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44. A Stage for Anger
Last Updated:
2024-11-28 14:58:58
Priyal DessaiThis chapter is dedicated to my reader, 'Marsha'. Thanks for reading! If you're liking the story, consider voting with gems, or dropping a comment :)
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“Empty threats,” Anya says, her tone as dismissive as the flick of her wrist while she settles on the couch, crossing her legs. She’s giving off that same cool detachment I used to find comforting, but now it feels like ice down my spine. “He’s contesting the divorce. Everything is under legal scrutiny now, and he should know better than to threaten you over a phone call. Too bad you didn’t record it — those could’ve been useful.”“He faked a pregnancy,” Meera cuts in from her spot by the wall, arms crossed. “He wanted Nat to back off, and that’s emotional manipulation at its finest. Sure, his case is weak, but we did release the CCTV footage.”“We did,” Anya agrees curtly, her gaze slicing toward Meera as if daring her to challenge her authority. “How to get out of this unscathed and emerge as the victor is the lawyer’s job. Natalie’s job is far simpler — being an actress, looking stunning on the red carpet, and reminding the world why she was its darling in the first place.”The arro
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The next few weeks are a whirlwind. Meera and Anya morph into an unstoppable force, each in their own way. Meera, with her relentless optimism, ensures I show up, ready to work, while Anya’s sharp efficiency slices through any lingering hesitation I might have — and we’re careful to never touch back on the topic we discussed. Together, they completely monopolize my waking hours, filling every second with preparations for the promotional lineup for Choose Me, Choose You.I’m told by my father’s assistant that the meeting for Turning Point Industries is pushed forward a couple of weeks, and I’m grateful for that delay. Anything to not think of Ric. Anything at all. Meetings with the production company’s PR team become my new normal. I’m trained to stick to the key promotional messages, avoid spoilers, and, most importantly, handle tricky or personal questions — a section that feels tailor-made for my current situation. My reputation is, let’s say, delicate at the moment.Aura and Hugo,
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The nightmare grips me like a vice, dragging me under its suffocating weight. I see Neil, standing precariously at the edge of the under-construction building. He wavers, his arms flailing, and before I can scream, he falls. The sickening thud of his skull hitting the concrete below reverberates in my chest, sharp and deafening.One moment, I’m standing on the floor where he slipped, staring down in horror. The next, I’m on the ground, gazing up at the unfinished structure. Ric stands there, shrouded in shadow, his posture casual but his expression anything but. The smirk on his face is cruel, chilling, and it twists my stomach into knots.I jolt awake, gasping for air. My hands clutch the sheets, damp with sweat, my body trembling uncontrollably. I can’t shake the image of him standing at the edge of that building, watching Neil fall with that look of triumph. It wasn’t real, I remind myself. Just a dream. But it felt so vivid, so wrong, that my stomach churns violently.Stumbling to
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Chris approaches with a wide grin, a look of surprise in his blue eyes. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he expresses happily. “But you seem happy to see me,” I counter. Chris gives a smirk before he turns his attention momentarily to the duo with me. “Hugo, my man,” he greets, patting Hugo on his back. “Aura, you look fabulous.”“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she answers, winking as she takes another sip from her wine glass. Chris guides me away, slipping his hand around my waist in a way that’s still friendly. His voice drops to a whisper. “So what have you been up to since the last time we met?” “Well, I thought my life was being featured in the tabloids everyday since,” I remark sarcastically. Chris nods knowingly. “They all love you. And they love keeping up with you. So the media’s just doing what they need to. Feeding them details that aren’t true. Throwing in scandalous rumours here and there. Right now it’s about you. In some months, it could be about Aura. Or me.”
