• TWO DAYS AGO •Vincent was about to leave his hotel room to attend an event that he was invited to when a knock fell on his door, he thought it was the breakfast he requested some minutes back so he didn't bother checking the peephole but when he opened it, he was surprised to see Natalia by the door."Come in," he said as she walked past him fuming, he closed the door behind her after making sure no one was following behind her. "What is going on?" Natalia asked angrily throwing her purse on the bed, she was at a photoshoot when she saw on the news that Selena's sister is dead, she couldn't believe her ears. At first, she thought it was of natural cause, like an illness but it turned out she was kidnapped and her deaf body was found some hours later by the police.Her agreed plan with Vincent was that they were going to kidnap them, threaten them, and let them go. That was the plan, the plan was not for them to kill any of them, she had not agreed to kill anyone. "What are you t
SELENA"It was all Vincent's idea Aiden I swear," Natalia suddenly broke down in tears after briefly narrating what had been going on over the past few months. She knelt down on the floor, crawling towards Aiden and holding on to his leg as tears streamed down her eyes but Aiden wasn't moved by her act.His face darkened and anger consumed him by what Natalia had just explained, "How dare you?" He fumed glowering at Natalia as she held on to his leg crying. "Please Aiden, I swear, I wasn't a part of any of it, I would never....""You ungrateful..." Aiden trailed off grabbing Natalia by the hair and dragging her up, Natalia winced in pain at how tightly Aiden was grabbing her hair and yanking it backward. "Where is Vincent?" I had decided to come down to get something to drink when I felt my throat feeling sore from all the crying, when I heard their voices and saw them talking in such close proximity, I was engulfed with rage. I thought they were in it together, that I had been a p
SELENAI was taken aback when Aiden suddenly leaned in and kissed me. Normally, I would have been angry at him for kissing me against my will and shove him off immediately but this time, I didn't feel that way at all, I didn't feel resentful towards him. Instead, I felt paralyzed by the kiss, my body unable to move or process what was happening to me and a sudden feeling exploded in my stomach as my heart started to race in my chest. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. As his soft lips lingered on mine, I found myself slowly getting lost in the moment, unable to stop him. Resentment, hatred, and repulsiveness were the way I felt whenever I was around Aiden, no matter how much I tried to look at him differently whenever he tried to redeem himself by being nice to me or doing nice things to please me.I couldn't get past the fact that he had kidnapped me, he had hurt me, he had taken my freedom away from me but this time, this moment felt...different.It felt like there
SELENA "You're bleeding," I said softly, noticing the red stain spreading across his shirt. Aiden glanced down at his shirt and realization quickly flooded his face. "Damn it," he groaned, his hand instinctively going to his side where the wound was. I watched in concern as he held his side, wincing in pain. I knew his wound had to be restitched by the doctor after the pool incident, so if it was opened again, he was going to be feeling an excruciating amount of pain. Without thinking, I reached out to lift his shirt to inspect the wound, but he gently grabbed my hand, stopping me. "It's okay, Selena," he reassured me, his voice barely above a whisper, he seemed more concerned about me as his eyes remained glued to mine. "I just moved too quickly, it's from the pressure, I'll be fine." I could see the pain in his face as he spoke trying to reassure me he was fine, and my heart went out to him. "Let me help you," I said, taking him and myself by surprise. Wait...what? Why did I
AIDENAs I watched Selena’s face light up with laughter, I felt my heart skip a beat. It was the first time I was seeing her truly happy, and it was like the sun had come out from behind a cloud. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes sparkling, and I couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. I found myself staring at her as if lost in a trance, wondering how I could have missed this side of her.At that moment, I realize how much I had been missing out on by keeping my distance and hiding my feelings from her. I had always been indecisive about expressing my feelings to her, worried that I would say or do the wrong thing and push her away, but seeing her like this made me realize that life was too short to hold back. Her sister had lost her life before it even began, if it was Selena, I would have lost her and never gotten the chance to find out if anything was brewing within between us. I didn't know why I felt a pull towards Selena. Maybe it was the way she carried herself with such
SELENAI couldn't believe that Aiden had compiled all this video of Brianna for me when he told me he wanted to show me something. I was scared and skeptical when he brought me to his room and told me to sit on the bed, my mind was racing with different thoughts but now I was grateful.I turned to him, tears glistening in my eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. "You have no idea how much this means to me." He nodded his head at me as my eyes went back to the videos, there were some that I never thought I would see again, even back to when she was an infant playing with my mother. My mind was soon clouded with memories as I watched the video, my hands touching her face on the screen as tears streamed down my eyes. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •"DO YOU THINK THAT I AM HIS TYPE," YOUNG BRIANNA ASKED AS THEY WALKED DOWN TO SCHOOL.SHE HAD HER EYES LOCKED ON THE NEW BOY IN HER CLASS BUT SOME GIRLS HAD TOLD HER THAT SHE WASN'T HIS TYPE, SHE DIDN'T HAVE PLANS TO
