“Thomas?” It was not Olivia who uttered that. She was too shocked to say anything. It was Sana. She was as surprised as Olivia was.When she asked Olivia to accompany her so she could talk to the guys, she did not think that Thomas would also be there. But the bigger shock was when she turned her head and looked at the guy sitting on his left.“Mike?” She said in a more breathless tone than before. Mike was avoiding eye contact with Sana.Olivia felt lightheaded as she kept staring at him. Thousands of emotions were dancing in her eyes at that moment. She had wanted him to be in front of her so that she could make things clear between them. She wanted to make him understand that she was not the one to blame and that she had no other purpose for hurting him aside from the fact that she had to. She had to do that to save them both and their temporary relationship from complications.She wanted to talk to him, but now that he was right in front of her, she was tongue-tied. She could not
“Are you sure that is what you are going to do?” Sana asked again. She did not want her to take the decision based on her emotional state. Olivia nodded.“Yes, I have to get away from him and that house for a while. It is not like he is at home either. I don’t have to perform any duty which is required by the contract.” She said in a determined voice.“Okay, love. You know what is best to do at this point. Let me make our coffee.” Sana stood up and left the room. Olivia sighed.Living in that hell-like house and dealing with Thomas for the last month had taken a toll on her physical and mental well-being. Besides, she was fed up with doing all that for no reason. What was she taking those useless classes for? Why was she living there when there was no one she was supposed to act like a couple with? Thomas was not there to answer all those questions. She did not think he would appear before her anytime soon. She was not bound in any way. The contract terms would have been exercisable o
“There is no need to leave,” Thomas said simply sighing. Olivia gave him a side glare.“I was not asking. I was informing.” She said confidently. Thomas took a dramatic double-take as if what she said and how she took a firm stance for herself did not sit right with him.Either she must have stopped standing up for herself or he had forgotten what kind of a person she was. Nevertheless, she was so angry that he had just come back and was already giving her orders. It was her fault. She should not have let him forget that concrete fact.She could have reached out and brought him to the house if she wanted to, but she did not do that. It was because she was afraid. She did not want any proximity between them that would complicate things. She was scared of the way her heart had been acting seeing his face and sharing space with him. As much as she did not want to be in the same space with him for that same reason, she knew—or at least thought—that it was not possible until he proved her
“I am not running away.” She replied looking annoyed as hell. He was turning everything around her that should have been answered by him. He did not seem even a tiny bit embarrassed. She was a fool to think that he would be guilty or at least, apologize to her.He was acting like a douchebag. He was arrogant and all, but she felt like he had changed n that one month. When before he accepted his mistakes most of the time, now he was not doing that. It was making her mad.“Then stay.” He said simply. It was not a request. It, once again, sounded more like an order. She kept glaring at him without saying anything.“Look, there are hardly eight months left for the contract. We have important events to attend and my grandpa had become suspicious about why I had been away for a long time. It is about time we took this contract seriously.” He said trying to make her see sense while she looked at him like he had lost all senses.He was still leaning close to her face while he had both arms ar
“What? Did he do that?” She heard Sana’s voice from the other end. She sighed.She had gotten up after having a few hours of sleep. Sana called her when she was going to leave for her mom’s place, but she had told her she was not going to.Sana knew that she had decided to take a break from everything. She had told her that she would leave his house for a while and live with her mom. She was quite surprised that she was not going to leave.Olivia had to tell her everything. She knew Sana would not let her be if she did not spill the beans. Besides, she wanted to let everything out. Her heart and head felt heavy.She hummed on the phone while massaging her forehead. She had not gone out. She knew it was time for the scheduled breakfast, and James must be looking forward to having her on the table. She had been regularly and punctually going to the dining table. But now, she did not care.Nothing was more important than her mental health at that point. She would deal with James’s wrath
“Mr. Thomas is here.” Rosie, the house help, came to inform her. She nodded and turned around to look at herself in the mirror. She refused to get her makeup and hair done by the lady whom Thomas had sent her way. She did not want to make a big deal out of the event. She sent her away telling her she would get ready herself.She was still angry with Thomas. She was compelled to attend the dinner, but that was all. She could not entertain him any further.She did her hair and makeup. She had a bit of talent because of working as a stripper. It was not that difficult for her. It was just that she did not like to put on makeup that much. That night though, she did that. She was wearing elegant makeup and her hair was tied in a side messy bun. She had learned a bit of hairstyling from Sana.Her dress was a floor-length silver sequin lace-up maxi that had a slit from the right to the knee. It had spaghetti straps and fit her body like a second skin. It was the dress he had sent to her that
