Kimberly.She had more or less opened up to me.The fact that she allowed me to kiss her meant I had broken down her walls, whether she’d admit it or not. I was one step closer to being with her again.She might dismiss it with the excuse that it was part of our act but I knew better than that. Kimberly wouldn’t let me kiss her in public just to prove a point. She’d allow me to hold her hand or her waist. The most I could do was a peck on the cheek. Any other than that, she might just crash out, so for her to let me kiss her when everyone was watching meant more to me than she imagined.After I was done with my speech, I went back to my table and the organizer called out a band to perform while the silent auction began.There was a silly smile on my face as I strode back to my table. I pulled out my chair and sat next to Kimberly, still smil
KIMBERLY~•~Jackson looked shocked and I didn’t know what to translate his expression as. Was he shocked that his sister sent me an audio message of the words he said? Was he shocked that he was recorded while saying them?He finally handed me back my phone and I put it in my clutch without saying anything. He sighed, his hand rubbing down his face as he tried to put words together.I didn’t know what to make of that either. Was he trying to find an excuse?“I know this looks bad.” Jackson finally said. I arched an eyebrow. “It sounds bad but I promise, it’s not what it looks like.”I scoffed. Of course, the famous line men used when they were caught doing something they claimed not to be doing. I didn’t understand why he was pursuing me if he still wanted Paige. If he could still talk about Paige like this in a good light after she kidnapped our daughter, then that only meant one thing, no? “Not what it looks like?” I asked. “Did you or did you not say those words?”He thought I was
KIMBERLY~•~Now, how could I ever say no to that?“Kimberly?” He prompted. Without thinking much, I nodded.Jack’s eyes widened as his hand let go of mine to wipe my tears. He cupped my cheek endearingly. “Really? You forgive me, baby?”I nodded again with a sniffle. “Sit down. Stop kneeling.”He complied immediately, leaning forward. “You don’t know how much your forgiveness means to me.”His lips brushed mine but I pulled back before he could kiss me. “I have forgiven you but if you want me, you’re going to have to work hard.”Jackson chuckled. “I know that, but we can start from somewhere.”He kissed me anyway and I didn’t even have the heart to push him away. I was such a fool for this man and he had me wrapped around his fingers.I placed my hand on his chest, intending to break the kiss but I instinctively started running my hands up and down his chest. Jackson groaned into the kiss and swiftly pulled me from the car seat and onto his lap. One of his hands was wrapped around m
GEORGE~•~On a Sunday night, I was working my ass off in the office because after a month and a few weeks, I still wasn’t completely over Kimberly but there she was flaunting her relationship with Jackson in my face.Technically, she wasn’t flaunting it in my face but kissing him in a public setting, knowing damn well she’d be recorded meant the same thing, did it not? No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene where they were looking into each other’s eyes as though they had been in love for years. Maybe they had been in love for years. I was just stupid to think that I ever had a chance with her.What irritated me the most was how many times she had assured me she was never going back to Jackson yet only a month after she left, she was back with him. I felt stupid as fuck. I felt very angry and I didn’t know what to do with the amount of anger running through my veins.My fists automatically clenched tightly as he kissed her and the organizer of their stupid
KIMBERLY~•~Jackson and I arrived at the police station at exactly four o’clock. We greeted the officers and we were soon taken to a visitor’s room. We sat next to each other and waited for Paige to show up.It didn’t take long before the door was opened and Paige was escorted in by a cop. Her hands were handcuffed too.The cop nodded at us and then left the room. Paige looked at both of us with contempt in her eyes and scoffed, sitting down opposite us.She didn’t even seem remorseful and it pissed me off more than I’d like to admit. For a moment, none of us said anything.“Why did you do it?” Jackson finally asked after a moment of silence.“What are you talking about?”“I specifically warned you not to touch Amelia, didn’t I?”“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I let out a chuckle, bringing her attention to me. She was acting oblivious, which meant she planned to deny every charge against her. “What’s so funny?” She narrowed her eyes on me. Till now, she couldn’t stand me a
KIMBERLY~•~“Go home, take a bath, eat and rest.” My mother told me when she came to visit me in the hospital. I hadn’t eaten nor showered in twenty-four hours and I couldn’t even feel the effect. I was just too focused on Jackson that I was numb to every other thing happening around me.I shook my head. “I want to be here with him.”“Kimberly.” My mother called out sternly. “You have to be in a good condition to take care of him. He’s in a very fragile state and the smallest germ can hurt him even more.”I paused, considering that angle. She didn’t lie but I doubted I carried that much germs with me. I chewed on my bottom lip and looked at Jackson. He was still unconscious and wasn’t showing any signs of waking up yet. I didn’t want to leave but I guessed I had no choice.Letting out a breath, I stood up and my mother smiled at me. She had called me earlier to go back home and rest but I simply hung up on her which was why she came here personally.I turned to leave but paused. “You
KIMBERLY~•~“What is going on?” Mr. Clarke asked, bringing both our attention to him and his wife.His wife, on the other hand, looked appalled. “How dare you slap my daughter? Her brother is lying in a hospital bed and you dare to slap her??”At that moment, I didn’t give a fuck what they thought about me. Emily wasn’t just a spoiled brat. She was evil and thoughtless. She had gone too far and I would slap her again if I could.I laughed humorlessly. I hated that we were creating a scene right in front of Jackson’s hospital room but there was no helping it. “Go on, Emily. Tell them what you said to me.”Emily stayed quiet, holding her cheek.Since she wasn’t going to speak, I was going to do it for her. Thankfully, there were no passersby to spin a story on the situation. “She said she didn’t know Jackson would drive my car and it was supposed to be me and on that bed.” I spat out bitterly. Even if I didn’t want to explain my actions to her parents, they had to know exactly what the
