SERENA’S POV I found myself locking the door of my room right after clicking the green button, answering Gray’s call. It had not even an hour since I arrived home, yet he was bothering me again. Taking a deep breath, I placed the phone on my ear. “Yes, Mr. Moore?” I greeted, my voice low to appear weak. I had to pretend that I was the victim even if we were not face to face right now. “How are you feeling?” he asked, not even greeting me with a hi or hello. His background was filled with silence, and I could only hear his breaths and the sound of his air conditioner. Is he home already? Strange. It was still too early to go home for a CEO like him. “M-My bruises are still hurting. I have put an ointment already, though…” I faked a cough with a low voice, still appearing weak. My cuts and bruises were hurting, but I knew to myself that I was only exaggerating myself. I could hear Gray taking a deep breath from the other line, making me grin in silence. Are you worried, Gray? Or i
SERENA’S POV “Weird.” That was all I could say as I stared at my cellphone screen. What did I do wrong and he suddenly ended the call? It wasn’t like I still wanted to talk to him. It just felt like I did something that made him act that way. Gray Moore never ended the call first ever since he got my number from my secretary. Hmm… something was fishy. What the hell is wrong with that man? Is that because of my joke that was supposed to be funny? “I don’t know, Jane. Why don’t you just stop thinking about him? You have a long day tomorrow,” I talked to myself, remembering the board meeting that I set for the partnership between Landon’s company and the Moore Estates. Landon would see me tomorrow, and I wondered if Gray and he would have tension between them just like the last time. I hoped they would not. I hoped Gray would consider how weak I would be tomorrow. Weak, my ass. Another day and another pretending in front of those bastards. Psh, how I wish Geraldine Moore
SERENA’S POV I could feel Landon’s hands tightening on my waist as if my ex-husband’s presence bothered him. This was what I was preventing from happening. Gray and Landon being in the same room without my presence would result in no good. “Mr. Moore,” I called, smiling. Landon took his hands off me and faced the man who just come. Gray, on the other hand, had his eyes focused on me now, seemingly scanning every part of my body. “And what consequences did you give that woman? I have heard that your secretary isn’t the only one who abused and embarrassed Serena. Your sister and your mother were involved, too, yet they haven’t received any punishment from you,” Landon remarked, his tone low and serious. Damn. The meeting hadn’t even started yet and they were on the verge of fighting already. My body’s strength would not be able to go in between them. “Mr. Mitchell, I treat every member of the Moore Estates with equal rights… especially to their well-being. Ms. Ambers and my fami
SERENA’S POV I had to take several deep breaths to register what the fuck did Gray’s sister just said. First of all, why is she here? I thought this was supposed for board members only? “Aerah, don’t start with that,” Gray warned in a serious tone, sending Aerah dagger looks. Fuck. If this was a normal day, I would have said something to freaking defend myself. But no. My body was aching so bad and this damn bitch in front of me still dared to say something. “Is she really like that, Serena? The fuck…” Landon whispered in my ear as he made sure that I was comfortable in my seat. I let out a chuckle as I remembered what I wanted him to do to that woman. By all the information that he knew, he must have been so disgusted with her by now. Who wouldn’t? That was Aerah Celine Moore that we were talking about. No one liked her aside from herself and her freaking family. “Just pretend that you don’t hate anyone in this room, Landon. Remember that you still have to make that woman fall
SERENA’S POVGenuinely worried? What is this man on? I blinked rapidly as I looked away from him, my gaze now focusing on the front. Landon’s voice was loud and clear as he talked about the plan and the proposals, but there seemed to be a problem in my ear that I could not understand anything that I was hearing. Or rather, the words any of the people said within the room would not register in my mind.What the hell? I tried hard to not look at Gray’s direction. He was just beside me, and I had to gather all my effort to not make me look at my side. Gray Moore being vocal with what he felt honestly surprised me. He did not seem like he was acting or faking his concern, but I didn’t want to assume that his worry was goddamn artificial. “You are one of the people who served this company a greater success since you came, Ms. Ambers. I am very grateful you became a part of the Moore Estates. I couldn’t just let you go on with your life without knowing if you’re okay or not,” I heard him
