~ DIMITRI ~The tension was palpable. The previous night, no one went for dinner except grandpa Santini and Selena who loved eating with him and had started feeling kind of obligated to do so just so he wouldn't feel lonely.The following morning, the maids had delivered that Grandpa Santini had made that morning’s breakfast compulsory. There was no choice. Everyone wanted the old man to be happy.Dimitri adjusted his shirt before picking his phone and stepping out of his room. The hallway was desolate but he was unfazed. Like usual, he reached the dining hall last.He bowed slightly before moving to his seat opposite Luca and settled down. The presence of the family members only made the tension rise. Selena felt like she was sitting on fire as she couldn't even spare Luca a glance as guilt gnawed at her insides. Over the night, she'd came to a conclusion.People like Luca are the type of people the caretakers at the orphanage warned her against. Unpredictable. Ruthless. Sly. The l
A YEAR LATER~ VINCENT ~There was as much risk in taking leaps as there was in not leaping at all. Which was why Vincent had sourced for closure. Time heals everything will continue to be the biggest lie of all times to him. Because time didn't heal anything. He just learnt to live with a part of his heart gone and he's fine with it.Tonight's closure will cover up for the damages.It was his graduation tomorrow. The four friends had decided to have a pre graduation ceremony for Remi who'd repeated the same year more than two times and Vincent courtesy of Jenna.The incident at the bar the previous year didn't really deter them from going to bars and it didn't deter them this time either. Y.O.L.O!That's Jenna's mantra to get them to agree with her and it never fails. Afterall, they only live once and what's the worst that can happen. The living room was filled with different smells of cologne as they got dressed, music blasting in the speakers attached to the apartment's ceiling
~ DIMITRI ~He watched, his face blank as he stepped on the stage in his gown and was handed a diploma tube, a smile on his face as he started shaking hands with a long row of people consisting of men and women.What?Break their hands for daring to shake him? Carve out their eyes with his knife for staring at him, at his smile or sew their lips together for smiling at him? Umm, he could do all. But… he didn't want to scare him.It was a surprise not a mission to add more to the long list of his hatred for him. So, he sat there among the crowd who were cheering for the graduates while he tried to mix in with his eyes watching his every move, the glow in his eyes and the smile on his lips. It's simply addictive. He could watch him all day or no, that's what he'd been doing. He could watch him for eternity.When he reached the last line, he stopped again for the upteenth time and smiled in the direction of the camera, waiting for the famiiar flashlight.But that was when his eyes met h
~ VINCENT ~ His eyes were fixed intently on his back in shock and rage until he disappeared into the crowd. But him disappearing into the crowd didn't break the haze in his eyes. However, it broke the one in his friends instead as they cornered him on all sides.“What in the actual hell just happened?” Alex asked, finally breathing after Dimitri was long gone. “That's quite a good looking man.”Jenna didn't beat around any bush as she took slow steps towards Vincent and grabbed his wrist, then she pinched hard until he winced.“What was that for?” He asked, glaring at her from above his nose.“You have a fucking whole lot to explain.” She said slowly.“There's nothing to explain.” He rebutted.“Keep saying that to make yourself happy, Vince.” Remi finally said. “But before that, can we take the picture now? I need to frame it and put it in my room. I almost lost my life including my social life just by chasing this degree and I even want to make a banner from the picture for my perso
~ VINCENT ~“Did you know that something similar happened with me and Jake?” Alex said, washing the cabbage in the sink.“Hmm?” Vincent asked absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on the potatoes he was trying to squash with a fork. It was the evening of his graduation and Mother-jenna had placed a ‘no take out’ rule to celebrate the newest graduates. And here they are, in the kitchen after Jenna herself almost burnt down the whole chicken while trying to flip a beef. Ironic.“It was a pool party and I saw a girl kissing him beside the pool. We were in our second year of university. If we hadn't been dating since high school, I wouldn't have believed him.”Vincent glanced at her over his shoulder. “If I could remember clearly, we were not up to four months and the trust was not fully established.”“Wow. And you guys did all those things within four months?”“Hmm.” He nodded.At that moment, Remi trotted into the open kitchen, his wet hair glued to his head.Vincent only spared him a quick
~ VINCENT ~ Silence.Wave after waves of silence.He could hear nothing except the loud beats of his heart and the blood rushing to his ears and his harsh breath due to the anger coursing through his veins.Vincent blinked in shock as his friends suddenly brushed past him. He felt someone push him forward before he heard the door shut behind him. He turned to the door. It was really closed.The fuckers has locked him outside, leaving him with the devil.But he refused to be scared. He'd already dined and dwelled with the devil. He's the devil he knew now right? There's nothing to be scared about now right?He whispered to himself internally, trying to calm his racing heart.It was like they were in a staring contest. Dimitri stared at him, trying to etch his face back into memory. And he glared back, trying to contain the anger and bloodlust he felt. Thank God for Remi forcing him to gym and learn how to box, his confidence had increased by ten folds even though he knew that if he
