Both Willis and Lori were taken aback. Lori blinked in disbelief, the words lingering in the air as it sank slowly to her mind.“Me…?” She pointed to herself as if she couldn’t believe Arlo was talking to her.“Is there any other person in this room, Lori? Yes, you. Now go get dressed.” He bit back.As Lori stormed out of the room, her hate for Ivory increased. “Arlo found her cheap ass and now thinks he can order me around?”As she shut the door behind her, the pale room made her even more upset— a reminder of her displacement in Arlo’s life.She used to live in the room next door, now it was off limits?“Huh,” she scoffed angrily, “I’m going to make her pay. I’m going to take back my place…”She paused, a new idea striking at the same time. “This is an opportunity to take back my place…”But did she really want the place? “No,” she shrugged, “This is an opportunity to make money.”With that, she stormed back to the study where Arlo was seen pacing around like a caged animal.“Wha
Nights are to sleep, aren’t they?To get some rest and have a fresh start the next day, right?Ivory thought so too. She thought she could rest from the terrible day she had and have a fresh start the next day. Well, that was before she received Arlo’s text message. After that, nothing else mattered. Not the night, not the next day. She was filled with nothing but concern, worry, and a helpless feeling of affection for him.For the last thirty minutes, she was pacing around the room. Reading the text on her phone like it was a life sentence. She regretted her decision to leave. “I should’ve stayed!” she cried. “We’re married for god's sake!”Meanwhile, Arlo remained in a dark corner of his office, a glass of whiskey in hand, brown cigar in the other. Brown cigars— a habit that he long defeated. Tonight, such habit was the only thing that could help him cope with the emotions raging inside him.Fooling his father was easy. Getting Lori to act like Ivory to regain control over his c
He pulled her in by the waist, his grip wide enough to round her entire width.Lori bumped into his chest, and let out a soft gasp. He smirked, “I hope you can take it.” She nodded, her heart pounding like a drum.He raised her face with a finger under her chin, and as their eyes connected, Lori felt her breath narrowing. Arlo’s gaze dropped to her lips, and she instinctively licked them. Arlo took her lips. Gently. He nibbled on them lightly like he was handling the most delicate thing ever.The taste of whiskey on his tongue, and the woody scent of cigar in his breath felt like the gateway to ecstasy.Arlo’s grip on her waist tightened, pulling her against him until their bodies melted. The heat between them intensified as he deepened the kiss, his tongue lunging against hers with a hunger that left Lori’s knees weak.Lori gasped, giving a little opening to him. Arlo slid in his tongue, his hands roaming her body with urgency as he explored every inch of her. Lori clung to hi
Chapter 40Nothing else mattered to Ivory. Not even sleep, she stood by the window of the hotel room rereading Arlo'd text messages. She loved them. She loved the imaginations the messages created in her mind.In one of them, Arlo was miserable. He couldn't believe she had left him and so he wallowed in the confines of his study, drinking and thinking about her, until he could no longer hold back his emotions sonhe texted her. She read the latest one, "I'll find you!"It should've been a scary message, right? But Ivory thought otherwise. "Not if I find you first."She had barely gotten any sleep, her insides bursting with anticipation. She couldn't wait to see him. She couldn't wait to hug him and tell him how much she missed him.So on the first strike of sunrise, when the sun had just sent its first touch, Ivory's alarm jolted her from bed. She hopped into the bathroom, and was out in a hurry. As she headed for thr airport, beaming from ear to ear, Ivory felt her decision to l
Chapter 41 We all know what the reunion of two new lovers look like. Excitement, lots of eye contacts, lots of hug, lots of kisses, lots of foreplay… that would eventually lead to the main course meal. Well, that was far from Ivory and Arlo. Arlo watched from the car as Ivory approached, yes, Lori had done a good job acing her replica but there was something she just didn’t have— Ivory’s demeanor. Her sparkly eyes, her innocence, her smile. Arlo’s heart did a flip as she drew nearer, his lips hungry to taste her again. But he would hold back. He was upset with her. So upset with her that he would deny her orgasms for the next couple of days. “Hey,” Ivory’s voice brought him back to the present, “I got your messages.” “My messages?” Arlo repeated, cocking his brows. Ivory beamed, a little too widely you might add, showing the screen to him. Arlo couldn’t believe it— not that it was impossible for him to text her— but, he had no memory of texting her. “I’m sorry
Shit. He muttered for the third time. Shit. Shit.The word slipped out again and again, like a broken record.Unknown to him, he gave Lori the idea. He gave her the idea to nail her sins on Ivory when he said: “Who knows what you’ll do dressed up as the woman I actually care about.”EARLIERLori smirked as she furiously typed on a burner phone. “Lori Spencer located at the Covelli Mansion.”She took a picture of herself still dressed as Ivory and attached it to the anonymous message before forwarding it to the precinct.PRESENT“Look,” Arlo explained, “The lady beside me is not Lori. This is Ivory, I picked her from the airport myself!”The sergeant was adamant. “It’s against our code of conduct to reject evidence sir, we have to take your partner with us.”Ivory’s heart sank to her stomach, her legs failed as the policemen surrounded her, holding her arms to the back like a proclaimed fugitive.“Arlo, what’s going on?” She asked, utterly confused by the unfolding events.Shit. A
The metallic click of the handcuffs felt heavier than she had ever imagined— though she had never imagined it at all.She was always a bright student, morally upright, never broke a rule in her life. Well, unless the natural order of marriage counts— which brought her to where she was.Ivory's wrist throbbed as the officer yanked her out of the police van to the precinct. She caught the golden band in her finger, her mind reeling with a mix of disbelief, confusion and regret. Had she rejected this ring in the first place, would she be paying for crimes she didn't commit?The words still echoed in her ears: "You're under arrest for fraud, forgery and attempted murder."Her heart sank, clenching harder than the first time she heard those words. She could barely comprehend how Lori's crimes had been pinned on her. They were a doppelganger, but there were some differences between them... Like their hair. But in the picture on screen, there was no difference between them. Lori had her fu
They say fear is weakness, but in the trembling of our hands and the pounding of our hearts, we find the courage to rise.Right in front of her, her fate had been decided and she had no say in it.“We move her to Cadet Prison tomorrow.” Ivory’s life had flashed before her eyes when the words finally registered. She was going to prison?!For crimes she didn’t commit? How exactly so?The emotions within her had risen from fear to rage, then to fear again, then to despair.“I won’t accept this!” She cried, her voice laced with a mix of urgency and desperation. “I am innocent! My name is Ivory Hollis. I graduated top of my class in SNU, I’ve never tried forgery in my life!”“Quiet!” A police officer roared, “We are trying to do some paperwork here.”“Is that all you do? Paperwork and arresting the wrong people? I am innocent!”“I am innocent!” Ivory repeated the statement like a mantra, clinging onto it like they could save her, just like she had repeated ‘Damian loves me, he loves wo