"Your wonderful husband made it possible."
Ayla took her father's words into consideration, her eyes staying glued to her husband's brooding figure. Despite the little traces of annoyance in his expressions, she couldn't help but notice the proud smile which was itching to tug at the corner of his lips.
"Hey." She let out a muffled greeting as she pulled herself out of her father's embrace. Her attention immediately shifted to her in-laws and as soon as she walked up to them, she was engulfed in hugs as they took turns in congratulating her.
"Thank you so much guys. I wasn't expecting you all to be here. Heck, I wasn't even expecting to see you here!" The last few of her words were directed at Ethan who feigned a hurtful look in response.
"You hurt me, Ayla." He spat back at her before huffing out a frustrated sigh. "I had to put a lot of my work on hold just to be here, you know. But her
"You can't just act out like this when I am busy with work, Ayla." Claude snapped back at her. "It's not my fault that you don't have anything better to do."As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his eyes widened in realization about how curt he was sounding. "I am so sorry, love." He took a step forward but stopped himself when he saw her retreating back. "I swear I didn't mean to sound like a mean bitch, Ayla." He sighed to himself, running a hand through his hair; he was frustrated with himself."It's alright." Ayla shook her head, refusing to look him in the eye after their not so polite exchange. "You are right. I have nothing better than to stay at home and nag at you for not giving me enough attention. You clearly have better things to do than watching your wife getting ready for her graduation day." She muttered the last part more to herself as she brought her hands up to her arms, rubbing them over her bare skin hoping t
The music was blasting through the speakers, filling up the surroundings, too loud for anyone to be heard over the booming noise. But it didn't matter to the men who were sitting in their own private lounge, the room encased by a glass wall as it looked over the dancefloor located downstairs. All three men had their eyes trained downstairs, never letting their spouses get out of their sight."She looks happy." Edward's voice rang next to Claude's ear, earning himself a nod in return. "She is not the same reserved girl I met the last time you two came over." He continued when he didn't get a reply from Claude.Taking a sip from his drink, Claude turned his attention to his brother. "She's slowly coming out of her shell. Even now she seems to be struggling a little when it comes to allowing people to get close to her, but she's coming around." Claude muttered back before turning his attention back to the dance floor where his belov
Keeping his eyes trained on the dance floor downstairs, Claude finished off his drink in one big gulp."A***h*les!" He slammed down the glass on the table, the force powerful enough to make it crack down the middle. Though he could care less about it.Before the other two men could question his acting, he stormed out of their private lounge and down to the ground floor where Ayla was. Keeping his pace up, Claude approached the trio which were now surrounded by a group of men. What made his blood boil actually was the fact that one of them was practically hovering over Ayla like a pesky little fly he was."Hey, you!" Claude spoke up loud enough to get the man's attention as his feet brought him to a stand behind Ayla's little frame. Without wasting another second, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back into his chest, protectively. "You shouldn't be in a place where you are clearly not wanted
"Now, you listen to me, you absolute piece of sh*t! She's my wife, first of all. And you don't get to talk about her in any way. So, go along and skedaddle before I show you how real men actually fight."Claude stared down at him as his grip tightened around the man's collar."Why don't you try?" The man scoffed, shoving Claude away as hard as possible.Claude was ready to retaliate when Asher spoke up, waving his hand up in the air. "Get him and his friends out, guys." He only needed to say it once, his words loud and clear. A couple of uniformed men who were on standby already, rushed forward to take matters into their own hands. Each one of them grabbed the arms of one man from the other party and began to push them away from the crowd. In a matter of seconds, the dance floor was cleared of the trouble causing men and people had resumed to focusing on their own conversations with music playing in the
It was late into the winter; the full moon was high up in the sky as it's bright, white rays shone over the darkness which engulfed the earth.Ayla was busy admiring the view before her, settled down on a recliner on the terrace. Her feet were stretched in the air, resting on the glass walls which lined the boundary. A book was sprawled open in her hands, but her eyes were lost somewhere else. Every single thought that crossed her mind was related to only one person: Claude.As if on instinct, her hand reached forward to her phone which was resting on a marble top next to the recliner. Swiping her thumb across the screen, she unlocked it to check on the notifications. There were many unread messages waiting for her reply but she could care less about them. Most of them were either from her newfound friends who were way more socializing than she could ever wish to be. Or they were from some random brands, announcing their latest d
"I am talking about the Young Master…"It took Ayla a couple of minutes to allow the old man's words to settle in her mind. Drawing in a deep breath, she took a couple of steps forward before making her way back inside."You are not joking with me right now, are you?" She muttered out, glancing over her shoulder as the old man trailed behind her."No, Young Mistress." He shook his head. "Why would I joke about something like that?" He smiled to himself as he kept following the lady who seemed a little too eager to meet his Young Master. Though it was only understandable given the time they had spent apart."When did he arrive exactly? Why didn't he call me? How is he? He is okay, no?" Uttering out a couple of questions, she walked out of the room rather hastily. She was somewhat thankful for the fact that she wasn't staying inside Claude's room or else the old butler wo
"I wish I could say the same about you…""Excuse me?" Ayla threw her a puzzled glare, thinking that she might have misheard her. As much as she wanted to, it would be wrong on her part to just assume something worse about their guest."You heard me right, woman." The lady, Selene, kept on goading her. "I have heard about you. It's really hard to keep things to yourself when you are a part of 'our' world."It didn't go unnoticed by Ayla how she was emphasizing the word 'our'. Holding back her grimace, Ayla gave her a small smile in return. "And your point is?" She crossed her arms across her chest, trying her best to glance in the man's direction who was doing nothing but sitting idly when some random woman was doing her best at humiliating his wife. The very wife he had promised to protect and cherish."My point is that you should just keep to yourself for as long as this mar
"Hey, Ethan." Ayla stepped inside the dining hall, all dressed up and ready to leave at the earliest. "How are you doing?" She walked around the table to settle down in the seat next to the man in question, deliberately ignoring everyone else. "Good, I guess. What about you though?" He beamed down at her as he began to pass her some of the dishes. "Meh!" She shrugged it off, not wanting to go into the details. She was barely able to get some sleep last time and spent most of it tossing and turning around. "I have been better." She muttered under her breath as her thoughts drifted to the reason behind her restlessness. It was the man who had promised to do right by her. But there she was, doing everything in her power to avoid even looking in his direction. "You alright? Everything okay?" He drew his brows together and looked around the table. It was only now that he was able to detect the tension
[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 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 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 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
"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 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
[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
"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
"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