GRAY’S POV I could not understand where was she coming from. Yes, I paid for her brother’s tuition for the last time and it was only because her siblings did not have any idea what she was doing while working. But the groceries, pocket money, exam fee—I did not know about that. The last time I helped his brother was when Hazel Brown was fired and he messaged me, saying how thankful he was for giving his sister a job and how he was sorry because of what Hazel did. Well, that college tuition fee was part of Hazel’s contract with the company, anyway. It only got terminated the time she did that to Serena, but I still had his brother get the benefit even if the deal was no longer effective. “I hope you can hear yourself right now, Ms. Brown. Your brother’s college tuition fee was part of the contract. Any other financial aid that you have mentioned does not involve me anymore. You can ask my mother about it. She might have been the one who did that since she is too fond of you.”“Make
SERENA’S POV — Serena’s Dream / Memory —I stared at my reflection in the mirror, naked and my hair wet. I woke up today with a puffy eye due to crying the whole night. Last night was supposed to be a special night for me. We were supposed to celebrate my birthday, but Gray did not fulfill his promise. He did not show up. He did not even greet me through text or call. The only good thing yesterday was when my father visited me here. He made me feel special when it should be Gray doing that. How could he forget my birthday when I never forget to remind him about that damn dinner? Is he too busy that he forgot he had a wife? I knew we were only married through papers. He did not love me and I was merely a stranger to him, but can’t he at least show up as a respect to his wife? We were not personally in a relationship, but in the eyes of the public and the eyes of the law, he was married to me. Is he even taking this marriage seriously? “Tsk. What kind of question is that, Jane? Of c
SERENA’S POV — Serena’s Dream / Memory Continuation —I walked toward the dining room silently, hoping to see nothing but the food Lucia had prepared for me. I would surely eat the leftovers from last night. I would not let the food I worked hard for go to waste just because Gray did not show up. Lucia and I put our blood, sweat, and tears for all of these.“Lucia, I am here now…” I announced as I entered the dining room—only to halt and fall silent when I saw a man sitting at the end of the table. All of the dishes that we cooked yesterday were served. His eyes went straight to where I was, but he did not say anything or even greet me good morning. He was still here? I thought he had left already. I intentionally took my time preparing for the day because I thought he would not bother waiting for me. My eyes fell on his empty plate. It seemed like he had been waiting for me to come down and join him. It was clean and shining. “Good morning,” I greeted in a low voice, smiling fain
SERENA’S POVMy head was lightly in pain, but it was not throbbing enough to make me look suspicious in front of Gray and Miranda. My sight was starting to get clearer as I regained consciousness. I was not in my room. This room was like a mini hospital that I had never seen before. Is this still inside the Moore Estates? I had never been in here.“Ms. Ambers… are you okay? How are you feeling? You have been asleep for hours now. Do you feel dizzy? Is something hurting?” Miranda asked one after another. I sat down on the bed, my forehead knotted.Her questions were making my mind turn upside down. I just woke up, for goodness sake. I would not be able to process any information for now.“Stop, Miranda. My head might hurt again because of your questions. Please, I don’t wanna answer anything for a while right now,” I said, trying not to give an attitude but ended up sighing so deeply.The only thing that I wanted to do right now was go home. They had no idea how much I was nervous pas
AERAH’S POVI only realized that they had gotten away already when an intern walked in front of me. Snapping back to reality, I clenched my fist and continued walking. I could not see them anymore, but the memory still lingered in my mind.Serena just passed out. Why did she have to cling like that to Landon? Why did Landon have to guard her as if someone would do something bad? He was freaking overreacting! I had not heard anyone died from freaking mild headache! If I knew, that Serena was just faking it for fucking attention!That was what she was… like what Jane always did!With my head knotting, I headed towards the clinic where Serena was just a while ago. I heard they did some lab tests on her. Well, not here because a clinic in a company could not do that. The probably got the things that they needed from her and did it at one of the nearest hospitals here—which our family also owned. I had not even gotten inside the clinic when its door suddenly opened, revealing my brother a
SERENA’S POV “Kelly, stop with the arguing, please. There’s something that we need to do first before anything…” Kaihly interrupted us, her tone worried. We all looked at her simultaneously, forgetting what we were worried about in a split second. It was so rare to see Kaihly without her tablet or laptop. She would not be able to live without those gadgets. But right now, she had nothing on her hand. She was just listening to us, seemingly assessing the situation. “What is it? Are there other things that we need to be worried about besides that our mother is coming here anytime soon? Damn, Kaihly, what is it?”Kaihly took a deep breath and stood up. She then faced us all, the look of terror was hiding behind her eyes, yet it still could be seen from our point of view. With the way she was acting right now, I felt like something bad was about to happen. Kaihly was always calm and composed. She was the only person who could be so chill in the middle of chaos. “Miranda said that they
