DAMIAN Anton was gaping at Lora. Amelia was staring in turn at Lora and me in disbelief, about to phrase a question. I took the opportunity of silence to grasp Lora's arm. "Now leave, Lora," I told her in an undertone. "I've got company. Do you hear me? Leave." Lora shook off my grip and took a few steps further away from me. "I can't leave, Damian," Lora said in a carrying voice. "I can't." "Why not? Your legs are not glued to my floor, are they? You walked in here. Now, walk out." "Y-your ex-girlfriend?" Amelia stuttered, not having gotten over my introduction. "Yes. His ex-girlfriend, Lora," replied Anton, recovering somewhat from his surprise at seeing Lora. He gave me a piercing look. "Aren't you going to-" I shoved my fingers through my hair and glared at Lora. I didn't have it in me at the moment to further explain. I was so pissed. Her reappearance was the last thing I wanted to deal with. Seeing I was struggling to explain to Amelia because of my ange
LORA My phone rang just when I was going to get the house's layout. I hurried into my room to take it. Anton was calling, and I had a pretty good idea why. "Well, this is quite a surprise," I drawled when I picked up the call. "Hello again, Lora," he said quietly. "The real surprise is you turning up at Damian's... again. I thought you were finally out of his life after the last time." "I'm not trying to come back into his life. I told you, my boyfriend-" "Oh, come off it, Lora. Let's not rehash that story. Look, I think it's best that you leave Damian's house. Stay in a hotel like he suggested. Trust me, it's going to be awkward living in the same house with his wife-" I fell back on the comfortable bed. If only Anton knew that he was wasting his time! I fought to keep the smile out of my voice as I said, "His wife was the one who said I could stay. So, I'm staying." "She obviously didn't know what she was-" "And when she said I could stay, Damian didn't put up a
AMELIA I heard voices, hushed voices, as I approached the indoor pool. One clearly was Lora's, and the other was... Damian's. I rounded the corner and blinked at the sight that met my eyes. A naked Lora had her hands on Damian's shoulders. Her clothes were pooled on the floor close to her feet. She was talking to him in low whispers, but what she was trying to talk him into was very clear. I couldn't tell if Damian was responding to her sexual overtures. Lora's body blocked him from my view. I must have made a sound because their heads whipped towards me at the same time. Lora gave a small scream and dived for her clothes. "Um- sorry," I mumbled, but I didn't think either of them had heard me. Lora had taken a couple of steps forward and seemed to realize it would be ridiculous to run into the house stark naked, so she settled for quickly getting dressed. I met Damian's eyes. He had an odd expression like he was expecting me to do something. But what? I turned away, wa
AMELIA My first impression of Petra was that she was a charming, glamorous, middle-aged woman, but then, when one really looked at her, I could see that her beauty was somewhat marred by the fact that she was perpetually wearing a sneer. It looked like she had some dirt under her nose and was trying to escape the smell. She was impeccably dressed, almost to the point of garishness. Her low-backed sequinned gown belonged more to a glamorous dinner party. So did the fur stole she had wrapped around her shoulders, the pearl drop earrings, and the really high heels. She looked like she had stepped right out of the pages of a glossy fashion magazine. Her gaze immediately swivelled to Anton, who had muttered her name purely for my benefit, it seemed. "Yes, Anton. It's me," she said in a throaty voice. Anton visibly flushed. He had clearly not expected her to have heard him. Instantly, I was reminded of what Damian had said about Petra not being a woman to underestimate. I
AMELIA "She's sleeping in the second master's bedroom, the one you were sleeping in before," Damian said quietly as he shut the door of his bedroom quickly behind him as though afraid he would be overheard. The reality was that he was. We were all terrified of Petra and what she was up to. I didn't blame him. Lora and Petra in the house called up the image of a pair of hounds, hot on the scent. Petra had just insisted on being shown into her room, taking it for granted that she would be asked to spend the night here. Now, I would have to spend the night, and probably many nights after that, in Damian's room. The same thought seemed to have occurred to him because he looked very uncomfortable. He hurried into the bathroom and took a shower but was fully dressed in his pyjamas before he came out. I was already lying in bed before that, having previously locked the door. I honestly wouldn't put it past Petra or Lora to try to peer in on us to find out if Damian and I were cu
AMELIA It was a grey day, I thought as I fed the car more gas and accelerated. The clouds were grey. The sky was grey. If I were to describe my mood in one word, I would say it was grey. Hell! Even the car behind me was grey. Frowning, I sat up straighter and looked again at the car in my rearview mirror. It was a grey sedan. Hadn't I seen it behind me just as I drove out of the spa's parking lot? But there had to be hundreds and thousands of grey sedans in this big city. A moment later, my fingers tightened on the steering wheel, and I continued thinking about what had just happened. I should not have gone to the spa with that witch, Lora. The sneering way she had spoken of me... it made my blood boil. I wondered who was worse between her and Petra. I made a hard right at the next intersection and, without really thinking about what I was doing, glanced again in my rearview mirror. My heart leapt into my throat. The same grey sedan was still behind the car next to mine.
