SERENA’S POV “You seem like you are in a bad mood. What happened, huh?” I sat beside Kelly, who had her forehead knotted while scrolling the screen of her phone. Kaihly told me about what happened last night, and I immediately knew she was being like this because of Landon. I could not understand her most of the time. She had rejected Landon when the man confessed to her the first time, and now that Landon was pretending to like Aerah Celine and would go on a date today, she started sulking and never went into her normal mood. She should be celebrating because the plan was working and making progress. Aerah wasn’t smart, so I knew she would give in to Landon the moment that man got her trust. “Nothing happened, Jane. You and Kaihly had been bothering me for a while now. What the hell is your problem?” she asked irritatingly, rolling her eyes at me. I giggled, already imagining what would be her reaction once I told Landon to not show up to his date with Aerah. Landon and I might
AERAH’S POVI just wanted to flee as I listened to my mom shout at the top of her lungs while on the call with me. I should have answered her in the bathroom. I was too confident that she would not say anything annoying. I was lucky that I did not put it on a loudspeaker like I usually did. “Excuse me for a while, Landon. I just have to talk to my mom…” I excused myself, forcing myself to smile. Landon only smiled at me, taking another sip from the frappe he ordered. I left the table in haste, walking as far away as I could from our table. I entered the women’s bathroom, locking it to ensure that no one would enter while I argued with my mother. “What now, Mom? I told you not to call me, right? Goodness! I am so humiliated!” “Humiliated? Oh, I am surprised that you still can feel that way! I thought you forgot about it since you never listened to me and your brother! I am with my friends right now and I couldn’t even look at them when they showed me another article that had your fa
SERENA’S POV Damn, yay. Is she drunk? This was not the secretary that I had known for years. Or maybe this was the real her outside her job… I just failed to notice it because I never went out with her unless it was work-related. Chill, Jane. Everybody was enjoying so I did not have the place to sulk. I would be a killjoy if I decided to tell Miranda how foolish I felt right now. I should goddamn stop being childish. Why am I a grown-up woman if I still act that way?“You’re so quiet. Are you thinking of something? What are you feeling?” Landon asked a few moments later. He only whispered in my ear, so we did not get much attention from the team. That was how I liked it. “I was fine before I saw everybody’s outfit. How come y’all are dressed like that after working? I thought we would all be in our working attires so I did not bother changing. I should have worn something nice before going here if I only knew,” I answered the truth, rolling my eyes in exaggeration. Landon chuckled
GRAY’S POVFrom being the calm and composed woman that she was, Serena halted talking to me, only regarding her secretary with a sense of panic.It was only a mention of her mother arriving, but she started disregarding me like we just didn’t have a conversation seconds ago. As if she just didn’t claim that I was into her.Their voices could not be heard, so I had no understanding of what were they talking about. They did not want me to hear anything, I guessed. Serena turned to me after a few moments of their talking. “I have to go. Enjoy the night and the celebration. Tell the team that their lunch would be my treat tomorrow.”She tapped my shoulder she used to caress with her delicate fingers and turned her back on me, Miranda following her as she almost ran toward the exit.Even Landon Mitchell ran after them. Who is this woman that Ms. Rowans was talking about? I still had Serena’s documents. Her mom’s name wasn’t stated there, but it said that Serena came from an influential f
SERENA’S POV“Oh, Kaihly. I know you would have a great time with Caden. The man is a gentleman and you share the same interest with him. He also came from a family of wealth. He is a perfect fit for you, dear.”Kelly and I looked at each other as we listened to our mom tell Kaihly the things she didn’t have any interest in. “Damn. I don’t think my twin is liking what she said. Mommy should stop telling her about dating or she wouldn’t want to work with Caden,” Kelly whispered at me, both of us watching Kaihly, who had a poker face on as she typed something on her laptop.“That man didn’t come here for love, Mom. And I am definitely not interested in dating someone right now. I don’t even know if I like men, what more on dating them,” Kaihly rebutted, making Kelly and I burst out laughing.We had been watching them argue about Caden Garcia, the man my mother introduced to us. He arrived at exactly 4 in the morning and was currently resting in the guest room right now. It was already
