Lucien realized what she was doing. He was still mad at her, but he was grateful for this interaction between her and his cousin. Mia’s visits to the office became a regular thing. Over the next few weeks, the staff grew to like her and were enthusiastic for her visits. She was charming, kind, and polite. He was happy to see this change in her. It made living with her easier. She had recovered from her miserable marriage with Philip, and some of the old Mia had begun to shine through.She seemed ready to move into the next chapter of her life but was trapped in this arranged marriage. It was unfair for both of them. He thought they should have a conversation about that soon. The more time that passed, he knew that he would never love her. Because it had become abundantly clear to him. He loved Audrey now.********Along with Mia’s regular visits to the office,Stella and Julius started visiting his home.Mia was the happy, courteous, and elegant wife society dictated she should be. Luc
Lucien stared at them, his eyes blank and empty.“Your position in the company is in better standing since you got married. Mia’s family is powerful and influential in high society,” Julius stated. “The board is pleased by this union.”“And it was me that arranged the marriage. We should be compensated for securing your standing in the company. My brilliant idea and quick thinking saved you.”Lucien laughed, but the sound was cynical and sour.“Of course. I should have known,” he shook his head, and a sad smile stretched across his face. “For a moment, just a moment I let myself believe that I meant more than dollar signs to you. But I should have known better. And now I see that you trapped me in a marriage I didn’t want so you two could secure your fucking pay day.”“Your father left you everything, and only gave us some stupid cottage that no one wants,” Stella screeched.“You have to take care of us now,” Julius added.“Why should I?Why have you two always been so lazy to work for
After the visit with Stella and Julius,Lucien was surlier and withdrawn. His security team was unable to find Audrey at all. It was though she had disappeared from the face of the earth.The only lead he had was Damian. He was sure that she got a job with his company. But every attempt to search Damian’s employee roster was like hitting a brick wall.Lucien was certain that Audrey was working for him, but no one could find anything or confirm his suspicion. It was maddening. Part of him didn’t even know why he was looking for her anymore. He was sure she had moved on. Telling her that he knew how he felt about her now wouldn’t change anything, but something in him knew he needed to find her.Immersion into work was the only solace he had in life.Mia had once been that comfort. She was the safe place he ran to when he wanted to escape his life. Now there was nowhere to go.“Sir,” the security captain announced himself as he walked into Lucien’s office. “I have something to report.”“H
The fear that he would leave her the way she left him always lingered in her mind. He had made it crystal clear that he didn’t love her. She was getting tired of hearing it. His declarations of “un-love” were getting to be too much. This plan was all she had to keep him by her side.A couple of weeks later, Mia got the confirmation she was waiting for. The investigator sent her photos of Audrey and her new boyfriend shopping for new baby necessities. Clothes, bottles, diapers, baby furniture, they were all the smoking gun she needed. The cherry on top was a photo of Audrey from the side. It was small, but there was an unmistakable baby bump visible.“These are great!” Mia commended the investigator on their weekly phone call.“Are you satisfied with the information that was obtained?”“I am. I won’t need any more photos, but what I need now is for you to continue to impede my husband’s efforts into finding her. Do whatever it takes.”“How interesting. The wife uses her husband’s money
Damian was true to his word. The very next day went by as though he hadn’t said anything. Nothing had changed at all. It was a well-known fact at the office thatAudrey and Damian were friends. But it was also clear that he didn’t show her any favoritism. She was held to the same standard as everyone else, and that did not change after he bared his soul to her.Her baby bump continued to grow, and Damian continued to care for her whenever he was available. They spent just as much time together, preparing for the arrival of Audrey’s baby.But they were unaware of the eyes that were following them. At every turn, a camera snapped photos of them. Their movements were monitored, and at the other end, Mia was watching. She was always watching.**********It was slower than she would have liked, but Mia was improving her image with Lucien. Her frequent visits to the office had garnered favor with his staff. In her interactions with them, he was able to see small glimpses of the old Mia. She
It was the perfect plan. Regardless of what he thought, she still knew him better than anyone else.Lucien was who he was because of her. Even when she had left him, every decision he made was influenced by Mia. She was his puppet master, and he had no idea.Mia left the room, knowing that Lucien wouldn’t come out if she was still in there. She’d give him his space for now. Her plan was already in motion.When Mia left, Lucien emerged from the bathroom. His skin was red from the searing hot water and raw from scrubbing.He swathed himself in a fluffy robe, clambered for his phone and called the only person he thought might listen to him.“This had better be good,” Mark chided.“I fucked up,” Lucien sank to his bed.“What? More than usual?” Mark laughed.“No, I’m serious. I got drunk last night and had sex with Mia.”“She is your wife. Aren’t you supposed to?”“Shut up. You know I don’t want to be in this marriage. I talked yesterday about ending it, and then this happens?”“You don’t