SERENA’S POV The lounge fell silent as Miranda walked toward me. I glanced at Kelly, hoping to see the expression on her face that said, “I wanna answer it.” But no. My younger sister only gave me a signal by nodding her head, seemingly telling me that I should be the one to answer it. Usually, Kelly would be the one to communicate with our mother. I always led the plan and sometimes would do what they suggested, but when it came to talking to the one who birthed us, Kelly was always our representative. She had the most amazing communication skills among us and she could convince the one and only Valeria Ambers not to go here. I took a deep breath as I received the phone from my secretary. Mom’s name flashed on the screen, making me nervous even more. I answered the call as silence enveloped inside the lounge room, turning on the speaker button so that my sisters could hear her, too.“Mommy…” I greeted, befuddled on what tone should I use. She just heard that I passed out in the de
GRAY’S POV “Fucking hell,” I cursed as I parked the car outside Marco’s house. My right cheek still felt numb even if my sister had slapped the hell out of my face hours ago. The rearview mirror showed me the remembrance of it—it was red and had the tiny mark of her ring that was on her fingers when it happened. I hoped this birthday celebration was an intimate one. I could not afford to be seen by guests looking like this. Fuck, why does it have to be Marco’s birthday today? Knowing that man, he was a social butterfly who knew almost all the people in and outside Texas. I got out of the car and went inside my friend’s million-dollar house, bringing nothing but the face my sister hit. I had no time to bring him gifts when many things had happened today when it wasn’t even 10 pm yet. I was not even in the pool area yet I could already hear the sound of the music. What do I expect? Marco was a party animal. I got where they were wearing the suit that I often wore while I worked, giv
AERAH’S POV“Dang it,” I cussed at myself as I retouched the powder I had on my face. I finally got to change and look pretty again, but there was something that was still bothering me now. “Goodness, Mom,” I groaned as I clicked the red button to turn off the call for the nth time now. She had been calling me since I received that nonsense text. Gosh, isn’t she used to me yet? I thought she would not be shocked anymore if she heard another gossip about me from her friends again. She seemed to forget that men would not stop salivating over her only daughter.Am I at fault for that?I knew I fooled around again days ago, but I made sure that there would not be any clips or pictures that those bastards would take of us while doing the deed. Well, that happened successfully, but it seemed like I would not be able to control their nosy mouths and they would start telling people about how good I was in bed.Stupid bastards.“Finally done,” I sang like I was singing in a theater. I did not
AERAH’S POVIt was so unusual that my brother did not go to work today. I had been trying to look for a chance to talk to him and apologize for what I did, and now that I finally got the courage to do so, his secretary would tell me that he would not work today. He even canceled all his meetings that were supposed to happen later.What the hell is wrong with him? Is he avoiding me? Did he really take my slap personally? I only did that because I was pissed off! I felt like he was disrespecting me!“Do you know when will he come back? Can you ask him why isn’t he going to work today? I need to tell him something urgent.”I had to apologize right now or I would not get a good sleep tonight again. I could not afford to be sleepless and had puffy eye bags just because of guilt. Damn it!“Mr. Moore said that he has something important to do today, too, Ms. Moore. He advised me to not call him for things that relate to work—”“But I wouldn’t talk to him just for work! Duh? We are the owner
GRAY’S POVMy mother, just like usual, could not help but rant to me again because of Serena Ambers and my sister’s attitude. To be honest, I would be more confused if she would not do that. That was what she did all the time—to rant and complain about almost the same thing. Aerah got her attitude from her.Good thing my mother was also a worrier because when she heard a loud honk from the other cars, she almost went under cardiac arrest and immediately scolded me for being too careless and comfortable on the road. She was not a fan of using phones while driving—or perhaps doing something while inside the car. She ended the call right away, thanks to the cars that honked so loudly. Our house was hours away from the company, and I had been driving for a long time now. I had no plans on staying at work for the whole day, anyway. I had my meetings canceled so I could take my time staying at home. The house that I bought for Jane was inside the village that my mother’s family owned, so