GRAY’S POVI left my penthouse later than I usually did. The celebration last night ended past midnight. I stayed not because I enjoyed the company of my employees, but because Kole and Marco went to the same bar that Mr. Mitchell and Ms. Rowans chose. They arrived fifteen minutes after Serena left. They got invited to our table and unsurprisingly got along with Serena’s team. I only stayed there for the drink, to be honest. I wasn’t even speaking to anyone—including Lina, the plus one that I told Serena last night. She was one of Aerah’s friends who had been following me around for years now. She was a good woman, and when I said good, she was far from doing the things that my sister usually did. She was with me last night because I foolishly followed Kole’s advice—which was to look to other women instead of liking Serena. I had no plans on pursuing Kelsey Robins like what he suggested. I ended up noticing Lina, which was a foolish decision, too, as the woman only got her heart
SERENA’S POV I did not expect Caden to be here, but I was definitely not mad. He wasn’t disturbing me, anyway. And this was a great opportunity to show him what was it like inside the Moore Estates. He would have an idea of what kind of environment he was about to face once he successfully bought one of the major shares. “How did you know where my office was? Did Kaihly tell you?” I asked Caden as I signaled him to sit on the visitor’s chair as an offer. We decided to go back to my office instead of staying in the hallway for so many reasons. Caden had the visuals to attract anyone who would see him, so he could be a distraction if we passed by some of the employees’ workplaces. And of course, I would not have them stay in public where people could hear what we were gonna talk about. I was sure Caden didn’t come here just to see me. He was here to discuss something about what we had talked about earlier. “I happened to be in the same elevator as Gray Moore, so I took the chance to
SERENA’S POV A jealous Gray Would surely entertain me. I had not seen him jealous in the years that I had known him. Not even once. Making him jealous meant proving that I was becoming an effective flirt and I would get to enjoy how messed up he could be at the same time.That was like hitting two birds in one stone. I discovered that I tend to have fun whenever I see him perplexed and affected by what I always did.“I am up for everything you wish to happen, Ms. Serena Ambers. As long as you have a valid reason and we’re doing it the right way.”I cracked a laugh.“The only valid reason that I can tell you is my husband and his family ruined my life. What we’re doing right now doesn’t even equal to what they did to me before. I at least want to be even—or punish them more.”The corner of Caden’s lip turned up. My mother mentioned that she had paid Caden a great fortune to participate with us, but to be honest, I didn’t think Caden agreed to team up with my family just because of the
SERENA’S POVFuck you, Gray. How could you fucking do this to me? Showing up with Hazel Browns, really? Damn him! Damn him and his family!“Don’t let your emotions eat you now, Serena. People are watching. You might as well save it for later.”I could feel Caden tapping me on my arm secretly, but my eyes were unable to look away from the two persons who had just gone inside the hall. I could hear a few murmurs from my surroundings, making me think that I wasn’t the only one surprised by the woman’s sudden appearance.Who the fuck wouldn’t be surprised when he showed up with the woman he cheated on me with before? He even banned Hazel because the woman beat me up so badly!I cleared my throat and turned my gaze to Caden, displaying a smile to hide my irritation. There was something inside me that made me want to ruin this celebration. I didn’t know what to feel, to be honest. But I was afraid that I would do something I might regret later. Fuck.“What’s with that look?” Caden asked me,
SERENA’S POVI went back to my office with a knotted forehead. I had to be professional and not let my personal emotions take over me. I sat down on my swivel chair aggressively, only to stop myself from complaining about what happened in Gray’s office when I saw a gold envelope on my table. I took it without hesitation, opened it, and read what was inside.“Who put this here?” I asked, my eyes focused on what was written on the material.An invitation to attend Geraldine Moore’s 50th birthday?Oh, I did not know that the wench would like to see me on her birthday. Damn, we made the right choice of not adding me as my mother’s plus-one. Is she really the one who invited me or not? I could not bring myself to believe that she wanted my presence on her special day.“Oh, Mr. Moore’s secretary passed by here to give us that. He said that all of the board members were invited to attend the party. A plus one is even allowed, according to him.”Oh…That was what I thought. The old woman did
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