Ariel's officeStaring at the screen of the desktop with a deep frown on her face, a drop of tears slid down her cheeks, but she quickly wipes it off and tries to focus on work.She glances over to Max's office, and she can't help the sting she feels in her heart. Seeing the sad expression on his face, she can't help the pain that fills her from within. She feels like everything is her fault. Maybe he wouldn't be having issues with his beloved wife if she wasn't brought into the family in the first place, but then, this was never her fault on second thought. Not that she came willingly, she was forced here.Taking a deep breath, she stands up from her seat and glances at him again, contemplating her decision to talk to him. After giving it a few seconds thought, she finally ambles to the glass door and places a soft knock on it."I want to be alone, Ariel," His cold voice sounds from inside, and it feels as though her heart was stabbed with a knife. Wow! He didn't even want to hear wh
Later that night...Sitting on the edge of her bed while having her face buried between her palms, Alicia cries bitterly. Taking a deep breath, she wipes the tears from her eyes and glances at the wall clock, releasing a deep breath afterward. Just hours ago, she was having a good time with her husband, only for him to leave the house in a hurry when he got the news about Ariel being rushed to the hospital.She tried not to get hurt, but nothing is working. Not that she wants to think about it, but what is she supposed to do when it's coming naturally? There was nothing she could do. It's already past 8pm, and he's yet to be back home. As much as she wants to be hardhearted and not get worried about him, knowing how dangerous it can be out there in the night, she can't help but pray that he's safe out there.Still lost in thoughts, the sound of her ringing phone pulls her attention, and she glances at the screen to see her husband's name displayed on the screen. She quickly picks up t
Two days laterSitting on the edge of her bed and lost in thoughts, Ariel stares into space as tears stream down the corner of her cheek. She just got discharged from the hospital a couple of hours ago, and she needs to rest as per the doctor's order. The doctor said that she needs to rest more and stress less since she's pregnant. Max and Alicia went to work earlier today, and she's the only one at home with the maid. The sound of the knock on her door pulls her attention, and she glances at the door, wondering who could be there. The last time she remember, she wasn't expecting anybody. The only person that'll knock on her door is Max, and since he's not around, she can't help but wonder who that would be. "Who's that?" Nervous, she springs up to her feet and asks. "It's me, Leila," The maid's voice sounds from outside, and she sighs briefly before she drags her feet to the door and pulls it open, revealing their maid. "Hi, Leila. Do you need anything?" She asks as soon as she o
The next morning It's weekend today and Ariel is supposed to go to the hospital for a medical check-up. Her stomach is slightly protruding, but still not obvious for anyone to know that she's carrying a baby. Finished dressing up, she stares at her reflection in the mirror and takes a deep breath as she throws her head back. 'I am not here to watch you cry, Ariel. Did you ask what I and my husband have been feeding on after you left?' A drop of tears slid down the corner of her cheek as she takes a deep breath. Here she was, thinking that the woman still have an atom of likeness for her, but turns out that she was mistaken. The only person important in her life is that demon she calls a husband, and no one else. It hurts, but that is the truth. The sound of the knock on her door pulls her attention, and she glances back to the door as she wonders who must be there. She didn't get to see Max all day yesterday, maybe because he was with his wife, or she was just the one indoors all
"Wow! It's so good here," She smiles softly as she stares at the beautiful beach in front of her. It's literally her first time coming to the beach, and the view here is everything. Watching some women in bikinis, while some men were wearing sunshades, she can't help but admire the place. "Do you like it here?" Alex suddenly asks her, earning a glance from her. She has the cutest smile he has ever seen, and for some seconds, he feels his heart stops moving for seconds before it picks race. "Hmm. It's beautiful," She nods her head, turning to look at them too. It's a good thing that Alex brought her out here. She didn't think that she will ever have so much fun. For the main time, she feels all of her burdens have been lifted off her shoulders. "Do you want to play around?" He asks, and she chuckles softly, revealing her one-sided dimple. Now, she looks so cute in that. "Nah, I'm not in for that," She says sarcastically, but the expression on her face says a different thing. Why th
Chapter 24"Are you two really brothers?" She suddenly asks out of the blue, and the atmosphere becomes tense as he only stares at her with a blank expression on his face. He wasn't expecting the question to hit him too hard. For years, this is the question he has also been avoiding. Although he and Max may be siblings, for once in his lifetime, he never felt the spark of siblings between them. He has always felt neglected and rejected by him, which was why it always saddened him to talk about that jerk. "Yes, we are siblings. We're not so close, and that is because we don't like each other. Gosh! Your boss is annoying, yet looking like a gentleman he's not. He doesn't have my time, he's always busy with his work, so we just have to give each other space," He shrugs, trying to sound convincing. "That's sad. Max is a good person. He...""Is that the lies he has been feeding you with? Don't believe any of the things he says to you. He just wants to deceive you," He smirks at her, whil