SERENA’S POVDamn. This was what I was talking about. How could Gray hear that when I could barely hear what Landon was saying? Damn it! I clenched my fist as I hid it under the table. I then looked turned to Gray—who was looking only at me with a raised brow. I displayed my pearl-white teeth, pretending that nothing was going on.“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you, Mr. Moore. To tell you frankly, you are not the only person that we deal with every day. We have personal lives, too. And, you are not the only person that we know in this room. We could talk about anyone who’s in here right now…” I said, trying not to be sarcastic but still ended up sounding that way. I thought I got it from Landon. “I thought I heard my name, Ms. Ambers. No need to get mad,” Gray answered, withdrawing his curiosity. Well, I guessed that worked. Landon and I almost got caught gossiping about the Moores on the spot and worse, by Gray Moore—the smartest and the only person that had a brain of them all.Gray
SERENA’S POV Damn, she knew who I was. Wouldn’t it be strange if I asked her if we had met before while she thought I was Jane Williams-Moore? This maid was probably one of the servants that the Moore family had while I was still living with them. She must have known a lot about me given that we were living in the same house then. “I am Serena Ambers, Ma’am. Nice to meet you…” I stated, my eyes focused on the old maid. I just noticed that she was holding most of Geraldine’s not-so-heavy stuff. There were things that were on the floor when we collided, but the old maid immediately reached for it before Geraldine came. “S-Serena Ambers?” she asked, stuttering and with a knotted forehead. Her eyes marveled at my body from head to toe, almost shedding a tear. She could not help but gasp as the seconds passed and the disbelief still wasn’t leaving her being. Who is this woman? Was she a part of my life before?“Yes, Lucia. Serena Ambers is a different person. She’s not Jane Moore that
GRAY’S POV“What do you mean you saw her here?” I asked, even though I already had an idea that she was talking about Serena. As far as I knew, Lucia had been very close to my wife right after she got hired as one of our maids. “Tch, don’t mind this woman’s delusion, son. She saw Serena Ambers in the hallway and thought that it was Jane. We had the same reactions as her when we first saw that wench at the anniversary celebration. I could not really blame her for assuming that Serena is your ex-wife.” “I don’t think she is a different person, Ma’am. I know who Jane is. She talks and walks like her. She may have a different fashion style, makeup, or hair right now, but I believe it’s her. I have been telling you that Jane is still alive—”“Enough with your delusions, Lucia! That woman is ill-mannered and looks at herself as if she’s someone higher than me. She was the reason why Hazel got fired! Do you really think your Jane acts like that? To hell with that woman!” my mother cut the
SERENA’S POVIt was another day to be strong again. I had to face the Moores with all these questions in my brain, and it still sucked because again, I could not remember anything. My mother and I had talked before I left the house, and we had agreed that I would not attend the party unless someone asked me that was not her. We just could not reveal that we were mother and daughters that easily. I still refused to have them investigate my mother even though I was sure that none of them knew her as my father’s wife then. Even I wasn’t aware of her existence until three years ago. “What’s the update about Mr. Garcia taking over Mr. Jordan’s share, Miranda? I haven’t talked to Mr. Moore about it. Is there any progress? Has the CEO already scheduled a meeting?” I asked as I sat on my swivel chair, watching Lucia wipe the picture frames—specifically the frames that had my picture in it. She had been doing that for a while now, but I wasn’t saying anything. I liked watching her do things
KAIHLY’S POVI would not know what exactly should I do right away if ever I was alone in this situation. Caden took the lead in instructing Landon what to do, and I just followed most of what was he saying. With the help of Caden and I, Landon got to escape the situation by misleading the direction of the people who followed him the moment he drove his car away from the coffee shop.Caden seemed to be so aware of the ins and outs in this area. He was the one who talked to the man on where to go. I felt like a display here knowing that Caden did most of the things. I was just assisting him with what he needed me to do. I had been admiring how smart he was for the whole night, and the only thing that was new to me was how disappointed I was in Landon after knowing that he did not bother sending Aerah home.I meant, I did not like the woman for what she had done to my sister but if I probably did not know who she was, I would pity her for liking a man that was not so interested in her.
