Jason I came to work earlier today. I sent Lena a message, telling her that I wanted her to be my Personal Assistant. In reality, I was looking for ways to mend our relationship and keep us nearby.My phone buzzed, and I stared at the phone for the umpteenth time, hoping I would get a reply from her.It wasn't her though. Instead, my eyes caught the news headlines peeping out of my phone… “Billionaire idol beats up a poor man for touching his mistress,” I cringed at the title. These journalists would do anything to make extra cash. The headline wasn't exactly false, but how did these people know that he's been having an affair with Lena Dunham?My mouth dropped wide open, and I zoomed in to confirm and it was just as I thought. I brought out another phone from my breast pocket immediately and put a call across. I was panting quite loudly and I found it quite difficult to stabilize my breathing.“There's false news circulating on the internet. Please, bring it down this instant and st
AmandaI turned restlessly on my bed and I throbbed badly with each turn I made. Finally, I woke up with a scream, “Anderson!”I looked around in hopes of finding him, but he was nowhere to be seen. I sit up carefully and pick up my phone from the small desk at my bedside.I was better now, and the doctor said I was free to go home in the next 12 hours. It was 6pm already and I wondered how long I slept.I unlock my phone, and a message immediately pops up on my screen: “Hello love, I'm sorry I had to leave quickly without informing you. Jason called and demanded I resume working at the company immediately. There are also penalties I'm to face for not notifying him on those days that I was absent from work, but do not worry about that…“I hope you're feeling much better right now. Don't worry, I didn't tell Jason anything about your whereabouts, even though he kept on asking. I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning as early as possible. I would definitely come with your favorite sn
Jason “Wait, what! You told me you wouldn't come as early anymore… You mentioned coming in two days.” I yell unintentionally, as I feel cold shivers run down my spine.“Well yeah, that was my plan initially, but something came up, so I adjusted my schedule. I'm sorry I didn't inform you earlier.” Suzie said as she cuddled her child.“Have you seen Amanda?” I pace up and down. It was difficult to calm my nerves, especially with the situation at hand.“No, not yet. No one's at home. It's just Slim and me.”I breathed a sigh of relief. It was confusing in a way. I was informed that Amanda went home not long ago, but it bothered me that she wasn't yet in the house.“Slim?” I chuckled, “Why would you name my nephew such a name?”“Well, I don't know. It was his father's idea, not mine. I like the name though.”‘His father…’ That statement rang a sang music to my ears. Mark, Suzie's fiance and baby daddy used to be my best friend in college. We had a fallout after I found out that he had fe
Amanda “Hello, gorgeous. You must be Jason's wife.” She gave me a light, brief hug, and I flinched. I wasn't used to ladies being nice to me, and I wondered why she was. We hadn't even met before.“Yes, I am. I'm Amanda Grey.” I said curtly without a smile. I wasn't in the mood to fake anything, and I was getting tired of seeing one woman or another in my house unannounced.“Suzie,” she blurted, “Suzie Yoga.”When I didn't say anything she followed my eyes and caught me looking at her son.“Oh! That's my son, Slim.” She offered.“Sorry… I was just wondering who he was and I didn't want to pry.” I sighed. “You look nothing like Jason. There's no resemblance at all. On the other hand, you have a handsome lad. He looks just like you, but he doesn't have your eyes.”Suzie's cheeks turned pink. She seemed to like the compliment.“Didn't your husband tell you that I was coming? You looked somewhat surprised when you saw me initially.” Suzie walked over to the couch where her son sat, and s
Jason “You're asking for the impossible, Lena. Do you want to see me go down the drain?” I touch my forehead and shut my eyes. I needed to bypass this wisely, or else, Lena won't make it easy for me in the future.Lena rolled her hands at me. “You certainly aren't the first man to have a mistress, Jason. First, you kept me a secret. Now, you're trying to wriggle your way out of this too.”“Lena, please try to understand. This is bad timing, actually. I really can't marry you at the moment.” I held her by her wrist and walked her into my office, which she had been occupying for a while due to my absence. I didn't want any of my employees or staff to overhear any word I said to her.When we were finally inside the office, we sat adjacent to each other. “Amanda is back, Lena. She's back from the hospital.”That news seemed to shock her, just as I wanted. Her brows knitted slightly, and she brought her index finger to the tip of her lips. I could tell that she was in deep thought.“Did
Jason“What was that for, Su?” I flared up at her. My ego was rising above its peak. While growing up, Suzie was the only one aside from my parents who knew how to keep me in check. Most times, my mother complained to her about me, and whenever she talked to me about a certain thing, I listened. We weren't close, but I had the utmost respect for her.“Take a good look at your wife, Jason!” Her voice was getting louder. I wondered if she realized she was yelling at me. “Where are those scars from, then? Aren't you the one that just talked about loving your wife?”I looked at Amanda who seemed to be enjoying the show. She had been quiet ever since she walked into the room, which was very much unlike her. These days she had this calm behavior that scared me, or maybe she was just trying to stay alive and healthy since she almost lost her life after the last episode.“Suzie please,” Amanda called. “Please stop. Jason doesn't hit me.” My head began to bang and I felt like falling. What wa
