A few days had passed and Ryan and Diana had become even closer. With the way things were, Diana couldn't help but deny the fact that she had started to have feelings for Ryan. Her heart had already started to ache for him when they would go for a long time without seeing each other.That's where the problem was, her heart. It wanted Ryan but her mind was telling her that she shouldn't be catching feelings for him. Everytime she saw him talking to another woman, she couldn't help but start to feel a bit jealous. How was this possible?It started like a bet and now she was getting jealous? This can't be. To her, the endless fight of what the mind wants versus what the heart wants was getting a bit too intense. This internal fight that a lot of people have experienced at one point in their lives was now a thing that she had to fight. All her life, she didn't think that she would have been in those shoes.She could sense that Mitchell saw it too and with every chance that she got, Mitche
Christian and Ryan were hanging out in Christian's mansion. Unlike Ryan's mansion, Christian's wasn't that big and had less staff so for Ryan it was a good place to hang out with his best friend given that they hadn't been around each other in a while.They were like brothers bonded by life and the struggles that they had gone through together. When one was at his lowest in life, the other one was there and made sure to be there till things settled."How comes I learn that you bought another house through Olivia and not you?" Christian asked as they were playing pool in his entertainment room. This was one of the rooms that they could spend time without any of the staff interfering since he had made it known that it was off bounds to them. He had filled this room with everything that a man would need to be entertained.From a pool table, to darts, to multiple playstations and dozens of screen, he even had VR setup in that room. He himself was the one responsible to keep that room clea
It was already evening and Diana and Mitchell were just arriving at the gala in the cab that Ryan had sent to pick them.When they saw him, both their jaws hit the floor not expecting him to clean up so good. For a split second,they imagined that he was a higher up in the upper class of people who ran the city.Ryan too was impressed by their dress code. For two city girls who gave the vibe of indoor girlies, they definitely knew how to dress when the occasion was at their doorstep. Ryan hugged both of them and with a broad smile, turned to walk them into the building."A gala? Impressive," Mitchell commented as they were walking through the front door to the building.It was one of Georgia's museums that had been flipped upside down just to cater for the gala. The walls were painted all white and there was a large open room immediately after the front door where everyone congregated and talked.All around,the girls could see prominent faces of the city and country talking in groups a
Diana tugged at Ryan's hand a few times asking him if everything was okay. Everytime she did this ,she looked at Mitchell who was visibly as confused as she was.Looking at him, Diana wanted to give it one more try to see what Ryan was looking at. Turning her head, she noticed that Ryan was not looking at someone inside the gala, rather ,he might have been looking outside the building. This made more sense since Diana's back was towards the front door and after a few people had walked across her field of view, she noticed it. Outside the main doors, there was someone standing talking to the security guards at the door. Wait, not just someone,a woman who was decently dressed that one might think she was already at the gala.Mitchell noticed where Diana was looking and tried to look but it took her a while to see what they were actually looking at. Though not sure that she was looking at the right person, she got her confirmation when the woman who was talking to the security at the fr
Meanwhile Outside:Ryan walked past Justina who was standing with security guards at the entrance. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. After their last interaction,he thought that he wouldn't have to see Justina's face again but it seemed that that was now becoming somewhat of an impossibility.Following him to his new apartment was one thing, trying to seduce him when she walked to the door and knocked was another,but this one right here was a whole different thing. She has practically followed him and tried to get in the gala as if she didn't expect him to notice her presence. Everytime they met, he got more reasons as to why their relationship never worked and will never ever try to patch things up again.He could hear the sound of her heels clicking on the sidewalk behind her. He could tell that she was just right behind him and trying to catch up with him. After taking a few paces to a distance which he was certain that Diana and Mitchell couldn't see him, he put his arms on
Mitchell and Diana watched as Ryan walked back into the gala and from the looks of it, they could tell that he was pissed.Diana eyed Mitchell who looked back at her as if warning her not to follow up on what that was about. Diana on the other hand,wanted to know what was going on.This was partially because she wanted to prove to Mitchell that Ryan was the playboy she thought he was. And also, because she knew that deep down she had started falling in love with Ryan and wanted to know what he was getting herself into.Ryan walked back to the table and sat down as if nothing had happened. At this point, Mitchell could see it on Diana's face that she was about to ask about who the mysterious woman was. So, seeing it coming,she excused herself and went to the restroom hoping that by the time she gets back things will have settled.Things were silent for a while till Diana finally decided to ask the awaited question."So, do you know that lady?" She inquired watching Ryan's expression cl