AMELIA While I walked to Damian's bedroom, I tried to remember where exactly I had kept the list of supplies for the bakery. Was it on the dressing table, the chest of drawers or... I stopped in my tracks. Sounds were coming from inside the bedroom. Had Damian come home already? That couldn't be. He wasn't due back for hours. Some hidden instinct made me tiptoe the last few paces to the door and gently push it open. I saw Petra rifling the drawers. She had already brought out some of its contents. She tugged at the last drawer, swore under her breath when she found it locked, and began to grope on the dressing table for the key. "What are you doing?" I asked quietly. Petra squeaked and nearly jumped a foot in the air. "Amelia!" she cried. "You scared me!" "No. You scared me. I almost thought you were a burglar." Petra flushed crimson. "But you didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?" She straightened slowly, caught sight of her hand and snatched it o
DAMIAN There was a nasty sort of silence after Petra's declaration. Amelia looked dreadful. She pressed her hands between her legs, probably to stop them from shaking. Petra looked around at everyone to take in the effects her words had caused. She looked exultant like Christmas had come early. "And how did you come by that information, Petra?" I finally asked. Petra splayed her fingers on the table and leaned forward. "What does it matter? That's not the point. The point is that now I know all about your dirty little secret. You must show a representative of the firm the contents of that box so they'll have all the proof they need to convict you as a bloody manipulator. You think you're so smart, huh? How does it feel to feel the rug pulled from under your feet? And you-" She pointed a finger at Amelia, who instantly shrank back. "-He's going to go down, and you're going down with him." She glowered at Harry. "Well, what the hell are we still doing here? Let's go, get the
AMELIA FIVE YEARS LATER "Yay! Pancakes! Mum made pancakes!” The excited shouts... or screeches were followed by the sound of running footsteps. I sincerely hoped they were not... But of course they were, I thought in mild exasperation. Lily and Liam came racing towards me on their little feet, their eyes much like Damian's, fixed on the plate of pancakes I held. "Hey! Please slow down, guys," I called when Lily, still running, looked over her shoulder and screeched excitedly when she saw Damian. Damian was chasing them with Liam's favourite stuffed animal. "Slow down! Slow down!" I called more loudly as the twins approached me. “You’ll hurt yourself if you keep running around!” At the same time, they got to me and clutched my dress, giggling. I glared at Damian, who gave me a boyish, unrepentant grin. "Liam! Lily!" I said, turning my attention back to my kids. "How many times have I told you to stop running in the house? And Damian-" "Yes, sweetheart?" "You ar
THREE MONTHS LATER DAMIAN "Oh, come on!" I muttered to myself as, for what felt like the umpteenth time, my fingers slipped on my silk tie. I had tied knots, dozens, even hundreds of times before. But this time, I couldn't even manage to tie a decent one. I knew what the problem was, though. Apart from the fact that my hands were sweaty, I was anxious and nervous. Seeing as I had gotten wedded once before, one would have thought that I was used to the whole process by now. This time was the first time, in a way, the first phase of my new beginning with Amelia. "My wife," I said aloud, pausing to stare at my reflection in the mirror. A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. The word 'wife' did have a nice ring to it. Amelia was still technically my wife, but today, she became mine for real, not only in name. And it wasn’t like our first wedding, which concluded in minutes and was void of any emotions. "Hey!" I flinched a little and turned to the door, then shot an irr
THREE MONTHS LATER Noah's head throbbed. It banged like the world's noisest drummers were having a nonstop concert in it. His eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as he walked-no- stumbled his way out of the bar he had been getting wasted in for hours. "Out of my way, you," Noah growled, shoving someone out of his way. "What the- Watch where you're going," the man he had pushed shouted. “Such a fucking asshole.” If only everything wasn't spinning so fast, Noah would have gone back to plant his fist in that asshole's face. It might have made him feel slightly better, hurting someone. Hate burned within him. He hated his life. He hated this noisy, shitty bar he had chosen to get drunk in. He hated every freaking thing. Eager to get some fresh air, Noah hastened his steps the closer he got to the door. He had just gotten outside when he lost his footing and- THUD! He fell on his face, gasping for breath, inhaling the smell of dust on the cold f
DAMIAN I looked up the stairs, checking to see if she was heading down the stairs. She wasn't. Not yet. What a surprise she would get tonight, I thought. With what was no doubt a goofy smile on my face, I touched the ring safely nestling in a box deep in the linings of my pocket. It felt like lead was there, a pound of it. I felt my smile slip a little bit as I thought of what this night would bring. I was nervous as hell about proposing to Amelia even though I was entirely sure that she would not refuse me. I wanted to do it right. I wanted the moment to be perfect for the both of us. Sighing, I willed my lips to speak the right words when the time came to declare my love for her, to ask her to marry me. Perhaps a simple 'I love you. Will you marry me?' would be best. Or not. The direct approach wasn't always the best, especially in romantic situations. "What are you shaking your head for?" Amelia asked in a voice I could detect the humour in. I raised my head to lo