“Yes ma’am,” Minnie smiled. She’d dealt with similar employers before. But Mia was the worst.“No, I don’t think you do,”Mia talked down to her. “My husband loves me and will fire you if I tell him to. You need to know your place in the house.“My place is very clear. I’m here to care for you and your unborn child.” Minnie never lost her cool or composure.Mia was often mean and rude to her when Lucien was gone. As soon as Lucien returned, she was sweet and complementary. This wasn’t her first time dealing with a situation like this, but something didn’t sit right with her. As the weeks passed, Minnie couldn’t help but notice that Mia didn’t show any signs of pregnancy. She would talk about morning sickness and fatigue, but Minnie hadn’t witnessed any of it. She knew every pregnancy was different… but there was something wrong about this one. Something very wrong indeed.**************“I didn’t think this through well enough,” Mia said as she looked at her very flat belly. It was get
Lucien was so angry; his fists clenched and punched the wall hard.“And what did you do to Audrey?I trusted you about saying she had wanted to steal from me and my family, but now I think I wronged her because of you. I am a fool to give you so much of credit for old times’ sake.”Mia was speechless, she couldn’t stop crying, “I did wrong, I apologize, but that’s only because I love you.”Lucien told her ruthlessly, “I never want to see you ever again, and don’t think you can get a penny from me, I’ll leave you nothing. If you were only after me, I might still consider ending this marriage nicely, but you hurt Audrey, the love of my life, I’ll never forgive you for what you did to her.”“I’ll come back tomorrow; I want you to leave with all of your stuff out of here and never let me see you again.”“Where will I go?” Mia yelled.“I don’t give a fuck!” He then stormed out, leaving Mia alone sobbing.**************Lucien went to the bar alone, he blamed himself for what he did to Audre
NEARLY TEN YEARS LATER….Lucien came to a halt in front of a school,he sometimes come to get the kids from school,sometimes Audrey does that or their driver.He got down from his car and saw them approaching,all three of them.Louis ran up to him excitedly.Lucien caught him and carried him on his arms.“How was school today?”Lucien asked.“It was fine.”His eldest child,Bella replied with a broad smile.He gave Braylon,his second child who was seven years old a fist bump as they got into the car.***********Lucien hurried around the kitchen,Audrey was busy with work today so he had wanted to take care of the children,feed them and put them to sleep before she comes back home so that when she gets back,she can have a good rest…well a good rest after they finish making love.He was preparing pasta for the kids and he knew he had to make it perfect,otherwise,Braylon would complain and tease him for days.Audrey has been busy these past couple of days but she promised to make it up to him
“What does that even mean?”“He had a strange obsession with Lucien. Everything Lucien did, he wanted to do. Everything Lucien had, he wanted to have. There was one year that he intentionally matched everything Lucien wore. He used to tell everyone that they had the same middle name. He even started talking to another girl in our class named Mia just because that was Lucien’s girlfriend’s name. I never liked him.”“Lucien never noticed this?”Mark let out a long, heavy sigh.“What you need to understand about Lucien, especially at that age, is that he was hungry for validation. Starving for it. If anything, all that strange attention made him feel important. To be perfectly honest, there may even be a good chance he didn’t even notice it. He was so wrapped up in Mia… his world didn’t have capacity for anything else.”Audrey felt small for a moment.“He really loved her, didn’t he?”Mark glanced at her for a moment and noted the sadness in her eyes.“He thinks he did. That wasn’t love,
“We saw that sexy ass car out here, and Nathan got the keys to go move it,” another young officer explained with tears in eyes and panic in his voice. “We all wanted… we all wanted to see. But when he turned the key… when he turned the key…” the young man sobbed. “Some people were too close and got caught in the explosion.”Captain Whitlock looked over at Lucien.“I think you were already bait and didn’t even know.”It was as though he was moving through sand. Nothing registered. Nothing clicked. Not the unnatural metal of the handcuffs as they tightened around his wrists. Not the officers’ angry voices as the read him his rights, or the rough hands that pushed and shoved him into a cell. Not when those cell doors slid home with a loud, echoing clang. Captain Whitlock tried to stop the way they were mishandling him. But they had lost one of their own. A young man who was vibrant and full of life, at the beginning of his career.Another one. Because of me?“I get one phone call. I need