Amanda The moment I entered the kitchen, I regretted my actions. I slept for many hours, and immediately I woke up, I took a shower and changed into a nightie, then went downstairs. I was very famished, and I didn't have any energy left in me to prepare something time-consuming.As I got closer to the kitchen entrance, I could perceive the sweet aroma of cooked rice. My stomach didn't jump a little in anticipation and my mouth watered. But, just as I stepped inside the kitchen, I was met with a presence that has been the source of my nightmares lately.Jason! What was he doing here at this time? He normally came home late, so I wondered why he was home early tonight. I was about to turn around and leave unnoticed when I heard Suzie's voice.She asked about the injuries on my body. When I didn't say anything, she turned to Jason and asked the same question.“You don't hit your wife, do you, Jason?”“I—I…” Jason stuttered, but Suzie poured the bowl of water she was holding in her hands
Jason “I told you I don't have it,” I replied the second time.Slim was screaming repeatedly as he hugged his mother who shielded him like a hen would her chicks.There was something strange about this masked robber. Even before I could open the door, he already had access to my house. I didn't know how, but I noticed him slipping a card into his pocket. “If you don't talk now, I'll pull the trigger.” He threatened.It surprised me because there was only one person who knew about the box of money and that was Mr. Aladdin. We had struck a business deal, but the deal favored me more and left him with nothing. Out of frustration and annoyance, he had vowed to get back at me, but I didn't take the threat seriously. I had pulled some strings to get the upper hand, but I didn't know that I had touched the lion's tail.Mr. Aladdin was one of the biggest business tycoons in India, and he was a multi-billionaire. Rumor had it that he was ruthless and showed no mercy to anyone who crossed him
AmandaI woke up to the blinding splash of sunlight from the partially opened curtains. I spread out my hands in an attempt to feel for my husband, but I felt the ruffled bedspread and duvet, instead.He is not here!I breathed out a huge sigh of relief, then sat up carefully and felt for my hair bonnet. It must have fallen off while I was sleeping.The memories of last night came flooding in without a filter… Lena's abrupt visit and audacity and Jason's stinging slap against my left cheek left his imprint on my cheek.Then, his persistent advances after he had entered our bedroom last night. When I did not oblige, he forced himself on me and had his way.I tried to stand up and walk towards the dressing table but my legs felt wobbly. Hence, I took slow but calculative steps until I reached the dressing table. One look at the mirror, and I could see that the hand imprint Jason had left on my left cheek last night was gone.“Phew!” I exhaled loudly, as relief washed over me. At least t
AmandaI looked up as soon as I heard Lena's voice. How could a woman be so shameless and bold?I felt like running inside my room. I was not sure that I had the nerve to talk to Lena the way that I really wanted to. However, on second thought, I decided that I would not. “You do have guts, Lena! What are you doing in my house by this time of the night?”I stood up consciously because I didn't want it to be obvious that I was actually trembling from head to toe.Actually, my reassurance was that Suzie was in the house. I could never do this if it were just my husband, Lena, and me in the house because they would definitely not let me go scot-free.Lena's shrieking laughter brought me out of my reverie.“You are just Jason's wife in name, and you know it! Do you not have self-respect? I really can't understand why you are still in this marriage when it is clear that my man does not love you,” Lena finished in one breath. She flipped her hair backward, and I could see the heavy makeup s
Jason “I'm sorry, Suzie, truly, I am,” The doctor started and I could feel a smile begin to form at the corners of my mouth, but I struggled to appear neutral and emotionless throughout.The doctor leaned forward a little bit until her clasped hands were resting on the table, directly in front of her. She tapped on the table slowly, as though she was trying to show off her well-polished, beautiful nails. We sat a few meters away from her, just directly opposite her.“We tried everything we could, but Mark couldn't make it,” She finished off in one breath. It seemed as though she was avoiding making eye contact with either of us.I looked sideways at my sister. I couldn't tell what she was thinking or feeling, because she didn't wear her emotions on her face. I looked down at her hands which she placed on her thighs, and noticed that they were trembling. She tried to steady them by pressing on her fingers and taking deep breaths, but it seemed those hands had minds of their own.“Than
