LOGINShare
071: Regret (I)
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56"What do you want, Claude?" Ayla huffed out, crossing her arms across her chest, not wanting to leave any room for argument.
"An answer, my darling wife." Claude could see a nerve ticking at the side of her forehead as frustration seeped into her bones. But he decided to turn a blind eye to it. "All I want is an answer." He mumbled, leaning down. Bringing his hands to rest on the armrests on either side, he trapped her.
"What answer?" She snapped at him, her eyes darting around, looking everywhere but at him. The intensity of his gaze left her with nothing but an unwanted warmth digging deeper into her chest.
"Your actions leave me curious." He cocked his head to his right so that he could have a better look of her face. "You are ready to skin people alive at times, but other times, you go around doing their bidding without even voicing out your discomfort. All for the very same reasons, in the same situations. Why?"
He leaned forw
Related chapters
The Heartless Bride 072: Regret (II)
"You disgust me…"Her words were loud enough to knock the air out of Claude's lung as the man watched her with intent, hurt evident in his gaze. Disbelief was etched all over his face."What did you just say?" His hold around the armrests tightened. He was struggling to keep his temper in check. Lashing out on her given their situation was the last thing he wanted to do."You heard me right the first time." Ayla straightened her posture as she continued to hold her gaze in place, not allowing her voice to waver."Don't say something you'll regret, Ayla." It pained him to see her acting so cold towards him. But what made it all worse was the steadiness of her voice. She sounded like she believed those words. She was making it look like she was utterly and truly disgusted by him. That was enough for him to know that whatever was blossoming between them during the past few days was long gone now."The only thing I will r
The Heartless Bride 073: Regret (III)
"No."A voice pulled Ayla out of her contemplation. She shifted her face slightly to her left so that she would be able to see Eleanor while she continued talking."He would never hate you." She firmly shook her head. "He may be angry with you for whatever it is that you told him, but I can bet my life on it that he would never hate you. That's for sure." Eleanor continued when she didn't hear Ayla protesting against it."I hope so, but…," Ayla was hoping with every fibre in her body that Eleanor was right. She would never be able to live with herself if her fears were to come true."Relax, Ayla. C would never be able to stay away from you for long. Despite how cold he might appear at times, he's stubbornly caring when it comes to family. You are more than just family to him." Eleanor reached forward and patted her shoulder lightly before giving it a tight squeeze."I know about all of that, Eleanor. I haven't s
The Heartless Bride 074: Regret (IV)
Ayla had her first eyes trained on the wall clock as she watched the seconds ticking by. It was already past midnight but Claude was nowhere to be found. She had tried reaching out to him, but he was not picking any of her calls. When she decided to use the landline for calling him, he disconnected it the moment he heard her voice. It was only then she realized that he was still angry.Scratch that.Claude was very, very, very mad.But she couldn't even hold it against him because he had every right to be this angry. She was the one who allowed her temper to get the best of her. She was the one who didn't hold her tongue back. She was the one who didn't heed to his words when he gave her the option. If only she had listened to him."Don't say something you'll regret, Ayla."His words echoed through her mind as she scooted under the duvets. She was missing him so much that instead of sleeping in the master room like always, she dec
The Heartless Bride 075: Regret (V)
Claude read through the text for the third time as he tried to make sense of her words. It definitely wasn't just a plain old apology. If that was the case, Ayla wouldn't have bothered mentioning the rest and would have started with 'I am sorry' right away. He kept on re-reading her message. It wasn't until the fifth time that something clicked in his mind. What the heck did she mean by the last line? Why shouldn't he try to find her? Shouldn't she be at her college given the time? If not, then where was she? "Where's she?" Claude finally looked up from his phone's screen and threw Ethan a questioning glare. "Umm… who exactly, Boss?" Ethan failed to understand where his sudden inquiry was coming from. "Ayla… where's she?" He repeated his question from earlier, clarifying it a little more. "I dropped her at the college just as you asked me." Ethan replied to him, pushing his glasses up his nos
The Heartless Bride 076: Regret (VI)
"Is it worth it?" It was a rather simple question which Ethan asked him, but the depth of his words left Claude shook to his core. He couldn't help but ask himself the same thing. Was it really worth it? Was any of it really worth it? It didn't take him long to come up with a concise answer. No. It wasn't. None of it was worth it. As if reading his thoughts, Ethan gave him a small smile. "I am not going to sit here and defend her actions or words because I know that they must have really hurt you for you to be acting out like this. But at the same time, I can neither defend your actions. She's willing to apologize to you, even if you are not willing to forgive her. But here you are, staying at your penthouse just so you can avoid facing her. What does it say about you?" Claude let his mind process it all. It wasn't that he didn't think of this before or the same thoughts didn't