A few days had passed with Ryan and Diana not talking to each other. To make matters worse, Diana had seen Ryan a few times at Global Tech but everytime their eyes met, he immediately changed his focus and went on to do what he was doing avoiding her even more.All this while, Mitchell kept telling Diana that this was just a thing that will pass. However, Mitchell also wondered why Diana was so much bothered by the fact that Ryan wasn't talking to her.This went on to prove that somewhere along the line, Diana had actually started developing feelings for each other. For Mitchell,this was good since she wanted Diana to be happy. Despite the bet that they had going on, she believed that if Diana was to fall in love with Ryan, then she wouldn't want anything less for her but just pure happiness.Every evening that Diana came back home, Mitchell could see she was troubled even though she didn't want to admit it. She seemed off from the night of the gala given that Ryan was not picking her
Ryan was in his mansion and had ordered all the workers to take some time off and leave the house to him. Following his instructions, all workers retreated to the worker's quarters and he was left alone in the house.It didn't take long for him to hear a car pull up in front of the house. Without even the need to confirm, he knew it was Christian from the way he revved the engine.After a short while, Christian walked in through the front door with the car keys in his hands. He found Ryan in the kitchen making himself a meal."You've been MIA for a while," Christian said as he walked to one on the seats that were by the kitchen counter."I felt like I needed it," Ryan responded as he gestured to whether he should also count Christian in the meal to which Christian declined as he was already full."Work issues?" He asked Ryan.Ryan nodded for a no and Christian instantly knew the reason for his disappearance."Diana?" He teased to which Ryan paused in his tracks for a second before con
THREE MONTHS LATER It's a beautiful day, Christian,Mitchell, Rodriguez, Olivia and everyone else isenjoying the company of each other while waiting for the big news that Ryan was set to announce.From the beginning of the year, Global Tech's popularity had skyrocketed ever since they came learn who the actual founder was. It was news that spread like wildfire across the nation and globally.Christian is engaged in a very engaging conversation with Rodriguez while the girls were just standing by the side watching them and laughing as they marveled at what it took for the guys to be distracted so easily."How's Diana?" Olivia finally asked Mitchell in a hushed tone. She had been filled in on that happened over the course of the previous year by Rodriguez and Christian since Ryan asked her not to bring up the conversation when she was with him."She's doing a bit better. It'll take a lot for her to get back to where she was one year ago, but atleast there's some progress." Mitchell answ
A few days have passed and everyone is back home. Christian and Mitchell are still linking up and getting to know each other more as they soon realize that they might end up actually starting to date each other. Rodriguez is at Ryan's residence and Diana keeps flooding his phone with voicemail.It's just a day before New Year's Eve and Diana is worried sick by now. Ever since Ryan walked out on her while in the Bahamas, no one had heard or seen him since apart from Rodriguez who picked him up from the airport a few hours later.Now, since they came back, Diana had been trying to get a hold of him with no dice. She couldn't go to his residence since Christian passed the information from Rodriguez that she was barred from entering the home. She couldn't go to the company since they were closed down. She couldn't ask Olivia who was away on her vacation.By now, Diana was getting too worried about Ryan. She understood that he didn't want to see her but the fact that he couldn't be found a
It's Christmas Eve, Diana couldn't contain her excitement when she was with Mitchell in their hotel room. From the moment she woke up, her face lit up as the morning rays hit her skin."Someone's excited about today," Mitchell commented as she watched Diana take her breakfast."Of course I am, Ryan is going to propose today," she squealed excitedly." Just a reminder, don't get too excited. Ryan might have different plans," Mitchell reminded her." Fuck other plans, everything that he has been doing for the past few months have indicated to this day. All signs have suggested that if there's a day he will ask for my hand in marriage, today would be it." She told Mitchell confidently.She couldn't help but keep looking at the dress and jewelry that Ryan had gotten her for the night. She couldn't wait to put it on, but she had to wait till evening as the note on the dress had instructed."So, what are you going to do for the night?" Diana asked Mitchell. She was curious on where her best
It was the second week of December. With Global Tech closing it's doors for the end of year holiday for it's staff, Diana was free and so was everyone else. Within a matter of days, Ryan had called her and told her to get ready for they were going to the Bahamas for a week long vacation. He told her that he'll be coming to get her in two days as soon as he finished all the preparations.Mitchell was quick to tell Diana that this was what they were waiting for. Ryan had finally decided to do it. Every hint led to this and it has just started playing out as they had thought it would.Before the day that they were about to fly out, Ryan told Diana that she can bring Mitchell if she wanted to and who was Mitchell to not want to join them. At this point, they could tell that Ryan wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was rich. To Mitchell and Diana , this meant that Ryan was probably building up to telling Diana his true identity to which Diana was prepared to act surprised and all.