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The words hits me like a physical blow, sucking the air from my lungs.“She’s what?” I whisper, barely able to hear myself over the blood pounding in my ears.Meera nods numbly, her face pale and drawn. “They just found out. Apparently, it happened earlier this evening. Details are sketchy, but…” She trails off, her voice cracking slightly.I release her shoulders and stumble back a step, my thoughts scrambling for purchase. Dead? Hayley? The same Hayley who messaged me last night, cryptic and urgent, asking to meet?“Are you sure it’s her?” My voice is trembling, but I don’t care.Meera hesitates, her lips pressing into a tight line. “It’s on the news. They haven’t released full details yet, but her name’s been confirmed. Natalie, this isn’t good. Not for anyone.”My stomach churns violently, and for a moment, I fear I’ll be sick again. Hayley Murphy is dead. The woman who in the last few weeks had been tangled in my life — and Mike’s — gone all of a sudden.“What… what happened?” I m
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From the outside, Hayley’s family home looks like any other middle-income house. The lawn is modest, edged with flower beds that have seen better days. The curtains are drawn, casting a somber shadow over the brick facade. It’s the kind of place that holds echoes of laughter, birthdays, and quiet evenings spent together. A happy home, or at least, it was.Today, it holds grief, heavy and suffocating.The street is a circus. Paparazzi crowd the sidewalks, their lenses glinting in the gray light. The air buzzes with the hum of whispered speculation and the rapid clicks of cameras. Their presence here is insulting, but I acknowledge that they could do worse, and have done worse. I step out of the car, the sound of my heels on the pavement sharp. Immediately, the crowd shifts, a swarm of bodies struggling for a better angle. Questions are shouted, their voices slicing through the air, but I don’t acknowledge them.I don’t smile. I don’t wave.This isn’t the red carpet.Anya walks beside
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 60. I Want You, Now
I expect to hear something from my father, having signed the deal, but there’s not much to be disappointed about. At one point, I could have laughed like an evil maniac after this achievement — despite knowing this win wouldn’t have been possible without Ric’s help — but now it’s just meh. Thank you, next. Meera, however, wants to celebrate with pizza. When she sees my confused face, she tells me I deserve it for just what a joke my life has become. She’s not wrong. And then she casually slips to me that I got the role in Haymitch’s movie.I almost choke on the piece of pizza I’m chewing. “When did that happen?”“Oh, the call came when you were in the meeting. Anya was thrilled, believe it or not,” says Meera. The mention of Anya takes away any bit of appetite I had. “She was?”“Yeah,” Meera agrees with a mouthful. A bit of sauce oozes out of her mouth and begins to drip down her mouth, but before I can say anything, Matt wipes it off with a tissue. I pretend to not notice the exc
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 59. Anything, Natalie. Anything
I leave my penthouse with Meera by my side, the world outside feeling too bright, too loud, for the space I’ve been hiding in. The air feels sharp against my skin as if it knows what I’ve been up to these past few days. I slip on sunglasses, trying to disappear into the back seat of the car, but Meera’s voice keeps pulling me back to reality.“You ready for this?” she asks, flipping through something on her tablet, probably the calendar she’s micromanaged for me since forever.“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I mutter, staring out at the blur of buildings passing by.Am I ready though? I don’t know. My mind drifts to the last time I stood in my father’s office, barely escaping the scrutiny that was hurled at me. No preparation, no defense — I’d walked into that room a girl playing dress-up. I still remember the way those boardroom vultures had smirked, like they couldn’t wait to watch me fail.I haven’t heard from my father, Elliot Jones, in weeks. Not a call, not a message, not even a col
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 58. The Price of a Kiss
Between kisses that leave me breathless and stolen touches that make me forget the world outside, Ric and I pore over the details of my presentation for the rest of the day. It’s a strange bubble we’ve created, a space where nothing else exists — no expectations, no consequences. Just the steady rhythm of our work and the occasional hum of desire pulling us back into each other’s arms.But the bubble was always bound to burst.The next morning, as sunlight creeps through the floor-to-ceiling windows, reality rears its ugly head. My phone buzzes once, twice, three times. I don’t bother checking it, knowing exactly who’s on the other end. The knocks come next, sharp and demanding, echoing through the penthouse like an alarm bell. I freeze, my breath catching in my throat.“Who is it?” Ric’s voice is low, groggy from sleep, but his body is already tense beside me.“Anya,” I whisper, dread curling in my stomach. She always ignores the bell, and knocks instead whenever she’s fuming.He sits