Lucien’s eyes flashed up at the captain, filled with anger and anguish.“She contacted me while I was in Italy,” he almost snarled.“After you and Audrey had just been married?” Captain Whitlock raised an eyebrow.“Don’t judge me. There were… circumstances about that marriage. Either way, I didn’t want to see her. But she said that she needed someone to keep her from… Hurting herself.”The irony. She had run to him once to prevent that. But in the end, she had forced him to witness it. His eyes were dark and stony as he fought to keep his emotions in check. Part of him wanted to give in. To breakdown and just give in to himself. Anything to make these feelings go away forever.Captain Whitlock softened as he realized what was going on in Lucien’s mind.“Sorry. Why was she seeking such an intense escape?”“She was running from him. She said their marriage was in shambles and that things had gone horribly wrong, that he was cheating on her.”“That was it? He wasn’t hurting her?”“She sa
“Philip Carson”The name hung in the air between them, like a two-ton brick. After all this time, Ghost had a name. Now the hunter, could become the hunted.“Holy shit,” the captain fell back into his chair. All the air left his lungs. “That punk? That punk is Ghost?”“You know him?” Lucien’s eyes almost fell from his head.“I had him. Right here in this office years ago,” Captain Whitlock seethed. “Right there!” he shouted and kicked his chair across the room. “Ghost was right there!”“What the hell for?”“That piece of shit kid was always getting into trouble. Vandalism, petty theft, property theft, arson… all kinds of stuff. Typical spoiled rich boy shit. No offense. I always knew that kid was disturbed. He had no remorse for anything. The only thing he ever regretted was getting caught”“This was before he became Ghost obviously.”“Well, yes. But do you know that this means?”“What?”“It’s insanity. It’s the most oversimplification of anything that has ever happened.”“What?” Luci
He began spending most of his time at the building. “Command” they’d been calling it. Eugene and Mia couldn’t be trusted. The first prisoner,Racheal…Rebecca … whatever her name was, was being beaten even though he had given explicit instructions that she was not to be touched. And Mia could not at all be trusted with the other one. God, what was that one’s name? Ava? Avery? It was something with an “A”he was certain. Either way, it didn’t matter. They had to keep them both alive and the two overly emotional idiots he was working with were going to mess it up.Lucien was supposed to do a press conference and announce that he was relinquishing the company over to his cousin. The press conference was Eugene’s idea. He wanted a public take down and humiliation of his cousin. He was all for anything that made Lucien suffer. This plan wasn’t going to work. But he was interested to see how it would unfold.They planned to watch the press conference together. After it, his plan was to slink
His life had become a tunnel and the only light at the end of it was the demise of Lucien. It was the driving force in his soul. It was the pulsing his blood. His first meeting with Eugene set his plan back into motion. There was no improvising. Without even realizing, Lucien had been slipping through his fingers like fine sand. Always just beyond his reach. But this time he would get inside of Lucien’s world and destroy him from within.He kept a close watch on Lucien’s personal life. It seemed Mia had run back to marry him as he had anticipated. What he didn’t anticipate was the wrath it fueled in him. It was interesting. It had been so long since he felt any real emotion that it caught him off guard. Ever since he’d killed his father, it was as though he’d murdered his own feelings as well. Other than hate, nothing else lived within him. He often wondered why he even continued to do anything. He did have to admit that he was chasing the thrill of that first kill. Nothing ever seeme
“I told you not to get involved with her. Her father is my rival, and he has been encroaching on our territory. This,” he indicated the dead woman. “is a message.”“I loved her!” he screamed back, cradling her corpse in his arms.“You loved the other one too.”“This was different,” he cried. “She was pregnant! You killed my woman and my baby! We were going to tell you tomorrow night at dinner!”“Then I did you a favor. Children are a weakness, and you aren’t strong enough yet.”“Not strong enough?” he saw red. The vestiges of whatever humanity he had left dissipated. All that was left behind was anger and a thirst for vengeance. All the warmth left his soul. There was nothing left now. Nothing except an abyss with no end. He leveled his own gun at his father. “No one is stronger than me.”“Son, be careful.” His father’s eyes went wide. He dropped his gun and threw up his hands. He walked backwards slowly, like an animal being cornered by a predator. “You’re overly emotional right now.
Once she made the mistake of asking him what he and his father did. He brandished a gun and held it to her chest. To her immense relief, it wasn’t loaded. But she found that out only after he fired it. Bone aching terror was all she knew. Whatever life she had was almost gone. The only thing that was left was the memory of Lucien.Being with him was the last time she felt happy and safe. She clung onto the memories, and they were the only things keeping her afloat. Life was a nightmare and she just wanted to sleep.He knew he should have been treating her better. He knew that, but he just couldn’t seem to care. They were in love once. Or perhaps they just thought they were. The truth was that he was an escape to her. An escape from a life she thought she didn’t want. It was obvious that she wanted out. But his one issue was who she wanted to run to. He’d let her go if he knew that she wasn’t going back to him, back to Lucien.He refused to lose to him. So, as long as he knew she would r