“What have you done?” A low voice laced with disdain asked. “What have you done Dimitri?!” Dimitri ignored the accusation, his movements deliberate as he approached the lifeless body sprawled across the bedroom floor. He knelt beside her, his dark eyes fixed on her pale face. With precision, he placed two fingers on her neck, his jaw tensing as he confirmed the truth. The woman kneeling beside Ava's body, her red hair a stark contrast to Ava's limp form, looked up at Dimitri with tears and venom in her eyes. “You killed her! You monster! You should have sent her back to us if you didn’t want her!” Dimitri rose to his feet, his expression unreadable. He tilted his head, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I should?” His gaze locked onto Ava’s mother, her features a haunting echo of her daughter’s. “Return my daughter to me this instant!” Mrs. Bianchi begged, her voice cracking. Dimitri’s response was a cold, calculated smile, his eyes glinting with a hint of menace. “The last ti
~VINCENT~“Maybe I'm the problem…”Vincent muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on his cock which continued to sleep limply between his legs. He sighed and shifted his gaze upward to the sight before him.Under the dim light of the VIP lounge, he continued to watch as the stripper he'd specially hired slid her slender hands down the pole in the center of the room, her long hair whipping around her face. He watched as her hips swayed. Her legs extended as she performed a slow sensual dance while her eyes were locked on his. But that's it, his body didn't react to the supposed delicious sight before him and his cock continued to sleep limply. Vincent is frustrated and even under the dim light, he could see the doubt etched on the stripper's face who he'd insisted on not wearing a mask. He gave her a reassuring nod and the lady went back to her dance but now, with more vigor. Vincent leaned back on the chair and shut his eyes. Today is not only about trying to get himself aroused
~ VINCENT ~ Silence.Wave after waves of silence.He could hear nothing except the loud beats of his heart and the blood rushing to his ears and his harsh breath due to the anger coursing through his veins.Vincent blinked in shock as his friends suddenly brushed past him. He felt someone push him forward before he heard the door shut behind him. He turned to the door. It was really closed.The fuckers has locked him outside, leaving him with the devil.But he refused to be scared. He'd already dined and dwelled with the devil. He's the devil he knew now right? There's nothing to be scared about now right?He whispered to himself internally, trying to calm his racing heart.It was like they were in a staring contest. Dimitri stared at him, trying to etch his face back into memory. And he glared back, trying to contain the anger and bloodlust he felt. Thank God for Remi forcing him to gym and learn how to box, his confidence had increased by ten folds even though he knew that if he
~ VINCENT ~“Did you know that something similar happened with me and Jake?” Alex said, washing the cabbage in the sink.“Hmm?” Vincent asked absentmindedly, his gaze fixed on the potatoes he was trying to squash with a fork. It was the evening of his graduation and Mother-jenna had placed a ‘no take out’ rule to celebrate the newest graduates. And here they are, in the kitchen after Jenna herself almost burnt down the whole chicken while trying to flip a beef. Ironic.“It was a pool party and I saw a girl kissing him beside the pool. We were in our second year of university. If we hadn't been dating since high school, I wouldn't have believed him.”Vincent glanced at her over his shoulder. “If I could remember clearly, we were not up to four months and the trust was not fully established.”“Wow. And you guys did all those things within four months?”“Hmm.” He nodded.At that moment, Remi trotted into the open kitchen, his wet hair glued to his head.Vincent only spared him a quick
~ VINCENT ~ His eyes were fixed intently on his back in shock and rage until he disappeared into the crowd. But him disappearing into the crowd didn't break the haze in his eyes. However, it broke the one in his friends instead as they cornered him on all sides.“What in the actual hell just happened?” Alex asked, finally breathing after Dimitri was long gone. “That's quite a good looking man.”Jenna didn't beat around any bush as she took slow steps towards Vincent and grabbed his wrist, then she pinched hard until he winced.“What was that for?” He asked, glaring at her from above his nose.“You have a fucking whole lot to explain.” She said slowly.“There's nothing to explain.” He rebutted.“Keep saying that to make yourself happy, Vince.” Remi finally said. “But before that, can we take the picture now? I need to frame it and put it in my room. I almost lost my life including my social life just by chasing this degree and I even want to make a banner from the picture for my perso
