Tania||
The doctor's words hit me like a sledgehammer: "Tania, I'm afraid you have stage-three cancer. I'm so sorry but you only have three months left to live."
Blood drained out of me as the words hovered above my ears. They rang out in my head over and over, finally settling the bitter truth in my brain. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. I couldn't believe it.
"I am going to die."
Warm hands suddenly clutched my shoulders and I turned to find Nicholas, my husband, by my side with pain etched on his features.
"We will get through this together, Tania. Please don't cry."
His words only made it more difficult for me not to cry. His handsome face was a brutal reminder that I was going to leave him soon. And to think we didn't even have a child he could use to remember me by?
"I am so sorry, Nicholas... I am sorry," I cried, my words choking in my throat as the pain clutched me.
I thought of my sister, whom I had vouched to protect after the death of our parents. I promised that I wouldn't leave her, but here I was doing the very same thing our parents did. I was going to leave her.
Nicholas's hands tightened around me; "Doctor isn't there something we can do? We have the money. We can afford any kind of treatment... This woman you are seeing here is my life. I can't lose her..."
The tears on my face became a river at Nicholas's painful words. Why did this have to happen to me?
"I am sorry, Mr. Nicholas. There is nothing I can do at this point." The doctor sighed, closing off the files on the table. He turned his eyes towards me, and I could see the pity in them.
"What you have, is terminal, Mrs. Tania. I can only advise that you enjoy this period with your family. You will need all the support you can get at this period."
Time stopped as the details of my sickness echoed in my head.
That was all I had. "Just three months?" I whimpered and the doctor nodded.
He began to mumble a response, but I could barely understand as I buried my head in Nicholas's chest and cried my eyes out.
"We'll get through this together," Nicholas repeated, his voice filled with conviction.
***
After crying for two days straight, blaming God and everything I could think of, I wiped my tears and decided to follow the doctor's advice. If I was going to die, I would make sure to spend enough time with my friends and family.
And the first person on that list, was my husband, Nicholas.
I picked up my phone and turned it on. Ever since my diagnosis, I have turned off my phone, refusing to speak to anyone. But today, was different. I wasn't going to let the last three months of my life be filled with boredom or tears.
I dialed Marcus first, ignoring the hundreds of work emails. He was my assistant and best friend.
"Tania, my God, I have been so worried. How are you feeling? Nicholas told me everything..."
My heart flipped but I swallowed the pain and forced a smile. "It's fine. I am fine." I lied.
The line was silent for a few seconds, and I could already guess what he wanted to say, so I quickly cut him off.
"I need you to prepare a vacation for me and Nicholas for a week in Paris. Can you please do that for me?"
"Sure... But what about the office?" He replied and I rolled my eyes, realizing I couldn't avoid this for too long.
"Prepare the handing over documents, I’ll come sign who will be taking over. And don’t forget the plane tickets." I ended the call and took a long shower, forcing my brain to forget about my problems.
When I was done, my mind was also made up. I was dying and I had no child. The best thing to do would be to hand over the company while I still breathed.
I got dressed and sent a text to my driver to come pick me up. A few minutes later, I was on my way to the office and as I looked out the window, I realized that the world was a different color. For the first time, I just let myself relax, forgetting about the prices of stock and how it was moving in the business world.
Finally, we got to my office building, and I got down with a bright smile on my face.
"Welcome ma'am," the receptionist greeted me as I made my way into the building.
I pulled out a fifty-dollar bill from my purse and placed it on her table as was my habit. "Get something to eat Laura."
"Thank you, ma'am. Have a great day." Excitement dripped from her voice, and I smiled. Happy that I could put a smile on her face.
As I got into my office, Marcus was already waiting with the document in his hand.
"I have the tickets and here is the document you asked me to prepare." He placed it on the desk and his brows furrowed. "Who will be the next CEO of White-Angel Inc?"
With a smile on my face, I brought down my pen and wrote her name. There was no one else I could give it to.
"Eloise White." I finished signing the documents and handed them back to Marcus, ignoring his shocked face. "Please send a copy to all managers, I want it to be implemented immediately."
"Tania, how can you give it to Eloise? She hasn't done anything in the company since she joined other than spending the money... Plus do you even know what she has been up to lately?"