Chapter 25After she cries her eyes out in her room, she further changes into another set of clothes before going to the kitchen to make the juice for the man. "Here, Sir," She bows to the man as she drops the glass of juice on the table. She turns to leave when the man's voice brings her to an abrupt halt. "Fix me something to eat," He says to her, and she slowly clenches her fists and bites her bottom lip. "Alright Sir, I'll get to it," She replies to him before dragging her feet to the kitchen. The doctor told her to have much rest, but it doesn't seem like she's ever going to rest in this house. At least not when this man that keeps troubling her is around.Stepping into the kitchen, she sets to cook. For someone, this young, isn't all this pain much on her? First, it was her mom that put her into this mess in the whole place, but what hurts the most is to find out that she never cared and never regretted her action, and now she has to become a maid she wasn't expecting. Her li
Chapter 26"I'll go with you," Her eyes narrow in shock as his words replay in her head. Is he joking with her right now? "But I thought you are hanging out with your family?" She blinks her eyes multiple times, staring at him blankly. "Uhm... Yes... I can stay back with you...""No, it's fine. I'll be fine with Alex," with that said, she turns and walks down the hallway, while he stares at her until she's out of sight. Taking a deep breath, he runs his fingers through his hair as the thought of his crazy and annoying brother being with her later hits her hard. "Are they so close now?" He asks himself, even though he's not expecting any reply. Taking a deep breath, he finally walks down the hallway and heads to the parking lot afterward. Going out with her would've been a very good idea, but it doesn't look like he can do it now. His dad would need him around later, and he can't possibly stand the man out there, right? Besides, he only came back home to get something and go back
Chapter 83"Why are you doing this?" Alicia yells at the top of her voice as tears stream down her cheeks. Alicia has been untied, and they are both inside a room now."You are going to kill everyone, and take what belongs to them? Are you this much of a monster?" She yells again, but Dennis doesn't look like he is going to listen to her."We've got what we want now... Why don't we leave for a faraway place where nobody will ever be able to get to us? I am giving you a chance to do this now," Dennis replies to her as he hands her a pistol."If you want to live, go out there, and shoot them one after the other. Kill them all and let's leave here once and for all. This is the only chance you have, Jessica. If you turn your back on me now, I will take you as my enemy for real this time," He utters, and she gulps down the lump that forms in her throat as she stares at him. Her hand trembles nervously, and she gulps down nothing again. It's literally her first time holding a gun, and she c
Chapter 82"How dare you, bitch!" Dante yelled at the top of his voice as he sent a hot slap across Elisabeth's cheek. After looking for her everywhere, Viper was finally able to get her from the hotel where Max had hidden her all this while."I told you to never mess with me, but you didn't want to listen to me. How dare you!" He yelled for the second time, sending another hot slap across her cheek. Her mouth is already bleeding. She is supposed to be in tears, but she is rather smiling as she stares back at him with a satisfactory look on."Do you want to slap me again? Go ahead and do it. Do you want to kill me? Then just go ahead and shoot me right here... Don't forget that Maxwell and Alex will be coming for you. They won't stop, until they hunt you down," A smirk settles on her lips as she emphasizes her words, and he finally punches her hard in the face this time, sending her roughly to the floor along with the chair she was tied to.He squats in front of her and grabs her hair
Chapter 81Ariel's head hurts and she groans as she tries to open her eyes, but she gasps upon finding herself in a strange room. She tries to recall what happened, and where the hell this place is, and just like that, memories of the previous day came flooding her head, and she gasps. She slowly looks around the room, and that is when the realization dawns on her that she isn't the only one in the room, but with her dad, stepmom, and the two little girls that were supposed to be her stepsisters."Daddy... Daddy... Are you ok? Joann... Ella... Ma'am... Are you ok?" Ariel asks worriedly as she manages to sit up on the cold floor, realization dawns on her that they have all been abducted. Hearing a silent whimper behind her, she slowly tilts her head to find Alicia tied to a chair too. Wow! This is crazy."What's going on here? Why are we here?" Although she knows her question is really crazy, but she couldn't just help it."Oh, you are awake? I thought you died in your sleep. That woul