SERENA’S POV“Who the hell is that man Mom was talking about?” I asked myself as I ate the salad Kelly made for us. Just like usual, all of us were in the lounge, spending our time here however we wanted. The sun was up now, but none of us seemed to have planned to leave the house. Well, I did have a plan, but I would not be so stubborn again like how I did last time. My doctor freaking scolded me when he learned how I didn’t take his advice seriously. Also, no matter how much I wanted to go out and do what I had to do, I would not take any risks again unless I really needed to do so. Geraldine almost learned what was I hiding because of my stupidity and stubbornness. I was too careless and wasn’t thinking smart enough.“Chill, girl. You don’t have to worry about it too much. Mom’s men are all reliable when it comes to technology and physical fights. You won’t be dead if someone tries to kill you again,” Kaihly answered the question that was supposed to be heard only by me. Tch. S
GRAY’S POV“Tsk. Forget about that Serena Ambers, man. It’s so fucking obvious that you’re interested in that woman, but you’ll never be at peace with her because of your family. Why don’t you try liking other women? Your former secretary—”“Shut the fuck up, Kole. I told you I am not interested in dating for now. I won’t fucking deny nor confirm anything for now, too, because everything is just so fucking confusing.”I messed up with my hair as I looked down the floor. I was not a teenager to be fucking in denial with my feelings, but I wouldn’t name whatever I felt because damn, they were not the same person, but I was afraid if ever I was falling deeply in love with Serena just because she reminded me of Jane. I had met women like Serena Ambers before. Brave and bold, and they never get too carried away with their feelings just like her, but I was never interested. Maybe as business partners, yes, as I was assured of their professionalism, but other than that, they did not interes
GRAY’S POV “Damn, that was fucking straight to the point,” Kole stated, gasping. He lightly bumped his shoulder against mine as if telling me how bad it was, that it was rude and I should not have said that. Looking at Chelsea’s embarrassed expression, I thought he was right. I should have stayed quiet.“A-Ah, it’s okay Lawrence. You don’t have to force me to Gray. This party is for Marco. It should not be for me and Gray. And duh? We just met and he barely knew me. Stop shipping me to him, guys. It’s quite embarrassing for the both of us,” Chelsea told us, stuttering and not looking where I was. She had this huge smile on her face just a while ago when Marco’s friends were teasing her to me, but now that I told them how uninterested I was, she seemed to deny it and started acting conscious. Did that embarrassment do that to her? I apologized for being blunt, but that was what I truly felt. I wasn’t hoping for an issue. I would rather look rude from their perspective than let them
GRAY’S POV “Fucking hell,” I cursed as I parked the car outside Marco’s house. My right cheek still felt numb even if my sister had slapped the hell out of my face hours ago. The rearview mirror showed me the remembrance of it—it was red and had the tiny mark of her ring that was on her fingers when it happened. I hoped this birthday celebration was an intimate one. I could not afford to be seen by guests looking like this. Fuck, why does it have to be Marco’s birthday today? Knowing that man, he was a social butterfly who knew almost all the people in and outside Texas. I got out of the car and went inside my friend’s million-dollar house, bringing nothing but the face my sister hit. I had no time to bring him gifts when many things had happened today when it wasn’t even 10 pm yet. I was not even in the pool area yet I could already hear the sound of the music. What do I expect? Marco was a party animal. I got where they were wearing the suit that I often wore while I worked, giv
SERENA’S POV The lounge fell silent as Miranda walked toward me. I glanced at Kelly, hoping to see the expression on her face that said, “I wanna answer it.” But no. My younger sister only gave me a signal by nodding her head, seemingly telling me that I should be the one to answer it. Usually, Kelly would be the one to communicate with our mother. I always led the plan and sometimes would do what they suggested, but when it came to talking to the one who birthed us, Kelly was always our representative. She had the most amazing communication skills among us and she could convince the one and only Valeria Ambers not to go here. I took a deep breath as I received the phone from my secretary. Mom’s name flashed on the screen, making me nervous even more. I answered the call as silence enveloped inside the lounge room, turning on the speaker button so that my sisters could hear her, too.“Mommy…” I greeted, befuddled on what tone should I use. She just heard that I passed out in the de
SERENA’S POV “Kelly, stop with the arguing, please. There’s something that we need to do first before anything…” Kaihly interrupted us, her tone worried. We all looked at her simultaneously, forgetting what we were worried about in a split second. It was so rare to see Kaihly without her tablet or laptop. She would not be able to live without those gadgets. But right now, she had nothing on her hand. She was just listening to us, seemingly assessing the situation. “What is it? Are there other things that we need to be worried about besides that our mother is coming here anytime soon? Damn, Kaihly, what is it?”Kaihly took a deep breath and stood up. She then faced us all, the look of terror was hiding behind her eyes, yet it still could be seen from our point of view. With the way she was acting right now, I felt like something bad was about to happen. Kaihly was always calm and composed. She was the only person who could be so chill in the middle of chaos. “Miranda said that they