"Well, it’s very simple, sweet pants. You owe me big time and I've come to collect.” the man said, leering at her in a way that showed that he was up to no good, which wasn't a new thing, come to think of it.“I don’t understand what you mean when you say that I owe you big time. If you can remember very clearly, you tricked me into leaving the country with you by promising me a great acting job, only to lead me into something entirely different. Till today, no one, not even Derek, or his sister who is my close friend, knows what actually went down in those three years I was away.” Denise retorted angrily, amazed and appalled in equal measure at the nerve of him.She could not forget in a hurry how this asshole had ruined her life, her relationship, and even the career that she was only just trying to rebuild again. It was etched in her brain forever.EIGHT-PLUS YEARS AGOMarriage …Denise still could not get over the fact that Derek had proposed marriage to her and even worse … that
Andrew Tanner … He was one of the biggest film producers back then, which was about ten to twelve years ago. He had started young but had quickly grown to prominence and in his heyday, produced and directed a series of movies that had done pretty well.In recent times though, he had gone off the grid, and many people speculated different reasons that could be the cause for his sudden decision to take an extended break from the movie industry, but no one knew the exact reason.And now, here he was looking like a million bucks, and was clearly the answer to the prayer that Denise had been praying all her life … which was to meet someone big in the industry who would catapult her to her destined greatness.“It’s so nice to meet you, sir,” Denise told him, trying not to make it too obvious that she was so excited to meet him.“And you too. Judging from the look on your face, I take it that you’ve managed to recognize me. I don’t have time to waste because I’ve got an important meeting c
Rooney scrambled to answer his ringing phone, ready and eager to carry out to perfection any order that the caller had for him.She had paid him a hefty sum of money some days back and the thought of all that money sitting in his account and ready to be spent as soon as he finished with this job was making him ecstatic.Yet, that wasn't all that she was going to pay him according to what she told him. Boy! Was he a lucky man or what?“How’s it going, Rooney?” The caller, the same female who gave him the order to kidnap and hold Derek hostage asked him.“It’s going very well, ma’am. He’s regained consciousness.”“That’s good. Make sure to keep him alive and await my next instructions.” The woman ordered.“I will, ma’am. You have my word on that." He assured her and then after the call ended, went to check on his prisoner.He opened the door to the room where the prisoner was housed and after taking a look at him, he winced. The guy was in very bad shape and it did not look like he was
"Mommy! Mommy!” Harper called out happily, skipping over to where her mother stood by her car, waiting for her to come so that they could go home.“Be careful now honey. You don't want to fall flat on your face.” Ava cautioned indulgently, gathering her daughter into her arms for a quick hug and smooch.Harper giggled delightedly and returned the hug, kissing her mother on the cheek.“Mom, look! Steve is coming over here.” Harper said pointing in the direction from which Steve was approaching them.Just hearing his name caused Ava’s heart to skip a beat and she shook her head inwardly, wondering what the hell was wrong with her.It was a great feeling though, because it had been ages since she last felt this way about any man. The last man she had felt something remotely akin to this for was Derek.She had begun to wonder if her heart was dead and cold in her chest, so it was great to know that it was still working, after all.On the heels of this thought came the sobering realization
It was Amanda, Derek’s sister, and she was glaring daggers at both of them. She was seated alone at a table on the other end of the restaurant and was toying with the food that was in front of her. “Oh wow! Fancy running into her here.” Ava said in equal amusement, turning back to face Steve, and taking a sip of her drink. “I know, right?” “She seems really pissed. I guess she’s mad at the fact that her love interest is having dinner with another woman … Or rather to be precise, he's having dinner with the woman she loathes most in the world. That knowledge is bound to make a bully like her quake in indignation." Ava joked, but Steve did not smile. He was wearing a pensive and thoughtful look that suddenly had Ava worried. “Is everything alright, Steve?” She asked. “Yeah, yeah. I just realized that the fact that you and I are dating and the fact that Derek still clearly likes you has given both Amanda and Denise the perfect reason to dislike you even more.” Steve told her.
"Amanda, dear. That is not the way to greet old friends now, is it? I would have thought that your mother taught you to have better manners than that … oh, wait, my bad! She didn’t teach you anything other than to be a mean little girl who is always jealous of other people and what they have.” Ava said to Amanda, enjoying the way Amanda's expression darkened at her words. “Keep my mother’s name out of your filthy mouth, Miss Goody two shoes. You think you're the shit, don’t you? Coming back into town and prancing about like you own the place, just because you got lucky. Tell me, how did you manage to become so famous? Did you sleep your way to the top?” "Is that sour grapes, I hear? Oh, you poor thing. How have the mighty fallen? If anyone had told me that the day would come when you would be jealous of me, I would have probably laughed out loud in their faces.” “Me? Jealous of you? Oh, please, don’t be delusional. You may be prancing about and feeling like the best thing in town
Another security guard had now come up to the table too because now Amanda was yelling at the top of her voice and being totally unreasonable.“Don’t think I'm going to stand by and watch you choose this ugly bitch over me. I would rather die than allow that. Do you hear me? Do you hear me? You can’t just use me and dump me like that and think you're going to go scot-free. It's not going to happen. Over my dead body. If I can't have you, then no one … least of all her is going to have you either.” Amanda screamed.So great was her rage that she reached for Ava, but before her hands could touch Ava, the two security guards grabbed one of her arms each and began to lead her away from there, trying to be gentle at first, but it seemed like she had lost all sense of reasoning.She fought them like a hellcat, so that she even managed to break free of their hold, but they were quick to capture her and this time around, dragged her out of the restaurant with as much force as was necessary.P
Coming here had been a huge mistake. Denise realized this the moment she stepped foot into Andy's house. But what was she supposed to have done anyway? Refuse to come as his royal highness Andy ordered and have him blaring her secret to everyone who cared to listen? She could not antagonize this asshole who was bent on making her life a living hell if she did not want any more problems on top of the ones that she currently had. “Make yourself at home Denise,” Andy told her, disappearing into another part of the house, while Denise sat gingerly on the closest couch to her and looked around in disgust. “That’s highly unlikely.” She muttered to herself, looking around her in distaste. The house looked as cheap as Andy’s car looked. The man had indeed fallen upon bad times, but she could not bring herself to feel sorry for him. If anything, he deserved everything that he was going through and then some. A few minutes later, Andy returned to the living room with a glass of cold