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 57. A Web of Lovers and Lies
I call Maisie and tell her not to come in today. No cooking, no cleaning. I tell her I need space, a day to myself. It’s a lie, of course, but she doesn’t press. When Meera calls asking if she can swing by, I cut her off with another lie. “I’m binge-watching some mindless show,” I tell her, feigning a lazy yawn. “Having you here would just remind me of the tragedy from yesterday. Let’s catch up later?” Anya’s call comes next. She wants to go over interview questions, her usual no-nonsense approach taking precedence over everything. “I can’t,” I say, forcing a hoarse rasp into my voice. “I think I’m coming down with something. Maybe tomorrow?” One lie after another. I weave them effortlessly, piling them up like bricks to fortify my cocoon. Because the truth is, I don’t want to see anyone. I don’t want to do anything except stay locked up in my penthouse with Ric. Ric, whose lips are currently tracing a path of fire down my thighs. My fingers knot in his hair, pulling and ho
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 56. In the Devil's Arms
We fall asleep on the couch that night, tangled together in a mess of bad decisions and fleeting comfort. Ric’s arms remain firm around my waist, and my head rests on his chest, rising and falling with his steady breaths. The nightmares don’t come, and I wonder if it’s the warmth of his embrace or the devil’s presence itself keeping them at bay.I’ve killed people, Natalie.The words echo in my head as the first rays of sunlight filter through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing us in soft, golden light. My cheek is pressed against his chest, his heartbeat steady and strong beneath me. For a while, I just lie there, letting the rhythm soothe me in ways I don’t understand, in ways it shouldn’t.His arms don’t budge, even as I lift my head to study his face. The man who held me so tenderly last night. The man who kisses like he’s burning but pulls away like he’s drowning. The man who has killed people.I trace my finger along the lines of his face, memorizing the edges as if they could
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 55. A Monster
I laugh bitterly, the sound harsh even to my own ears. “Yourself? That’s what this is about? You think you’re some kind of monster I can’t handle? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds, Ric?”His eyes darken, his voice dropping to a near whisper. “You don’t understand, Natalie. I’ve done things… things that would make you look at me differently. Things that would make you run.”“Then explain,” I challenge, my hands tightening on his face. “Stop assuming I can’t handle it.”He hesitates, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. When he finally speaks, his words are raw and jagged, like they’re being ripped from his soul. “I’ve killed people, Natalie.”Suddenly I can’t breathe. All the air around us seems to have vanished. I blink, my hands slipping from his face as his confession settles between us like a bomb.“What?” My voice is barely audible, but it’s the only word I can manage.He doesn’t look away, his gaze piercing. “I’ve killed people. It’s not something I can take back, and it
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 54. Stop Torturing Me
I can’t tell if it’s the adrenaline coursing through me or the way his dark eyes hold mine, as if he’s searching for something he’s terrified to find.“Try,” I say again, my voice shaky. It’s a plea, a desperate attempt to save this. Save us. Whatever we are, I know it’s worth saving. I don’t know what thoughts are swirling behind those dark eyes, what decisions they’re weighing, what explanation he’s trying to weave into coherent words. All I know is that — whatever it is, I’ll take it. God, I hate him for making me feel like this — so exposed, so vulnerable. But I hate myself more for still wanting him, for needing him, even now.And when his eyes return to me it’s all I can do to not run to him and wrap my arms around him. A part of my brain tries to remind me of the way he dismissed me, disregarding all the time we spent together, all the kisses. But he did just say that he couldn’t keep pretending I didn’t matter, right? “Ric,” I prompt, unable to keep my patience any longer. “I
The Man I Shouldn't Want: A Game of Seduction & Lies 53. When the Mask Slips
You may not have even realised.Those words follow me for the rest of the evening, haunting my every waking moment. I didn’t realise, no. Not until just a few hours ago when it seemed like a possibility. The possibility of being pregnant with Ric’s child. I don’t know what I was expecting to hear, until the very last second before the doctor reentered with the results. But miscarriage had never struck my mind. It seems so bizarre now. A cruel joke, almost. Here’s a problem, but wait there’s a solution. And I’m not satisfied with either. The doctor said there had to be some more tests that needed to be done because she found something suspicious. I was too dazed to be concerned, but Meera stepped forward and asked if it was something to worry about. A lost child.I don’t think anything can take your attention away from that. A child you didn’t even realise you were carrying. On the way back, Meera tries to uplift my sullen mood by saying that it wasn’t quite a baby — just a bunch