AMELIAWith a slightly shaky hand, I pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at my sweaty brow. I had been taking deep, steady breaths for the past few minutes, but it had done nothing to alleviate my nervousness. I didn't think any woman had been this nervous to tell the father of his child that she was pregnant. Damian was unwittingly making my nervousness a hundred times worse the longer he stayed away. What was he still doing up there anyway?I straightened and straightened the placemats on the dining table for what felt like the umpteenth time. And then I heard his approaching footsteps and immediately stood straight. "Where's the food?" Damian said cheerfully, standing just inside the door and looking around. "In a- in a minute," I said. "I wanted you to come down first. I didn't want your food to get cold."I stumbled into the kitchen and stumbled back out. My hands trembled so badly that I almost dropped a dish cover on Damian's foot."Sorry. Sorry," I apologized as I caught i
AMELIAI turned my head a little to get a good look at the wall clock and saw it was just a quarter past eight. Good. I nodded. The gossip show would start soon, and I was amped for it. I adjusted until I was very comfortable in my seat and took yet another bite of popcorn. On the big television, an ad for a new washing machine was being aired, and then my phone pinged, signalling that it was time for the show. I grabbed the remote and quickly changed the channel. Just as I did, the familiar soundtrack of the gossip talk show came on.The words 'STRAIGHT TALK WITH MILES' popped up on the screen in bold caps. The message grew more extensive and slowly faded into the background. What appeared next on the screen was a live studio in which was seated a tall, youngish man, very much like Anton in looks. I immediately recognized him as Anton's friend in the talk show biz, the one who was going to help me dig up dirt on Noah, the one who was to talk about Noah today on his show based on a
AMELIA Noah got to his feet seconds after the initial surprise of my rejection had worn off. Luckily, I was already walking to the mall as fast as possible. When I looked back, I saw him coming after me. I increased my pace but managed to get into the building with Noah right at my heels, his face as red as a tomato. Red with rage. "Stop him," I said to the first security personnel I saw. I pointed to Noah, who was quickly approaching the mall's entrance. That man is after me. He wants to cause a scene. Make sure he doesn't get in here. Quickly!" Thankfully, the security guard didn't ask any questions. He just nodded to his colleague on his other side. They hurried to Noah and intercepted him before he could get to the door. "I'm sorry you can't go in, sir," the guard I had spoken to told him and turned back to glance at me. I nodded, indicating that I was content with their actions. Noah was too busy staring at me even to notice that one of the guards had his hand on his
AMELIA "We'll see soon then, Mrs Donovan." I blinked and once more, turned to focus on Engineer Sam who I had quite a lengthy meeting with. His team was hanging back a little, deeply engrossed in some conversation about the amusement park project. "Yes of course," I replied, with a glance at my watch. “I have somewhere to be. Good bye.” I was barely focused during the meeting, my mind drifting to all the things in my schedule. There were several other things I needed to do. As I left the project site, I waved absently at Sam who walked off with his team as I dug out my phone to call Rose. "Ma'am," she said when she picked up. "Are you stopping over by the bakery today?" "No. I'm afraid not. Do you have your notepad with you?" "Always." "Good. I got a call some hours ago from the office of the CEO of Sharecare. He's celebrating the 10th year anniversary of his company soon. He wants us to handle the cakes and the event in general. So what do you think?" Rose reele
NOAH I stopped typing on my computer long enough to adjust the shirt I was wearing. I felt uncomfortable as I tugged the fabric, feeling unusually small in my shirt. I sighed, a deep, weary sigh. That was what came of a reduced appetite, worry, many late nights of staying awake thinking of how best to get a lasting solution to all the problems I had been having. I made a mental note to myself to eat more and hit the gym before my enemies noticed my weight loss- if they hadn't already. I hoped they hadn't. There was nothing as aggravating as a well timed news headline to set the sharks at my door. Sitting here, I could just picture the sort of headlines those news vultures would print. BUSINESS MOGUL NOAH CARTER GOES TO PIECES FOLLOWING RUMOURS OF BANKRUPTCY. I clenched my fists, and found myself already getting worked up over the imaginary headline. Recently, a lot of news had been circulating around me. I would be damned before they printed something like that about me