SELENAI closed the door behind me but I was still skeptical, what was it that she wanted to talk to Aiden that she didn't require my presence, I stood by the door in hopes of maybe hearing their voices but I couldn't hear anything. They seemed to be talking in a low voice, trying not to make a sound, I pressed my ear to the door and strained to hear any trace of their conversation.But I was left disappointed. I couldn't pick up a single word. Maybe they had moved to another part of the room or lowered their voices to stay private.I sighed and walked back to my room, feeling a little frustrated. I had been hoping to learn more about why my mother was here and what she wanted to discuss.Maybe I was just being paranoid, but his sudden appearance had made me anxious.I sat on my bed the moment I walked into my room closed the door behind me and pondered over my thoughts. Maybe it was about our marriage, I decided I would ask her about it once she was done speaking to him. After that
SELENAI waited for a reply but I didn't get any, it seemed I had asked the wrong question, I decided to dial the number, I called the number in hopes of being able to speak to the person directly but the phone was switched off after the second ring. It was obvious the person had switched off the phone but who could this person be, who else knew of Marcus? Who else would threaten my mother like that?As I thought of it, it finally came to my head, my father's stupid mistress or rather his wife now. My father had been cheating on my mother with his mistress for years, she even knew my mother and me and my sister because my father discussed us with her but we never knew her until my father came home one day to announce that he was getting married. It had been shocking to me and Brianna because we thought he wanted a second wife but turns out he and my mother had been processing to get a divorce right under our noses, I wasn't surprised because I had always hoped she would end the marr
~ TWO YEAR LATER ~ As the sun peeked through the stained glass windows of the quaint church, casting a warm glow on the pews and aisle, an air of excitement and anticipation filled the atmosphere. Today was a special day for Axel and Claire, as they were about to embark on a journey of love and commitment in front of family and friends. The delicate scent of flowers wafted through the air, adorning every corner of the church with their vibrant colors. The essence of love was palpable, adding an extra layer of magic to the already enchanting ambiance. Soft music played gently in the background, setting the perfect mood for the upcoming union. As the guests started to fill the pews, their eyes filled with joy and enthusiasm at the sight of loved ones coming together to celebrate the union of Axel and Claire. Aiden, Selena, and their son, Alex, and daughter Brianna alongside Astrid and her boyfriend Tom sat on one side, beaming with pride and excitement. Guests were the extended f
"Her water just broke," Aiden announced. They all got on their feet, Claire and Astrid rushed to her side helping her stand up as they could see the pain etched on her face, while the men ran to get the car ready. It didn't take long when they arrived at the hospital and she was taken to the theater in excruciating pain, Aiden remained outside the reception with Claire, Astrid, Axel, and Tom before the doctor informed him that he could join his wife."Everything is going to be alright," Aiden reassured her when he entered the ward to find her lying on the bed, her hand extended for him to come hold her. "It hurts so bad," Selena cried out. "Sorry," Aiden replied holding her hand in his firmly and planting a kiss on her forehead. He didn't know how else to comfort her, he could see the pain in her eyes and could only hope the delivery would happen sooner.After hours of labor pain, Aiden holding her hand and trying to soothe her pain with reassuring words, delivery began.Aiden had
"You are serious?" Claire asked just to be sure Axel wasn't joking around.He barely nodded his head to sign yes when she pulled him in for a hug, of course, she was going to move in with him and travel to another country if that was what he wanted.Everything seemed to be moving too fast when it came to how they felt for each other but for the first time in many years, she felt loved. She didn't feel like she was forcing herself on Axel like she had forced Luke to love her.Axel loved her and she could see it."I am happy for you guys," Astrid squeaked with joy, it had been a while since she last saw Axel looking at a woman the way he looked at Claire. It was like she and Selena weren't even in the room."By the way, there is something I was going to tell you, Axel, I hope I am not ruining the mood," Selena said. "I already told Claire and Astrid yesterday that -""Selena is pregnant," Astrid took the word right out of her mouth. "Are you sure you are not the one who is pregnant?" C