Amanda The moment Jason and I walked into the house, the sweet aroma of dumplings wafted through my nose. I knew instantly that my sister-in-law was in the kitchen. Suzie came out, so I dropped my bag on the chair and went into her open arms in an embrace.“Why are you wearing such a long face?” She asked me.“I am very tired, Suzie,” I said. “I just want to have a hot bath, eat, and go to bed. I had a very long day.”“Yeah, you are right,” Suzie said. “I'll make you and my brother, Jason, some snacks to eat, first. Just go and freshen up, first, okay?”“So, you can see me, after all?” I heard Jason say as I walked up the stairs to my room.I hurriedly pulled off my clothes and kept them in the basket. I planned on doing the laundry the next day.Next, I removed my jewelry carefully and dropped it in one of my cute little jewelry boxes. When I was finally fully undressed, I entered the beautifully colored and scented bathtub and lowered myself until the water was at the length of m
SuzieI couldn't believe my eyes. I pinched myself lightly to be sure that I wasn't dreaming, and I felt a slight pain on the spot.I looked sideways and noticed that my brother was observing me closely. It looked as though blood drained from his face because he looked unusually pale. His eyes kept darting here and there as though he was looking for reassurance that I would be fine.“Did you invite him over?”My brother asked me.“No, I didn't,” I replied. “I didn't even give him the address of this place. I'm as shocked as you are, Jason.”… But then, the voice from the door interrupted us.“P– pl— please, th– the door,” the person at the door slurred. Jason and I exchanged quick glances before Jason checked the door again.“I don't know… it feels as though he were hurt or something.” I felt a painful churn in my stomach, and my legs felt wobbly.“S– Suz– Suzie, pl– please,help me!” With my heart on my sleeve, I didn't think twice before I brought the passkey and opened the door.H
Jason As soon as the door slid open, I bent over Amanda and hugged her. She got the message because she clutched onto my arm and leaned into my embrace. She was shivering, but the weather wasn't cold, neither was the room cold. In fact, right on the contrary, the weather was quite on the hot side.My heart sank into my stomach as I held onto Amanda. I worried that she could sense my fear, as I was sure that she could hear and notice the increase in my heartbeats. “Amanda!” A familiar voice called out as soon as he entered the room. The hairs on my body stood up, and I opened my mouth in surprise.Why was he here? I had clearly instructed him to not come to the hospital and to resume working again the next day. Did he actually just defile my orders?“Andrew?” Amanda raised up her head, immediately. I watched her closely because,, strangely, I wanted to see how she would react.I watched as Andrew made his way towards us. But, just as he was a few meters away from where we were, I sai
AmandaI opened my mouth to talk, but no words came forth. “He died?” Hilton asked absentmindedly. He placed his hands on top of his head while shaking his head from side to side.“Why are you acting like you don't remember a thing, old man?” Jason offered ignorantly. “Yes, Dean died some years ago. Are y'all suffering from dementia or something?”I gripped the hem of my dress tightly, as goose bumps began to appear on my body. I walked over to where Jason stood and attempted to whisper something in his ear, but he brushed me off a little bit too forcefully because the next thing I knew, I was on the floor, holding onto my bruised knee.It was as though Matilda, my grandma, was imitating Hilton's behavior, because she also had her hands clasped over her head, while I noticed that her eyes were beginning to well up.“No! No!” My grandma shrieked, as though she were in intense pain. My grandma stood up and tried to comfort her, but when she refused to calm down, he joined her in scream
Jason “Stop!” I yelled as I walked back briskly to where Lena, her mum, and her mum's boyfriend, Mr. Fred Sky, were.Lena was on the floor, writhing in pain and holding onto her cheek, while Uriel, her mother, was bending over her, jeering at her. She seemed to be very pissed and irritated.“You ran away from home when I was sick, you Jezebel!” Miss Uriel said as she pointed at Lena violently. “You left your sick mother all by herself, even when I was very down and struggling. All because of what?” She stopped and shot daggers at me with her eyes. If looks could kill, I would have been long dead by that intense stare.“... All because of this man and your stupid high school obsession?” She continued angrily.I was taken aback. Cold sweat trickled down my spine as I thought about the weight of what Miss Uriel was saying.I always knew that Lena loved me a little bit too much, but what I didn't know was that she was capable of leaving her sick mother to be with me. She had told me an e
Amanda“What took you so long?” The doctor asked as we walked towards the ward that held my grandparents.The doctor opened the door to their room slightly, and I peeped in. The sight I saw made my heart leap.My parents were awake… and they were conversing.“Oh my God!” I exclaimed while covering my mouth with my palms. “I– I th–thought something bad probably happened,” I managed to find my voice as I continued to observe the scene. I turned to the doctor who was beaming at me. “When did this happen? This is a miracle! I screamed and my grandparents turned around to stare at us. I closed the door. I didn't think they saw us.The doctor pulled me away from the door and we went to stand a few meters away from the room.“They have been picking up on treatment for some time now,” The doctor started, “However, early this morning, they talked for the first time. I was worried because you hadn't paid a visit to them for quite a long period, which was highly unusual. That was the reason I re