Diana was quiet and tried to keep her mind busy as she was thinking about her next course of action. Mitchell knew that she had said enough and it was up to Diana to decide what to do. This was the first time that Mitchell was seeing Diana being that concerned about matters concerning love.The change that Ryan had brought in Diana was uncomprehendable to Mitchell. She never thought that Diana could be this concerned about a man. However, even as Diana's best friend, Mitchell had a few questions of her own regarding why Diana wasn't willing to risk letting Ryan go.Some of these questions originated from the fact that the had learnt about Ryan's true identity and had even confirmed it for themselves. To Mitchell, it seemed that Diana had turned out to be Justina, just in a different body. To her, this new finding had made Diana more willing to keep the secret and not risk loosing Ryan.This might sound like a bad thought coming from Diana's own best friend. But I know that as you read
"So how are things going on for you and Ryan?" Mitchell asked Diana as they were preparing their food."Things are going great. I mean it's been around six months with him and I can tell that he's really serious with me," Diana answered as she was just taking a seat."Who would've thought," Mitchell said to herself as she sat next to Diana.In her own mind, Mitchell had never taken Diana for a lover girl. He always saw her as the friend who wanted to have fun in the moment. Even as she had dared Diana when they met Ryan, she didn't think it would go this far."Your mind is on to something," Diana said as she urged Mitchell to speak up."I'm just thinking of how things are going. You've changed over the past few months, and I dare say it's because of Ryan" she spilled."Changed? How?" "Come on, you ain't the same person you were an year ago. The Diana I knew, loved to have fun. You know, go out to parties. Go to concerts and the like. Look at you know, talking about how things are goi
For the next few weeks, Ryan and Diana do more than they used to. This includes taking her on dates and doing fun activities that build up their bond even more. The more this goes on, the more Diana starts to overlook Ryan's secret and leaves it up to him to disclose it to her when he sees it fit.With every date, she was convinced that Ryan and her were getting closer than before. She could see a future that included him for the rest of her life. Mitchell always reminded her not to make any mistake of letting her actions slip for they knew that it would have a devastating effect on the relationship.Of all the dates, Ryan had planned one so well that Diana couldn't get her mind from it. It stuck with her more than all the other ones. What she didn't know, was that at this point, Ryan was pulling all the stops to make sure that she believes everything that was coming her way. From the love and affection to the trust and bond that they now shared.The date started with breakfast in bed
Three Days LaterRyan was in his living room with Rodriguez in his office going over some reports that had been sent to him by Olivia. Ever since Ryan distanced himself from the company, Olivia had been running it all by herself and gave a report from the executives of the company to Ryan.This, however, meant that Ryan and Olivia didn't not see each other as much as they used to and on Olivia's side, she always felt like something was missing. She was never comfortable with Ryan not being around the company since she was used to his presence and now with him gone, the place felt deserted.Rodriguez had come to notice this everytime he visited the company to check on how things were running but never mentioned it to Ryan who seemed already preoccupied with Justina and Diana's situation.On this particular day, the week was coming to a close and the company was about to take a scheduled one week holiday so that the staff could get some room to breath. This always happened once every si
After days of not talking to each other, Diana finally decided to call Ryan and ask if they could meet. This came as a surprise to him but he was willing to see what the meeting will yield.So, on the day they were to meet up, Ryan got ready and was well on his way to the restaurant that Diana had suggested. On his way there, he got a call from Christian who was with Rodriguez at the time."Where are you?" Christian asked when he heard the wind blowing on Ryan's end."I'm outside, going to meet Diana," he responded.Silence.Christian and Rodriguez looked at each other not sure that they had heard him right. Trying to figure out how to ask if he was kidding or not, Ryan went on,"I know the question you're about to ask me, and the answer is yes. I'm still seeing Diana. She called me and said she wanted to talk." " But Ryan, she knows who you really are. Don't you think that poses a threat to you?" Rodriguez asked, concerned that Diana might end up being a loose end just like Justina.