My face instantly morphed into rage as I glared at him. Yes, Eloise was a very hot-headed female who did things her way. We didn't even see eye to eye, but she was still my blood, and he had no right to question my choice.
"Watch your mouth, Marcus!" I hissed, getting to my feet. "Eloise is my sister. I do not have a child. Marcus has enough shares to take care of himself, but she has nothing. This is the least I can give to her."
Marcus clutched the papers in his hand and nodded. "Very well then. I hope you know what you are doing. I will implement the changes as you have said."
As Marcus walked out, my eyes caught the tickets he had placed on the table and my good mood returned. I came here to give Nicholas the tickets myself and now, I could also tell Eloise the good news.
She might not be very happy to see me, but I hoped she would at least open her heart to me after I told her about her promotion. I grabbed the tickets and headed down to her office.
The closer I got to Eloise's office, a sense of fear and excitement took over my insides. I could not understand what it was, but it prompted me to suddenly move faster.
The emotion got the better of me as I got to her office and without knocking, I unlocked the door and stepped in.
But as I entered, my heart and my world exploded right before me.
Nicholas and Eloise were locked in a passionate embrace with their clothes hanging from their bodies.
“Oh Nicholas… yes… hmm…” Eloise moaned shamelessly as Nicholas pounded inside her.
The world dimmed before me, and I couldn’t even begin to process what was happening. "Nicholas..." My voice finally cracked as tears filled my face and my heart squeezed itself.
They didn't jerk apart as I would have expected, but they took their time to slowly break away from each other like I didn’t matter.
"What do you want, Tania?" Eloise hissed.
My mouth opened to respond but the pain in my heart was too heavy. It had frozen me into the ground, and I still couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Nicholas pulled an envelope from the desk and came closer to me, with his zipper still opened.
"This is the divorce paper, Tania. You are dying, remember?"
Tania||My mind froze as I stared at the paper, the pain within me too strong for me to comprehend what I was holding."Sign it like a good girl and get out of our lives, Tania," Nicholas hissed.The moment he opened his mouth to speak, I felt my senses return but so did my tears. Nicholas has always been a gold-digger, but I thought he loved me enough to forget that side of him. But I was wrong. Everything has been a sham.Anger suddenly filled me, and I squeezed the paper hard in my hand.“I won’t let you do this, Nicholas. Not to me and not my sister—”“Oh please, Tania. Worry about you. I want Nicholas. I love him. I have loved him long before you came to the picture.”“He's using you, Eloise!” I cried out, my heart shattering at her childish words. “Nicholas doesn't love you; he only wants control of your finances!”Eloise's face twisted in anger. “You're just jealous, Tania! You stole him from me, and now that you're dying, you can't bear the thought of me having him back!”Shoc
Tania||Confusion flooded my insides as the police officer's words echoed in the room.There were three police officers: one man and two women. I called them a few minutes ago to come pick up Nicholas, yet the man, whom I believed was their chief had just spoken nonsense. Because how else could I explain this type of blunder?“Please, take her away,” the man suddenly added, snapping me out of my thoughts.The female officers started coming towards me and my eyes expanded in panic. “This is a mistake. I called you here.” I said through my panic and confusion, but it all fell on deaf ears.“Please keep silent for whatever you say may be used against you in the court of Law.” The man added.While I struggled to understand what was happening, Nicholas started chuckling and my eyes narrowed at him.“Poor Tania, you thought you could get rid of me?” He breathed, moving closer. “I am the angel in White-Angel Inc. The lord protects me… You see you have been doing so many fraudulent things in
Ivan||My eyes widened in shock as the woman in front of my car disappeared from my vision. It could only mean that I had hit her.The rain was pouring so heavily, that I was already struggling with visibility when she had just appeared from nowhere. Where the hell was, she going under this heavy torrent?“Holy Shit!” I hissed as I rushed out of the car.As my eyes landed on her body, my heart froze. It wasn’t the blood or the bashed state of her face, it was the fact that I recognized her. She was the strange, enchanting woman at the bar!My legs instantly lowered to the ground as panic and fear seeped through me. I have spent days searching for her, only for the universe to bring her to me in this state.“Please don’t die,” I murmured as I searched for her pulse.When I finally felt it, hope washed down into my rain-soaked and bloodied clothes. I quickly picked her off the road and gently placed in her my car. I reversed my car and drove right back to the hospital.I couldn’t lose h