The Heartless Bride 077: Repentance (I)
"Excuse me?" Ayla waved her hand in the air to get the attention of the bartender."Yes, Ma'am?" A lanky boy who looked like he was only in late teens walked up to her."Hit me with a drink, just make sure the alcohol content isn't too high." She gave the boy a polite smile as she slid on one of the bar stools."Sure, Ma'am. But you'll have to wait for a little while because we have only opened." The boy gave her an apologetic smile before walking to the back of the bar counter.It gave Ayla enough time to admire her surroundings. Her eyes wandered around as she took her environment in. Despite the fact that the place was nothing more than a club, it had a flair of mystery to it. The light gray walls contrasted with the black furnishing a little too well. Accents of gold marked the edges, bringing out the corners as they glimmered under the dim pale lightings."My, my, my. Look who's here."She was forced to tear her
The Heartless Bride 078: Repentance (II)
"Hey, you!" A couple of giggles left Ayla's pouted lips as she eyed the handsome hunk of man who was standing before her. His brooding expressions made others wary of him, but was the least bit bothered about it."Aren't you handsome?" She leaned back against the couch as she tilted her neck up to have a better view of him.He was standing tall and proud, unmoving like a mountain as the background faded behind him."I really hope that you somehow recognize me. Otherwise, I don't think that I'll be pleased with my wife calling a random man in a club handsome." Claude shook his head while maintaining his stance. He had his hands shoved inside his pockets to keep them away from lunging at her. He wanted nothing more than to engulf her in a big warm hug and, hopefully, take all of her worries away. But seeing her drunken state, he had to keep his emotions in check. The last thing would be having her all scared and flustered because she was unable to labe
The Heartless Bride 079: Repentance (III)
A groan left her dry lips as she tried turning over under the covers."This hurts." A couple of 'ouches' later she was finally able to shift on her back. With snail-like slow movements, she pulled the covers down. Crawling her face out, she braced herself for the blinding assault that was to follow soon after."I should have thought of a better way to get his attention." The frown on her forehead only deepened as she recalled the events of last night. The last thing she remembered was being with Claude. Even though they were more of blurry memories, she was sure that Claude was there with her. Her surroundings only proved it further.She was in the master bedroom, in their bed. A smile crept up on her lips as she rubbed around her eyes with hopes to provide them with some relief. It was a good thing that the lights were turned down to the minimum settings."He surely has a weird way of showing how much he cares." She mumbled to herself b
Latest chapter
The Heartless Bride Epilogue
[Three years later…]"Breathe in… breathe out…" Ayla was mumbling to herself as she tried to calm down her jittery nerves.She was standing before a floor length mirror, her eyes focused on her own reflection as her dress glinted under the warm lighting of her new room. Bringing her palms to the front of the dress, she ran them down in attempts to smoothen down the nonexisting creases. She couldn't help the worrying thoughts resonating at the back of her mind, her frown only deepening. But before she could delve down further, a knock at the door brought her out."Is anyone inside?"The voice was so familiar to her that a sigh of relief left her lips unconsciously."It's just me in here." Ayla breathed out as a soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She had sent everyone out including the make-up artist and her team once they had
The Heartless Bride 191: Desires (II)*
[The following chapter includes mention of R-18 content. Kindly read at your own discretion.] Claude sucked onto the soft spot as his finger moved inside her, earning her moans in return which were not less than a siren's call for him, luring him to continue. He felt her insides tightening around his finger as he moved it relentlessly. He knew that she was close to finding her release and deliberately slowed down his movements. Ayla could feel her orgasm building up, inching closer to the edge. She let out a frustrated groan when Claude slowed down his movements. "D-don't st-op." She managed to say in between her gasps for air. "Oh! I am not planning to, my love, not tonight." Claude murmured against her skin and moved his lips to her cleavage, biting and sucking on her fair, smooth skin. "This might hurt a bit." He said as he inserted
The Heartless Bride 190: Desires (I)*
[The following chapter includes mention of R-18 content. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "You don't think that it makes me unworthy of you?" She managed to mutter out as she held Claude's gaze. "You must have hit your brain if that's what's going through your brain." Claude scoffed as he leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss. This time she didn't push him away but responded with the same passion. It wasn't until both of them ran out of their breaths did they pull back. "Do you understand now how much you mean to me?" Claude flicked her forehead as if he was reprimanding a small child. "I do… you mean no less to me." She smiled for the first time today and it was enough for Claude to know that everything was going to be just fine. All she needed was a little time and his love. "I love you." Claude mumbled
