Ugh, this Jackson really is a piece of work, isn't he? He really has the guts to make Olivia feel like the villain. Our girl is holding up on her own for now, but would she be able to for long? Read on to find out. Let me know what you thought of the chapter in the comments. And maybe leave a review on the main page if you have the time? <3 <3 <3
_______________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."You have turned into a monster, Olivia." Jackson dared to look like he was the one who was being wronged here. "I know what I did. And how wrong it was. But my mother-""Your mother is none of my fucking concern," I cut him off, my voice icy cold. "She knew everything and did nothing. Just like she did nothing while you were busy playing house with Elena. Just like she did nothing when she found out you had a child with me. She is just as much to blame as you are."Jackson's eyes narrowed and for a moment I thought he would argue. But then he took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay. I understand your anger. But I need to do this for my peace. For the peace of her soul."I let out a wry chuckle."It's always, always about what you want, isn't it Jackson?" I asked.He let out an exasperated sigh as if I was being unreasonable."Why are you twisting everything I say, Olivia?" He rubbed his temple. "Why can't you take what I say at face value f
____________ ...~ ~ ~ J A C K S O N ~ ~ ~. "Dammit!" I growled as I flung the stupid bouquet of what used to be Olivia's favorite flowers across the room. It was like she was immune to my apologies and pleas. How could she be so cold, so unforgiving after all this time? "You owe me a thousand bucks." My eye twitched as I heard my best friend and legal advisor, William's smug voice. I turned on my heels and glared at the asshole leaning against the doorframe of his room. "Shut up, Harvey" I snarled. "What?" He shrugged as he stepped into the hall. "A bet's a bet. Someone was pretty confident that he would have his ex-wife on her knees the moment he appeared in front of her. Two days later, all he has is a healing almost-broken nose." I glared at him. "I don't want her swooning over me or submitting to me. That is not what I want from her, Harvey. You know that." "I know exactly what you want from her, Reign." William chuckled as he walked over to the corner bar and picked
___________________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.The next morning, I woke up to a complete ruckus in the kitchen.Kelsey's laughter filled the room and the smell of burnt toast filled my nostrils."Mommy, look!" She was standing on a kitchen stool, her small hands holding up a piece of toast that was black on one side. "I made this toast! For the first time ever, I made breakfast!""Meant to poison sewer rats, I suppose?" I muttered to myself, the face of a sewer rat in need of immediate extermination coming to my mind as I grinned at my daughter, my eye twitching as I strained to keep the grimace away. "Well done, monkey! I am so so very proud of you, darling!" "Maybe you should feed the first breakfast you ever made to your Mommy, Kelse," Sarah smirked as she encouraged my daughter to poison me instead of the piece of shit that I had in mind. I glared at my best friend when Kelsey nodded with all the joy in the world. "Yes, yes! Mommy, you get to eat the food I made! Let me pret
_________________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."You can place him right on the center of the bed!" Kelsey clapped excitedly as she directed Jackson to her bed."Alright!" He had his ever-present pleasing smile on his dumb ugly - okay, maybe not so ugly - face as he settled the giant toy on top of her purple fluffy pillows and straightened up, scanning the toy treasure cove that my daughter's bedroom was.His eyes took in the many drawings that my monkey had made and then his eyes lingered on one of the drawings in particular.It was her representation of me as a superwoman with hEro written on the top in her clumsy scrawl.Jackson's eyes softened as he took in the sight. "She is quite the artist, isn't she?"It took me a moment to snap out of my dreadful train of thought and actually realize that he was talking to me. I was in a daze as I nodded. "Yeah... She is really good. At everything she does." "Gets it from her mother, I guess." He replied without missing a beat. I almost s
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.After breakfast, which consisted of many more of my monkey's burnt poison toasts and all three of us collectively stopping her from actually trying out her disastrous culinary creation, Sarah, Kelsey, Jackson, and I filed into his car, with me in the passenger's seat and my girls in the back.It brought back memories.It had been five years, but he was still using the same car—the black SUV that I had brought him on one of his birthdays, the only one which I had celebrated with him.Why was he still using it though? Shouldn't he have thrown this vehicle out just like he had thrown me out of his life?And he already had a child seat installed. Was he actually expecting to take Kelsey out today or did he have a child? I did not have the courage to ask. Kelsey was busy yapping with Sarah. They were always doing that. Sarah's childish side came out whenever her Kelse was around.Jackson seemed to be uncomfortable. He kept on squirming in his s