KIMBERLY~•~Even after surgery, Jackson still didn’t wake up. I was worried as hell and my eyes were red from crying. I knew accidents happened to any and everyone but I never imagined Jackson would be lying down on the hospital bed, unconscious.His surgery was successful. Well, successful in the sense that nothing went wrong during the process and he didn’t die. I stayed with him in the hospital all night, unable to sleep. By the next morning, everyone in New York knew about Jackson’s accident and I was getting so many calls at once.I had already informed his family of the accident and they would be arriving this morning. I had also received a call from Reiya and after answering her call, I put my phone on silent. People called a lot whenever there was bad news and it irritated me a lot.There was a knock on the door and the door opened to reveal the doctor. She smiled warmly at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Clarke. I’m here to check up on the patient. If you could please step out of th
KIMBERLY~•~It had been an hour since Jackson left to go get tampons but he still wasn’t back. By now, the kids were dozing off while I was still up waiting for Jackson.When I called his number several times and he didn’t answer, I started to get worried. I was still on my period though, which was why I went upstairs to search through the closet to see if I had a menstrual cup. I didn’t like using them, but I had no choice.I tucked the kids in and went to the bathroom to do my business. When I was done, I started calling Jackson’s line again and it still wasn’t going.Fuck. We should have exchanged locations after getting back together.I was calling for the seventh time when Jackson finally answered the call. “Jackson! It’s taking a long while just to get tampons. Where are you?”“Is this Mrs. Clarke?” I heard a feminine voice ask and I could feel the hairs on my arms rise. “Yeah, who’s this?”“I’m a nurse at the city hospital.” My heart dropped at those words. “Mr. Clarke was in
JACKSON~•~Despite being six years older than my sister, I grew up with her after all and she hadn’t changed a bit, which was why I could tell that she was raging inside.I had thought that with time she was going to develop a brain and start acting like an adult. I thought she was going to be civil with Kimberly even if she didn’t like her but clearly, I was wishing for too much.I didn’t want a wedge between me and my family but she was too damn insufferable and it was pissing me off.She glared at me hard but I merely arched an eyebrow, waiting for her response. She had already ruined the mood at the beginning and she was making things even worse. I needed to shut her mouth with duct tape or something.My mom laughed awkwardly. “Don’t be rude to your sister, Jackson. She came here to celebrate Thanksgiving with you.”I chuckled humorlessly. This was exactly why she still behaved like a child. My mother was there to pardon her wrongdoings. In fact, she made her feel like she didn’t
KIMBERLY~•~Thanksgiving was my second favorite holiday. There was something about families gathering at a table to eat that made me feel at peace.For the past five years, I wasn’t able to celebrate Thanksgiving as I liked. It was always just me and Amelia. Reiya had to be with her family and George had to be with his, which was why this year excites me to the point that I offered to do the cooking for Thanksgiving. Of course, Caro was going to assist me.It wasn’t just our immediate family. My parents and Jackson’s parents were going to be here. I didn’t like the idea of Emily coming around but after Jackson made his father cut down her allowance, she had been pretty obedient. It was crazy that the only thing that made her behave was the hope of getting her allowance back. It was going to be dinner for nine people and I was more than excited about it.Caro and I spent the whole day cooking. Jackson offered to help but after I yelled at him more than three times for doing something
KIMBERLY~•~ According to Jackson’s sources, George had left New York and Paige was all alone. I wondered if he had truly backed down or if this was another one of their schemes to take me by surprise.Either way, Paige wasn’t going to get out anytime soon and I was going to make sure of that.Now that Paige was helpless and alone behind bars, Jackson was making preparations for my party. I didn’t know anything about planning parties. The only activities I’d ever organized were Amelia’s birthdays and even then, the guests were never more than five.Jackson invited an event planner so I didn’t even have to do anything. I merely answered questions the planner had about my preferences and left the rest up to her.“It’s kinda unfair that we’re starting up a firm together and you’re the only one having a party,” Reiya said as she popped a grape in her mouth.I chuckled. “You’re very much welcome to join.” I shrugged. The party wasn’t my idea in the first place. It was Jackson’s idea and s
GEORGE~•~I fucked up badly.I had told myself I wasn’t petty enough to ruin Kimberly’s career because of my heartbreak yet I was stupid enough to drop all my pending tasks, leave California, and come to New York to make a fool out of myself.I didn’t even know what I was thinking. When I answered Paige’s call at first, I thought her request for me to represent her was audacious. I cared about Amelia and she was asking me to defend her against Amelia, but over time the devil reared its ugly head and I found myself packing up and booking a flight.Kimberly and I might have broken up because she was still in love with her ex-husband, but that wasn’t reason enough for me to betray her like that.As if the betrayal wasn’t enough, I went ahead to set her up, kiss her, and capture it on camera. That was too low, even for me. I didn’t hate Kimberly. Jackson was the one I hated and while I didn’t care about his stupid company, my actions directly impacted Kimberly’s life. I had thought I did
KIMBERLY~•~Surprisingly, the press conference was effective and all the blind supporters of Paige and George started to turn on them. It pleased me more than I cared to admit. I never thought a day would come when I’d be okay with George being blasted by the public but he clearly didn’t give a fuck about me so why should I care about his feelings?While George tried to restore his image, Paige was still silent. It seemed like she didn’t even care about what was going on even if she had more to lose. George could go back to California and try to block New York’s news from getting there. He could go back to being the perfect lawyer.Either way, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike.I stood by the door with the cops as we waited for Paige to open the door. Because of Jackson’s influence, the cops allowed me to tag along for Paige’s arrest.When she took too long to open the door, I rang the doorbell again. A few seconds later, I heard slow footsteps and soon, the door was pu