Tania||I should have been shocked looking at an alien reflection in the mirror, but I didn't. I should have been surprised seeing the face of the man I thought was a whore with a doctor's coat in front of me but Instead, all I could think of was the opportunities this new face in the mirror posed.I was a totally different person, I thought to myself as I turned my head from side to side, inspecting my face. My face was still sore, and there were stitches in some places, but apart from those, my new face looked okay.I still had some tell tale looks of who I used to be; my striking green eyes and my distinct cupids bow which gave my lips the sensual curve it had, but apart from those, I was practically unrecognizable to anyone who used to know me."How long have I been here for?" I asked, my voice sounding foreign in my own ears."You have been in a coma for six weeks now." He replied so gently as if he was scared his voice would hurt me.His voice sounded like warm honey. Like a cu
Tania||"How are you doing today honey?" The old woman who was Ivan's grandmother cooed to me like I was a baby as she stroked my forehead gently.My confused eyes moved from her face, to Ivan's and back to hers and then Ivan again. His eyes were full of panic and what looked like shame."When did she wake up?" I watched as Ivan's grandmother asked him. "Erm..." I watched Ivan stutter as he rubbed his beautiful forehead with his thumb and forefinger.He looked so tense and he was intentionally refusing to meet my eyes. I really wanted him to look at me. I needed answers to what was going on."About an hour ago I think." Ivan finally answered. "Oh, honey! How do you feel?" The old woman's attention was back on me.I looked at her and my eyes were met with beautiful blue eyes that were so identical to the ones Ivan had. Hers were just wiser and full of motherly love and I wanted to drown in their gentleness.This time when she spoke, she looked like she warranted an answer from me but
Ivan||My heart skipped a couple of beats as I waited for her answer.The room felt so hot all of a sudden and I was finding it so difficult to breathe. She was silent. I tried to read her thoughts in her eyes but they were like two cold green slots with no emotion. I knew I had made a mistake and it was worse that I did not know how to sort myself out of it.After a couple of minutes, I gave up. I was going to cut the whole thing off. I would find another way to please Grandma."Fine. I'll do it." Tania's voice interrupted my thoughts."What?!" I asked, disbelieving what I just heard."I would go through with your silly plan but on one condition." She said.I waited for her to state her condition. My body was jittery with excitement. No matter what she requested, I was going to give it to her. Hell, I would give her a kidney if she wanted it."You have to declare me dead and sign a death certificate," She finally said. I paused alongside all the excitement I was feeling as I trie
Ivan||"You really don't have to do much honestly. Just enough to keep my grandma's suspicion at bay," I said to Tania who was reclining in the passenger seat next to me in my black Brabus.It was the same car I had hit her with a couple of weeks ago. I wondered what it felt like sitting in the same car that had almost killed you and next to the man who had almost killed you.It had been two days since we had made our plan to help each other's deceitful plans and even though I had intended to let her stay in the hospital for a couple more days for further observation, my grandma had insisted that she be discharged.I could not help but admire the beauty that was sitting next to me. I would consider my work on her face to be my best reconstruction.I had indeed taken my time to ensure she did not have any scars or imperfections mostly out of guilt for having destroyed the masterpiece that had originally been her face. However, I had ensured I kept some features of her old face. Tania
Tania||"What do you think?" Ivan asked me.I moved my head from side to side as I examined my face in the mirror."Perfect." I respond.He had just taken out the last remaining stitches on my face. There was still a little reddening and swelling around where the stitches had been taken out, but apart from that, everything was flawless."It's safe to say Nana's idea of bringing you back home for a quicker recovery really worked," Ivan said with a smile.It had been six days since I stepped into Ivan's home. Six days of spending the night in the same room with him, and I would have to say it had been worth it.Nana had spent all her time dotting over me and turning me into an adult spoiled brat. I would not lie. It felt so good to have someone care for you, and I made sure I enjoyed every bit of it. I was so comfortable in the house, but Ivan didn't seem to be enjoying it as much as I was. He seem