"Yeah, as friends. I think that would be better for both of us at the moment, I feel there are still a lot of things we don't know about each other and-""Are you joking?" Claire's eyes widened as she adjusted herself on the bed again, her face etched with confusion at Axel's words as her eyes darted from him to his hands on hers."Hey!" Axel placed his hand on her chin raising her head so he could see her face, was she crying? "Claire? I was joking," he laughed out. "I didn't find it funny," Claire smacked his hand off her chin. Axel chuckled at her reaction, "I am sorry, didn't know you were a crybaby.""What? I am not," Claire protested looking away from him. How could he tease her like that? It wasn't her fault that she had thought he was being serious about them being 'just friends' when she was attracted to him. "You look cute when you lie," Axel smirked, he placed his hand on her chin tilting her head gently to face him as he kissed her on the lips. "I will have them bring s
“Where the hell is she?” Axel yelled grabbing him by the collar, he didn’t want to believe that Claire was dead, the time period was too short for them to kill her and her clothes had no sign of blood stain when he pulled it out from the boot. “Let me off and I will tell you, lover boy,” Vincent laughed. Aiden reached for his phone immediately in his pocket, dialing one of the bodyguards who was back at Emily’s house, “Check around the house, she has to be hidden somewhere,” Aiden ordered on the first ring. “We found her boss. Was about to call you, she is unconscious,” the bodyguard replied. “Alright,” Aiden said disconnecting the call and staring at Axel who was holding back on punching Vincent in the face. “She is alright, we might just need to get her to the hospital, quickly.” “You should have stayed in jail,” Axel said to Vincent punching him in the face as Aiden held him by the waist pulling him back. “Let me go Aiden, we need to end him right now so he doesn’t come back t
“Claire,” Axel called out staring at Vincent on the laptop, his hand forming into a fist as he caused under his breath. He hadn’t anticipated seeing Vincent, wasn’t he supposed to be in jail awaiting his death sentence? This was the reason he had been against Claire going to see Emily, he reached for the door ready to hop out as Aiden grabbed him by the wrist.“Our men are already circling the building, he can’t get away with it,” Aiden said.“You want me to sit here and allow Vincent to kill her?” Axel asked shoving Aiden’s hand away, he stared at Selena and Astrid who were in disbelief at the sight of Vincent, he opened the van door and hopped out running down the street to Emily’s house.Axel ran down the street as quickly as his legs could take him, he couldn’t believe that Vincent had escaped from jail and worse Emily was working for him, what was she bound to gain from Vincent? That douchebag! He should have shot him dead a long time ago instead of hoping that the system would
THE NEXT MORNING, Aiden briefed everyone on the plan again in the van a street away from Emily's house, "If you feel uncomfortable at any moment, you just think of an excuse and leave," Aiden reminded Claire."Sure," Claire nodded. Axel walked up to her helping her put on the camera properly over her shirt button, the camera design looked like a button from afar, "this is a recording device," Axel said, placing a pen into the pocket of her shirt. "Axel, can we talk about…" Claire spoke in a low tone. She had been trying to speak to him all morning but he seemed to be avoiding the question, she didn't know why he would just listen to her so she could explain everything to him. "After," Axel cut her off. "Do you have your earbuds on?" He asked instead. "Yeah I do," she nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear so he could see it. "I was going to tell you, believe me," Claire whispered in a low voice. "What part of after don't you understand?"She bit the bottom of her lips, sad by hi
"I was just joking," Claire brushed it off at the puzzled look on Axel's face, she didn't know why she had blurted something out like that to him. Never in a million years had she asked any man that question, she smiled trying to make him see that she was bluffing."Yes.""What?" She gasped. "You… you will be my boyfriend?""Isn't that what you want? Yes, I will," Axel nodded, kissing her on the lips as her eyes widened in shock, unable to comprehend that Axel just agreed without any hint of hesitation in his voice.She watched him get out of bed and into the bathroom as she scratched the back of her head, playing back what had just happened in her head. She was about to get out of bed when the door opened with Astrid entering, she dashed out back at the sight of Claire lying naked on the bed."I am so sorry, please I didn't mean to badge in, I am so sorry," Astrid apologized. "Shit," Claire cursed, she could have sworn she used the key when locking the door or was it Axel who locked
"Don't start what you can't finish," Claire whispered. "What?" Axel chuckled. "Don't look at me like that, you just end up stealing kisses when you want to and I think that should stop," Claire said standing up but she soon came crashing into the bed as Axel grabbed her by her wrist. He grabbed her by the waist shoving her on the bed as he hovered over her, "What naughty ideas have you been thinking while I was away?" He asked with a smirk on his face. "Don't flatter yourself, mister.""So, you didn't think about my lips on yours while I was away?" Axel teased. Claire stared at him trying not to give him the benefit of the doubt but her face was suddenly turning red and she could tell from the smile on his face, darn her face.Maybe she had thought about him and she didn't know why exactly, it wasn't like Axel was laying claim on her but he had kissed her like he was, she didn't want to assume his feelings for her, it was best to stop him from kissing her any chance he got but now