“Lovely to finally meet you. I have heard a lot about you. It is still amazing how Thomas has found himself a wise and beautiful lady.” An old man around James Walker’s age commented while sipping on his drink. He was introduced to her as Philip Brown. He had grey hair and a kind, comforting smile. She could not ignore how he said that in a bit mocking way. The surprising thing was that Thomas appeared smiling instead of offended. She gave a confused smile as she did not know how to respond to that. She was always awkward around strangers.“Oh Philip, my old man.” He was about to throw himself on him but was pushed away jokingly.“Shut it, Walker.” The man smiled, “See, he is like a child. That was why I am surprised how he could find a wise lady like you.” He said shaking his head at Thomas. At that moment, she saw Thomas steal a glance at her which she ignored—or at least pretended to ignore.She did not say anything to Philip’s comment. She did not think of herself as the “wise lad
Her head was killing her. After a few hard tries, she was finally able to open her eyes. She adjusted her eyes to the dim light of the table lamp. She flinched as a killer pounding started in her head.It was difficult, but she sat up leaning against the headboard. She ran her eyes around noticing it was their room—no! It was Thomas’s room. Her room was the one she had decided to stay after the fight with Thomas.Again no! Her room was where her mom was.She shook her head at those thoughts and winced as her head started to pound again. God! What was wrong? Why was her head reacting that way?She tried to remember how she had gotten to that room when she had decided that she would never step into that room again…It had just been a day since she made that decision. She was there in his room not knowing how she got there.She could not remember anything. Thomas was not in the room. It was late at night or early in the morning, she could not tell as it was dark still. She picked up her p
Everything felt blurred. She tried to open her eyes, but even that little task hurt her head. She winced as she finally opened her eyes.The sudden light compelled her to close her eyelids again.“Olivia?” She heard her name being called. The voice…she recognized the voice.She opened her eyes again. This time, it felt less hurtful. The light was too bright for her liking though.“How are you feeling?” She heard the soft familiar voice again, but the voice sounded panicked for some reason. She adjusted her eyes and was finally able to look at his face.The face that she loved to look at… Why did he look like he had grown his beard? He always had this 5 o’clock shadow. It looked quite rough now. His hair was also ruffled. She wondered if he even took care of himself. His eyes looked concerned.She saw him opening the door of the room and calling for the doctor.“Olivia? Are you hearing me?” There was concern written on his face as he came to stand beside her. He looked quite happy but
He was terrified as soon as he heard the scream. It was as if someone had pulled out his heart out of his chest. He had experienced such kind of feeling only once in his life and that was when he got the news of his parents’ accident. He was never the kind of person who would get scared easily. However, at that moment, he was scared to no end.He rushed in the direction where he had heard her terrified voice calling his name. A few steps inside the woods, and he reached there.He saw her plastered against the tree with no shirt on and with her hands tied. He saw that lunatic picking up a piece of wood and getting ready to hit her.How dare he!His blood boiled, and all he saw was red.Thomas did not know where he got the superpower to launch himself on Joe in a second, but he did. He smacked his face and threw him on the ground. He attacked him before he could do any more harm to Olivia.“You bastard! How dare you touch her.” He blew punshes after punches on his face. He was not aware
“I don’t know Mark. I have decided to let her go.” He sighed leaning against his chair. He was in the office when he received her text. He felt devastated to type the reply he sent to her, but he had no other way. He had to free her after all the suffering he put her through during their contract marriage. It was about time he put a full stop to all of that.But why did his heart feel like it had just been pierced? Even the thought of letting her go hurt him to no end.“Listen, man, it is not her fault that her father had been involved in the accident that happened years ago. Don’t get mad but it is not her father’s fault either. Nobody can control an accident, Thomas. He also lost his life. His family has also been suffering just like you have been suffering all these years. Let go of this hatred, Thomas. It will destroy you and your relationship with Olivia.” Mark said trying to make him see sense. He had seen him being engulfed in that hatred for too long. Due to this hatred, he wa