~ DIMITRI ~He watched, his face blank as he stepped on the stage in his gown and was handed a diploma tube, a smile on his face as he started shaking hands with a long row of people consisting of men and women.What?Break their hands for daring to shake him? Carve out their eyes with his knife for staring at him, at his smile or sew their lips together for smiling at him? Umm, he could do all. But… he didn't want to scare him.It was a surprise not a mission to add more to the long list of his hatred for him. So, he sat there among the crowd who were cheering for the graduates while he tried to mix in with his eyes watching his every move, the glow in his eyes and the smile on his lips. It's simply addictive. He could watch him all day or no, that's what he'd been doing. He could watch him for eternity.When he reached the last line, he stopped again for the upteenth time and smiled in the direction of the camera, waiting for the famiiar flashlight.But that was when his eyes met h
A YEAR LATER~ VINCENT ~There was as much risk in taking leaps as there was in not leaping at all. Which was why Vincent had sourced for closure. Time heals everything will continue to be the biggest lie of all times to him. Because time didn't heal anything. He just learnt to live with a part of his heart gone and he's fine with it.Tonight's closure will cover up for the damages.It was his graduation tomorrow. The four friends had decided to have a pre graduation ceremony for Remi who'd repeated the same year more than two times and Vincent courtesy of Jenna.The incident at the bar the previous year didn't really deter them from going to bars and it didn't deter them this time either. Y.O.L.O!That's Jenna's mantra to get them to agree with her and it never fails. Afterall, they only live once and what's the worst that can happen. The living room was filled with different smells of cologne as they got dressed, music blasting in the speakers attached to the apartment's ceiling
~ DIMITRI ~The tension was palpable. The previous night, no one went for dinner except grandpa Santini and Selena who loved eating with him and had started feeling kind of obligated to do so just so he wouldn't feel lonely.The following morning, the maids had delivered that Grandpa Santini had made that morning’s breakfast compulsory. There was no choice. Everyone wanted the old man to be happy.Dimitri adjusted his shirt before picking his phone and stepping out of his room. The hallway was desolate but he was unfazed. Like usual, he reached the dining hall last.He bowed slightly before moving to his seat opposite Luca and settled down. The presence of the family members only made the tension rise. Selena felt like she was sitting on fire as she couldn't even spare Luca a glance as guilt gnawed at her insides. Over the night, she'd came to a conclusion.People like Luca are the type of people the caretakers at the orphanage warned her against. Unpredictable. Ruthless. Sly. The l
~ DIMITRI ~For the second time in his life, he dialed his father's number without being forced.The phone rang thrice before he picked up but he said nothing.“Where are you?” Dimitri asked.“Home.”“I'm coming.” Then, he cut the call.“Thank you.” He said to the doctor before walking out of his office and out of the hospital. He drove straight to the Santini mansion.He pocketed his key and walked towards the staircase again to his father's home office.The door was unlocked and he turned the knob and stepped inside. Luca was sitting behind his desk with his head leaned against the backrest of his chair, his face devoid of any emotion.Dimitri went to his desk and dropped the result of the DNA test on it. Then, he placed his hand on the desk and leaned on his hand.“Do you know that your wife had a child?” He asked directly.Luca raised an eyebrow as he watched Dimitri slide the brown envelope towards him. He picked it up and at that moment, Dimitri turned and walked out of his off
~ DIMITRI ~The past few days had been a blur. And Dimitri couldn't help but pretend. Not that he cared about people's opinion but for Grandpa Santini whose health was visibly declining, he pretended that he cared. That he cared about Ivan and Mara being locked up.That day, news about them being charged to court finally got to them. They'd been given fifteen years imprisonment each. That was when he finally had peace. Fifteen years of planning.He whispered to himself as he adjusted his jacket in the mirror. Now, he's finally done pretending.When he was done dressing, he went for breakfast. And as he dabbed his lips with the napkin, he cleared his throat,“I'm taking my leave.” He said, loud enough for everyone to hear. The few days where Mara and Ivan were waiting to be charged to court had turned to mourning for the Santinis. No one was allowed to act in a certain way and there's even an untold rule of not going to work. Dimitri was tired. He could only imagine how his first im
~ DIMITRI ~The following day, Selena had woken up early and gave the maids orders. After that, she took her bath and dressed up before going to Grandpa Santini's wing of the mansion.The old man was already awake, sitting on his chair in front of the door to his balcony. He didn't turn before knowing that the person who'd entered his room was Selena.“Good morning Grandpa.” She greeted him.“Good morning.” He greeted her and spared her a glance. When his eyes landed on her, he asked,“Are you going somewhere?”She nodded. “I need to go visit Mara.”The old man sighed and turned back to the view outside. “Make sure you use a facemask. I was just about to tell you that I need to be alone…. Sorry.”Selena chewed the insides of her cheek before suggesting, “Is the mood swing back again? Do you want me to call Dr. Dinna?”“Don't worry. Just… leave.”She said nothing as she turned and made her way out of the room. She shut the door behind her and leaned her back on the door, mouth parted.