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.Why did I care?No, I didn't care.These two phrases kept on repeating in my head at least a hundred times before Mr. Jackson Reign finally managed to get out of the toilet bowl.I bet he was never going anywhere near Kelsey's toasts ever again."God!" He jumped back, clutching his chest when he took the turn and found me leaning against the wall."I am not a ghost, Mr. Reign." I rolled my eyes as I pushed myself off the wall and turned back to where the ice cream shop was. "Just the ghost of your past." Why the hell do I have to say things like that?Jackson followed me with a sigh. "Olivia, you know that's not true."I stopped in my tracks and turned to face him, crossing my arms across my chest, not missing the way his eyes immediately went down to my breasts the moment I did that. "What is not true, Jackson? Also, my eyes are up here." I pointed at them. Jackson looked away for a moment but he had less embarrassment at being caught sta
_____________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."She dropped her phone?" It very well could have been just that but all of a sudden dread filled the pit of my stomach.Jackson looked at the phone in his hand, his eyes widening as he seemed to realize something. "Or she didn't want to be found." He said, his voice low.I smacked him on his arm. "Shut up and stop spewing shit about my best friend."He looked at me with those puppy eyes that I used to melt in. "Olivia, I'm just saying-""There is more chance of them getting kidnapped than my best friend taking off intentionally with my daughter," I told him, my words faltering at the end of the sentence when I understood the fear in the pit of my stomach - were they kidnapped?"Who would kidnap them?" Jackson asked. "It's not like anyone knows that Kelsey is my daughter." I wanted to smack him again but had to rein in my temper. "One, she is not your daughter. And two, the colossal ego on you! She is Daniel Smith's only granddaughter. And
______________________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."We are still very much married."My jaw dropped.The world around me seemed to spin, and for a moment, I felt like I might pass out.And I almost did.Jackson's hands shot out to steady me, but I stepped away from him, my body trembling with rage. "How could you?" I whispered."I wanted to tell you," he began, but I didn't let him finish."You had five years, Jackson!" I yelled, my voice causing a few of the mall-goers to turn their attention to us, but I did not care. I couldn't care less about their reaction when I had been hit with two of the biggest horrors of my life at once. "Five years to tell me that we were never really divorced!"Jackson looked at me with pleading eyes, but I was not in the mood to hear his bullshit. "You knew!" I accused him. "You knew and you did not say anything!""Liv-""Don't you dare!" I cut him off, my voice echoing through the mall. "You don't get to call me that. Not after what you've done. And
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~.I stepped out of my room in a white and green floral dress with a denim jacket thrown over it. I had my white sneakers on. "Daddy, it's coming apart!" I walked to the living room to find Jackson working on Kelsey's pigtails. "Do you plan to stay up all night, Monkey? Why are you dressing up?" I asked. Both of them looked over at me. Kelsey grinned at me while Jackson had that look of awe that used to make me melt on the spot. Used to. Not anymore. Because I knew it was a farce. "Mommy, you look so pretty!" Kelsey clapped her hands and turned to Jackson. "Right, Daddy? Mommy looks like a Barbie doll, right?" I rolled my eyes as he nodded in agreement before looking back at me. "Even better." "Alright, let's go, shall we?" I asked, holding my hand out for my daughter to take. She held my hand and then turned around to hold her father's hand as well. "Let's go! I miss Pickles!" "Don't tell Grandma that you are going there to meet Pickles.
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ . I could feel him stewing all day long.Jackson did not like the counsellor. That was for sure. Which was fine. Because what he wanted did not matter anymore. He was going to get played so hard that he would not know what had hit him. I would make sure of that. I was going to play his own game against him. The game of manipulation. And this time, I was fully prepared. I had my claws sharpened and ready. "Mommy, is Daddy okay?" Kelsey climbed onto my lap in the living room couch and looked over at her father, who was staring out at the night with a glass of whiskey in his hand. My eyes subconsciously moved to the huge bar that he had built into the apartment after I had moved out. So far it was the only change I could note in the place. "There's just a lot going through his mind right now, Monkey." I told her, ruffling her hair. Okay, call me a bad mother. Or call me an overthinker. I didn't care which but the fact was that I did not fee
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ . "Why aren't we going to the counsellor we planned on seeing in the first place?" Jackson asked as he pulled up to the counsellor's office building."They don't have any open dates for the next three months and it's not like we can wait that long." I said as I stepped out, taking up the cozy minimalistic design. It looked more like a cozy cabin than a counsellor's office. There was a transparent name plate with the name 'Dr. Oliver Warren'. "Olivia. Oliver. Sounds nice, right?" I asked as Jackson walked over to my side. "Does it matter?" He asked. "It's not like we are going to have any personal relationship with him." I nodded, suppressing the twitching of my lips. "Let's go in." I murmured and stepped forward, opening the door and walking into the reception with him on tow. The nice lady behind the desk immediately ushered us into the counsellor's room. The place was empty. "Please take a seat." She said, pointing at the couch opposit