“What did you just say?” He growled as he came closer to her. His eyes looked bloodshot. His hair had also fallen from its perfect position. He visibly shivered with anger as he yanked her hair again. This time, it was even harsher.She yelped as she felt like her hair would be pulled out of her scalp. Even in that state, she rose a little and looked challengingly in his eyes.“I said you are a pathetic piece of shit.” She spat at him after saying it again. She was so angry. He was so eager to see her crumble before him and shudder with fear. He thought he would get rid of her without any fight from her side. He was in for a surprise.She was well aware of her situation. She did not have anything with her to defend herself in that state. She had lost her phone when he started dragging her down the road and into the forest. Nobody knew where she was. Joe was looking at her murderously, and she was sure that he would not let her live another minute after what she said.However, he would
She got up after what felt like hours. She started walking toward the exit of the park. The sun had already set and darkness was slowly engulfing the surroundings. She did not want to move, but she knew that she had to.She was so devastated. What would she tell her mom? She was so happy that her daughter had finally found someone for herself who loved her and cared for her. In front of her, they put up a perfect picture of the happily married couple. She would not be able to take such a harsh piece of reality.Olivia knew that her pretended marriage would have to come to an end sooner or later, but she was not aware that it would be this soon.What hurt her the most was not that he had decided to call the fake wedding off. Her heart had broken into pieces because she thought he might feel something for her. She thought that he would somehow reciprocate her feelings. She thought that he would not blame her father anymore for an accident that happened years ago. But he did not stop bla
She was tired of the push and pull. She was tired of playing the double life. It was not her.The life she was living was not hers. She detested lying to everyone about her relationship with Thomas. She hated that their pasts were connected in such a twisted way.Life was so unpredictable. If she had not lost her job, she would have never agreed to such ridiculous terms. Neither she was happy nor was Thomas.When they got closer after separating for a while, she thought that everything would be all right now. She thought that maybe for once, she would have the life she desired to live with Thomas. Although it was a contract marriage, she could not deny having intense feelings for him.It was true. She never imagined herself wanting to live with a man, craving his touch, desiring his presence so much as she wanted with Thomas. He was the first and only man she had opened up so much. She had opened her heart to him unknowingly. Now, it was hurting her like hell. She was sure he was hurt
“Thank you for today.” Olivia smiled as the car stopped in front of the mansion. Seeing her mom’s face was indeed what she needed after the long, torturous days of being away from her mom. And now that she knew that her mom was being taken care of, she was satisfied.It was all thanks to Thomas.“My pleasure.” She saw him smiling as he also got out of the car and came around to open her side of the car door. She got out and was about to go inside when he grabbed her wrist and made her stop.“Are you okay now?” He asked with an expression of concern on his face. She was confused at first thinking why she should not be alright when she remembered that she was upset earlier. He was undoubtedly referring to that.At that moment, standing in front of him and under the moonlight, her heart felt at peace. She felt like everything was alright for once. She did not feel so miserable anymore.She had no idea what came over her as she closed the distance between them and put a soft kiss on his c
“Olivia?” She whispered as soon as she saw her daughter. She was so sad for the past few days that she did not come to visit her. but she knew her daughter. She knew that she must have been caught up in something. Otherwise, there was no way she would not have come to visit her, especially after her surgery.“Mom, how are you feeling?” Olivia sat down beside her and kissed her cheek. Her mom seemed healthier than before. Mary said that she had been eating well. She had gotten sick the previous day, but the nurse had made sure to take care of her. Olivia felt like her heart would explode with pain. She was not there with her mom when she got sick.“I’m okay, darling. How have you been?” She asked her instead. Olivia smiled. There she was asking about her when her health was not in good shape. She had just had her surgery.“I am fine, mom. Did you miss me?” She asked with a smile. She wanted to make some jokes so she would not ask her why she was absent in the last week. As much as she
Olivia had just gotten off the phone when Thomas entered the room. He had left for work in the morning and just returned. He wanted to see if Olivia had listened to what he had said to her.He still remembered the conversation.“Olivia, I have a request to make. Please don’t leave the room. Stay here.” He had said as he was about to leave the room.Olivia was still sitting in the same position on the bed. The pounding of her head had eased a little, but she still had no strength to leave the room. Besides, she was waiting for him to leave before she would go to her room as she did not want to argue with him when her head felt so heavy and she still felt a little nausea.But he had just told her not to do that. Why would she listen to him?“I will do whatever I want.” She had replied without sparing him a glance. She heard him sigh. He was holding the door open but closed it.He turned around, “This is our room. Grandpa is already suspicious. He might use this opportunity to misbehave