Chapter 80"What's going on?" Ariel muttered as she run her fingers through her hair crazily. She has been trying to reach everybody, but no one was answering her calls, not even Max or Alex. She gulps down nothing worriedly, praying nervously that nothing happens. It's past 10pm, and Max hasn't been back yet after he told her earlier that he was going to attend to something and come back immediately."Answer your call, please," She mumbles as she dials the number again, and when it didn't go through, she decides to call Alex, and maybe, who knows, his number might go through, but it was still the same result she got.Many questions run through her mind as she sinks into the bed, grabbing a handful of her hair in her hands as she drops her gaze to the floor. Could it be that something happened while she is here? Were they abducted? Those are the questions that keep running through her mind as she tries to gather her thoughts together, but it only ends up getting ruined since she can't
Chapter 79After hearing everything from Alex, her heart sinks into her stomach, her cheeks are wet from her uncontrollable tears. Her heart wrenches in pain at the thought of being betrayed by the man she so much loved with everything in her, but on a second thought, she feels like he was right about everything. If she truly loved him, she wouldn't have agreed to that in the first place. Does she even have any right to feel used when she already hurt Max so much? Does she have any right to be hurt with just this, when she has lived all her life hurting people?As she drags her feet along the lobby and heads to her room, her phone suddenly starts ringing and she rolls her eyes when she checks the screen and finds out that the caller is Dennis.She crashes against the bed as soon as she steps into her room, staring up at the ceiling with a pool of tears streaming down the corner of her cheeks.'There is no wedding for us, Alicia. Do you think I would still marry you after everything? Y
Chapter 78 Alicia POV I arrived at the hotel room a few minutes ago, and I haven't been really at peace. Did I make the right decision? Should I have worked with him? Those are the questions that keep lingering on my bed as I toss on the bed before I sit up. Memories of the past came flooding my mind, and for the first time, I feel guilt wash through me. Thinking about Max makes me go crazy. I feel like I was being unfair to him. Although he later changed, which was all I ever wanted, but still, it didn't change the fact that I hurt this emotion. I know this is too sudden, and you must think that I'm really crazy, but trust me, it's nothing of such. I'm just feeling remorseful for my actions in the past. I don't want to end up like Dennis, and with the way I'm going now, I might end up clouding my heart with hatred like him, and end up tormenting people, which is the last thing I would never want to do in my life. I need to make things right. Besides, I've always lived a s
Chapter 77Silence creeps into the atmosphere as Alicia stares back at him, shocked at his confession. Is he trying to pull a fast one on her or what?"There's nothing bad in wanting to spend time with my daughter, right?" He breaks the awkward silence, but she only stares back at him with many thoughts running through her mind.As her eyes roam the entire restaurant, the realization dawns on her that they are the only ones in the restaurant."Oh, sorry if that came as a shock to you. I booked the restaurant for the time we will spend here. I didn't want someone to disturb us," He breaks into her thoughts as if he was reading her mind, and she sighs briefly before she turns her gaze to look at him with a blank expression on.Memories of years ago flood his mind as he stares at his daughter that is all grown now. How they would go to bed without food, how they suffered, and how he watched her grow with another man, calling him 'dad' when he was supposed to be the one she calls that. Th
Chapter 76"What is the meaning of this, Laura?" Dante's eyes widen in shock as he stares at his wife who just slapped him. He had just come here to see her since she was sick for the last few days, only to be welcomed with a slap.Tears stream down Laura's cheeks as she stares back at the man she has been with for the past thirty-three years of her life, the man she has spent her whole life loving, unknown to her that he has been lying to her. Just the thought of it was messing her head and driving her nuts. Laura and Dante have been together for thirty-five years. Three years of courting, and thirty-two years of marriage. She has always thought that this man was the most faithful man any woman would want to spend the rest of her life with, she thought he was the best man in the world, well, he was, up until the last few hours she found out what this man has done. It breaks her heart to know that she has been fooled and used for the past years that she has been with him."Are you ok,
Chapter 75I toss on the bed for the umpteenth time, trying to get some sleep, but I can't even bring myself to do it. The scenario from earlier today is still stuck in my head, and the more I try to get it off, the more I find myself thinking about it, and it's really driving me nuts. "Is he kidding me?" I scoff as I sit up on the bed, ruffling my hair that I already parked inside my cap, allowing them to fall carelessly on my shoulders. The room is air-conditioned, but I feel so hot and just feel like I need fresh air, but I know that I don't need it. I may feel cold if I decided to step out of the room now.It bothers me to think that Alex has been playing me, but I also don't want to conclude that it's what I'm thinking. What else would it look like? He was obviously playing you. I also try to assure myself that it's not what I'm really thinking, but fuck! My head is so messed up that I can't even gather my thoughts together.Pushing all the thoughts away, I lay back on the bed,