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ . "He got you back in that apartment and you let him?" Sarah screeched at the top of her voice. I flinched away from the phone and looked around as if someone would be eavesdropping on me in my own office. "Yeah, but-" "I literally left you after giving a talk on how not to let him manipulate you and you went and got yourself manipulated?" She continued to screech. I knew that she had her own office, but at the decibel level of her screaming, I was pretty sure that a person in the other building would also be able to hear her. "Listen to me, woman!" I raised my voice. "Listen? Woman, I want to kick you at this point! Why the hell would you move there? You could have come to my apartment. You could have gone to a hotel. Why go there? Why let him take you there?" I closed my eyes and listened to her yell some more. She did not seem like she planned to stop any time soon. But I could not interrupt her because that would aggravate her some mo
_______...~ ~ ~ J A C K S O N ~ ~ ~ . The evening traffic was a bitch and we were crawling like slugs in the highway."You need to get Mommy more presents, Daddy." Kelsey giggled in the back seat. "I am going to get her the best present in the world." I replied, with a crooked smile on my face as I watched my baby play in the booster seat. "What's that?" "Well," I bit my lips to control my smile but I couldn't. "Your Mommy has given me every happiness in the world. So it's time I gave it back to her." William had informed me that Sarah had called to discuss the divorce proceedings. No, not to discuss. She was leaving the entire procedure in his care, thereby eliminating any trouble for us to cover up this mess in front of them. So now, we could just pretend to get divorced. And then every single lie except the one about the will will be over. And then when she signs over the company back to me then, phew, I will have everything I could ever have. "Will she be happy, Daddy?
_______...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ . I choked on the awful smell of awful cooking as soon as I opened the front door. "What is going on?" I coughed as I fanned my face as I walked over to the kitchen, which looked like it had been hit by a hurricane. I watched the scene unfold as Jackson picked up a smoking pan to the sink and turned on the sink. "It's nothing. We were just-" The smoke set off the fire alarm system and the water sprayed all over us. Kelsey's eyes were as big as saucers as she started jumping up and down with her arms in the air."It's raining inside!" She squealed with pure blissful joy. I watched my little one dance around, the smoke subsiding on the pan in the fridge and the man who was looking around like he had fucked it all up. "Where is the control valve?" I asked him with as much calm as I could muster. "I don't know." He slumped. "Does it turn off on its own? Is it automatic?" I asked. "I don't know." He looked... defeated. "What's wrong?" I ask
_________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~."I gotta say, that is a thoughtful gift." Sarah nodded as she stared at the picture of the bouquet. "To think that he still remembers your Goodreads username." "It means he has a sharp memory. Not that he cares about me." I grunted. "Besides, he always played the gentleman when he wanted to. You do remember that he almost convinced you that all men were not the same five years ago, don't you?" Sarah groaned. "You got your Mom flowers?" She asked. I nodded, taking a sip of my coffee. "Where are my flowers?" She asked. I looked up at her and raised a brow, "You are allergic to pollen." She rolled her eyes. "Then you could have gotten me those fake ones." "Faux." "Yeah yeah, whatever they are called. You could have gotten me some of those!" She waved her hand dismissively. "Fine, I will have them delivered." I took another sip. "Hey!" She snapped her fingers in my face. "That's not the attitude I am looking for!" I gave her a look. "W
_________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ .The dude did not even let me see what he got for Kelsey.He went straight to the parking without any shopping bags. I wonder if he got her some jewelry that fit in his pocket or something. That would be stupid. She was four. She was not interested in jewelry. But he was stupid, wasn't he? And it was not like he was going to put in any real effort because... why would he? He wanted to pretend to be the good father so he was going to get something to make her happy, without putting any thought into whether she liked it or not. I rolled my eyes as I put the bouquet and the shopping bags in the backseat of my car after making sure that the idiot was nowhere in sight. I sighed. Should I get her something else? I knew she would love the toys. And she had been asking for more toys for Pickles. But still... What if she felt disappointed by what her Daddy got her? I slumped my head against the roof of my car. Well, I guess she would just
_________...~ ~ ~ O L I V I A ~ ~ ~ ."Jackson left Monkey with you?" I asked as I stepped out of the elevator and walked to the exit of the company. "Yeah. He said he had some work to finish and that Kelse was missing Pickles." I sighed. I was missing Pickles too. "Maybe I will also come over, spend some time with Pickles." "What's left of the renovation anyway?" My Mom asked. "I thought most of it was already done before you three moved in." "We are pet-proofing the place and getting in a high fence. I don't want Pickles or Monkey to wander into the water unsupervised." I explained to her. "Well, you should have thought it all through before getting a beach house for your permanent residence!" She exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. "I remember you telling Jackson what a wonderful idea it was." "I wasn't thinking about the practical implications then. What do I know? I am a airhead socialite. How can you expect me to figure out what you corporate moguls haven't figured out?"