The Heartless Bride 189: The Most Precious Thing to Me*
[The following chapter includes mention of self harm. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Ayla?" Claude knocked at the door as he glanced at the clock. "Are you done, love?" He made sure that he was loud enough for his voice to go through the thick door. It had already been an hour. But she hadn't come out yet. Claude was starting to get worried. "Ayla?" He called out her name again only to be met with the same reply—silence. Though he could hear the water running constantly, he wasn't able to hear her voice. "Ayla?" He tried it one more time before making his way to the other side of the room. Claude searched through a drawer and then moved to another one. If only he could remember where he kept it. "Found it." He mumbled under his breath as soon as his eyes landed on a golden key. It was the master key
The Heartless Bride 188: The Culprit (II)
"Take your hands off her!"Ayla's eyes flickered to the owner of the voice and a long sigh of relief left her trembling lips."Claude…"In between the chaos, Claude could only see her lips moving before her eyes rolled up and she fainted."Ayla!" He didn't waste another second and rushed to her, not paying any attention to the culprit. He would have plenty of time for him later. At the moment, the only thing which mattered to her was the wellbeing of his girl.With hurried steps, Claude walked to where she was and started to untie the ropes which were holding her in place."How the hell are you here? Where are my men?" Gavin kept babbling but even then, Claude paid him no attention. He was so busy sheeting with rage that he didn't bother paying attention to anything else. Not the men, who were dressed in black from head to
The Heartless Bride 187: The Culprit (I)*
[The following chapter includes mention of sexual assault. Kindly read at your own discretion.] "Let me tell you a story, kitten." He pushed himself off the wall, dusting his coat in the process. Gavin walked to the other side of the room to pick a chair and dragged it to the centre of the room. He settled down on it so that he was facing Ayla. "What story?" Despite the fact that she was scared for her life, she didn't show it on her face. She knew that she had to put up a brave front until Claude could reach her. He would realize sooner or later that she was missing. With a smile, Gavin began. "My father and a friend of his started a business together. The kind which was to grow into a big one over time. But the old man got played by his so-called friend. My father spent everything we had or owned on his dream. When our family w
The Heartless Bride 186: Suspicions (II)
[Three weeks later…]With a jump in her step, Ayla made her way to her favourite store. Things were going great with Claude finally. Everything in her life seemed to be on track. Well, almost everything.Though Claude and her were spending more and more time together with each passing day as if they were in a relationship. They kind of were, but the man never asked her to be his girlfriend despite the fact that's how he had been introducing her to everyone who saw them together.There was one other thing which was bugging her at the back of her mind. Because of peer pressure about them dating—if it could be called that—the two of them inadvertently started using black masks whenever they were in public. Neither of the two wanted to let others throw in their unwanted opinions about their relationship. Though somewhere deep inside her heart, she wanted the whole world to know that Claud
The Heartless Bride 185: Suspicions (I)
"So…"Ayla dragged it out as she turned around to stare at the man who was still standing by the doors."Mr. D'Souza?""Call me Gavin, please." He still has the same charming smile playing across his face as he walked further into the room"Umm… I am pretty sure I can not do that." Ayla let out a nervous chuckle. There was something ominous about the way he stared back at her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she was sure that it wasn't only her mind playing with her. Something about him had shifted since the moment they walked in."Oh, please. Claude and I may not be the best of friends, but we are on our way there. It would mean a lot to me if you'd call me without any formalities." He paused before adding after a while. "Only when it's us… three."'What the f*ck!'Ala
The Heartless Bride 184: I was Missing you (II)
"Because it looks like I interrupted something important."Her frown was the only thing which Claude could see but the helplessness which filled her eyes was enough of a giveaway for him. She was feeling guilty for interrupting their meeting. Well, it was more of a tour now. The actual meeting had already been wrapped up a while ago. It was what had Claude believing that her interruption was not going to have any repercussions. Even if there were any, he didn't care."It's fine. Don't worry." Claude rubbed his hand up and down her back to calm her down. Turning his attention to the group, he began. "Apologies for the interruption everyone, but let me introduce you all to my girlfriend." He was smart enough to not announce her name to the team. Though he wondered where Ayla was going with the secrecy."I am sure she must have a name." It was Mr. D'Souza who spoke up. There was a small smile playing acros