GRAY’S POV“I was never in love with my wife, Lucia. Maybe I was interested in her before everything changed—”“You are just in denial. You are in love with Jane, Gray. You have always been in love with her. Even after she passed, you have been in denial. You kept telling yourself that you were not in love with her because your untamed anger was still there. You are mad at her for what she did, and you became angrier when she passed…”Lucia’s words started sinking into my mind slowly, highlighting everything that she was saying. I closed my eyes as I started recalling the times that Jane was still alive.I admitted that I was not a good husband. I was merely a stranger to her, as I was not always at home. My office actually became my house because of too much work that my father was giving me. Those were my preparations once the company would be given to me. Jane would talk to me whenever we had the chance to do so, but I would always answer her like how I answered most people that I
GRAY’S POV I did have an idea of what should I do, but I did not think I would be able to trust myself.“I don’t think we should talk about this over the phone, Serena. I just called to apologize, but I would like to talk about us in person,” I responded, regretting that I called tonight and disturbed her. I wanted to apologize, but the original plan was to do it in person. I just called because I happened to miss her voice. “Tsk. Whatever. Let’s talk in person like what you want, Mr. Moore. I am gonna end this call now. Bye.” She ended the call without letting me bid her goodbye. I inhaled a deep breath, turning off my phone. My feelings had been confusing me since then, and now that I had to decide, it seemed like I could not bring myself to decide what should I do, too. I could fucking feel that I wanted Serena to be mine. I liked her as Serena Ambers, but I also could not help but remember how I used to act around my wife. It was fucking confusing me. Did I only like Serena be
SERENA’S POV “Yeah, she did. I received an email from one of her friends. I declined because what am I gonna with them? Listen to them talking nonsense about other people?” My shoulders fell. She was invited to one of Geraldine’s private gatherings. I was sure a tea party would not be huge, so only a few people were invited there. One of them was my mother, and that was already a chance to have a connection with her. “You know I don’t have many friends because I don’t wanna waste my time talking about other people’s business, right? It’s not my cup of tea. I would rather spend time with my children and talk about something that would make sense to me,” my mother added, almost rolling her eyes at me. I bit my lip and refrained from talking about how much information we could get from that woman alone. That tea party would not only be about the tea that they would drink. I was sure it was a tea about someone’s life, too. Hopefully my life. It was okay if she talked shit about me as
SERENA’S POVI could feel Miranda’s intent stare as we listened to what was Lucia saying. We had been investigating what truly happened in the past, and we had never encountered someone who said that my husband used to be interested in me. Did that really happen? Because I could not remember a single thing regarding that. I had never felt Gray’s interest in me.“He’s interested? I heard from a few employees here that they are only under an arranged marriage. And if he’s interested, he would not flirt with the woman you were talking about…”Is Lucia even telling me the truth right now? How come Gray liked me when I was always a ghost to him? He rarely went home and never knew anything about me. He was always too busy with the company. He was always with his father.“Oh, I don’t know what happened to that man. They were indeed only under an arranged marriage for the sake of business, but I knew that Gray truly liked his wife. He never told me anything but his actions told me so. He migh
SERENA’S POVI was so confused. I could not name what I was feeling right now, honestly. But no matter what it was, it was against my better judgment to freaking feel this way.We were already on our way to my office, and I still could not comprehend these emotions.Should I be freaking glad that Gray said that he missed the old me or be confused because what the fuck? How could he miss someone he used to hate? How could he miss someone that he kicked out years ago?I should be pissed off. That was right. There was no right answer between those two. I should be mad and cussing the hell out of him because even after all these years, even if he wasn’t aware that I was Jane that he said he was missing right now, he was still stressing me out. So, what was gonna happen now? Is this the end of our useless relationship? Is this the end of my pretend flirting with him? This could not be happening at all. I had not even asked him about so many things.If he wanted to be away from me starting
GRAY’S POV I would bury myself to the ground. What the fuck is wrong with me? Serena’s eyebrows squished together. She was just as confused as me, but the difference was I knew where those words came from. I knew why did I say that, but I had no idea why I had to fucking say it out loud. My chin tilted up as I swallowed hard. I ran out of excuses to tell her, but I had to think through it. I should not have said that if it wasn’t meant for her completely. I was damn well aware that it wasn’t just Serena who I missed. I fucking missed my wife, too. “What do you mean? We’re always seeing each other in the company. What’s wrong?” she asked, giggling at me. I cleared my throat, straightening my back. I looked away from her and pretended to look at my employees instead.“It’s nothing. I just remembered something. Forget it.”“Forget what you said? That you missed me? Oh, Gray. No one can hear us talking here. Look, they are all busy. You don’t have to hide how much you want me, my darl
SERENA’S POVThree days had passed and this was the first day that Lucia would start working in the Moore Estates. During those days, Gray and I were both so preoccupied with paperwork that we barely even flirted with each other.The situation seemed to be favoring me because I would rather sign all those papers than sit in his office, waiting for him to notice my exposed cleavage.“Oh my goodness, you look like Jane!”A sly smile formed on my lips as I went down the stairs, my dress almost reaching the ground whenever I took a step toward them.The construction of my proposed project started today, and Gray and I had to be there to check on what was going on. I had gone there two times, but Miranda and I would only pass by all the time. I could not afford to run late at work while I was keeping my professional image.It was undeniably sunny on the site because of the recently demolished land. I made sure that there would be more than enough trees in the surroundings, though. We had t