THREE WEEKS LATER Feeling the rage that was forcing him to act, Adel entered that office without caring if someone saw him in that mood. All he wanted was to talk to that woman who had become his karma. “Damn it, Leona!” Adel said, opening the door abruptly.Leona, cross-legged, dressed in an elegant way, only knew how to smile. Of course it bothered her that the man had come in like that but she wasn't going to let him know. Not when all she wanted was to be at peace while she was killing everyone with the peace she enjoyed.“Can I help you with anything?” At that very moment Leona felt the need to laugh in her husband’s face. For Leona all that man was was a mockery, someone she could handle as she pleased and to whom it was enough to tell her that he had been responsible for April’s death to shut his mouth.“How come you dared?” he asked, dropping the documents on the desk.Leona smiled. “I don't know what you are talking about, my husband.”“Don't say I'm your husband!”“Then wh
Six years hadn’t gone in vain for anyone. While there were those who enjoyed the money and power of the unlucky ones who were killed and buried in life, there were others who kept fighting day by day against their own demons and the life they decided to take. Six years had gone by since the last time April had seen Adel as a worthy man, someone who walked with pride, someone who enjoyed the power in his hands. April could even describe him as someone intelligent, but then he dug April's grave and his hell started, allowing April find the life she always deserved.“And that was the mistake I'm paying for nowadays, Miss. Madeline, I let my wife die. I saw her dying and I didn't do anything. If only I could take back time, I'd kill myself before making that mistake. She was pregnant with my son, Miss. Madeline. I'm playing for my mistakes and the worst part is that my son is in the middle of this. Miss. Madeline, if I can do something to let go of that past. Miss Madeline you look like h
“Mr. Acosta?” “Yes, Mrs. Sadharthe?” He turned around to see her. “Maybe if you don’t want an innocent to pay for the mistakes you made, you should take him away from his mother and all those who might cause him pain.”Adel smiled. “Yes, Mrs. Sadharthe, I want to think that now I have your permission to do it because having your permission is like having April’s. Thank you, Mrs. Sadharthe. Thank you for having listened to me.” He smiled and then left. Adel smiled after he remembered that conversation he’d had with Madeline. Madeline was indeed a woman with a warm heart, someone who was always ready to listen, someone who didn’t know how to judge, someone who loved and someone who deserved the life she was having. Adel was sure that if he’d learned to treat April as the woman she was, he’d surely seen April become a woman as elegant and special as Mrs. Sadharthe. Now that everything was ready to leave, Adel gave a last look to his room and picked up his luggage. Last night Adel ha
THREE DAYS LATER It’d been 3 days since Lucian learned it was Leona who was behind the increase in the export of goods. For those 3 days he didn’t want to see anyone, or even talk to Madeline about the progress of the casino where his income was always higher. It was like he didn’t care about it since Madeline was taking care of it alone. she’d done a good job and that was something that Lucian could easily see to put his business in her hands. Madeline was a capable woman. Madeline was someone who deserved the world, the world just Lucian wanted to give her. Maybe that was the reason why he couldn’t look at her face since he knew that about Leona. Madeline as April didn’t deserve that life. Lucian was also immersed in his black world, where murders, revenge, hatred, resentment, and all those bad feelings lived in his heart. But since Madeline turned up in his life, everything changed. He wanted to belong to Madeline in the same way he wanted her to belong to him. He wanted to start
Unbelievable! Yes, it was unbelievable! How come? Whose idea was it? His heart? His desire for her? Or that little voice in his head that had been shouting at him for so many months to take her wherever he could, however he could? In the end, the case was the same, he had succumbed to her beauty, to her pure temptation, and everything she was made of.Unbelievable! Yes, it was unbelievable what he did! But it was done and the worst part was that he didn’t regret it, no matter how much he tried to, he didn’t regret it. Exasperated, Lucian leaned forward in the sink of that luxury bathroom and gave himself a couple of seconds. He looked at his reflection in the mirror and wasn’t able to recognize himself. He was shirtless, with the well worked abdomen exposed. The lines of his face were as perfect as the color of his eyes. What he was experiencing was something that he had never felt before. If only he could close his eyes and get back to California, being in front of his desk, working
SCOTLAND, THE UNITED KINGDOM ARKANAS CASINO The next morning came as if nothing had happened when the truth was that everything and more had happened. Everything around her felt different, it was like she’d woken up with Lucian’s cologne in her body, it was like his skin still burned against hers, the warmness of that morning brought a special fire with it. Whatever it was, it had to stop. That wasn’t the deal, but who was the first one to give in? She only had one thing in mind, it had to stop, she needed to stop breathing in his cologne, and stop hearing her own sounds that had filled the darkness of that night where she didn’t have control of herself. Stuffed in a red long dress, Madeline continued her way to the casino where she was supposed to see Lucian since she’d asked about him and they had informed her that Lucian had gone to an important meeting and he couldn’t wait for her anymore. It seemed like it wasn’t going to be really difficult to go on with their lives as they u
NEW ZEALAND Time did not pass in vain, the days, the afternoons, the nights that went by in the same way but leaving behind something more than routine. In the midst of a battle was how April and all that came with her could not help but live. Nothing good had left her being a good woman, a dedicated woman who loved her husband so much, maybe that was what she thought when the deception came, but not too late when she had her baby in her arms she realized that every suffering and tear had been worth it. Then Lucian came along and gave her a new lease on life. And with that life also came the love she never thought she would feel for a man again. Lucian had meant everything for a moment. Even the opportunity he’d given Mateo to grow away from the battlefield his own mother had against his own father. Time didn’t pass in vain and Mateo knew it very well. Three months hadn't gone in vane for anyone. And when Lucian and April agreed that the best thing to do was to put her son in safe
Bloody tears ran down her cheeks. The same words kept hitting his head. She couldn't believe she was too stupid again to have believed in a man. She even gave herself to a man after she swore she wouldn't do it again. She thought Lucian was different, one of a kind, someone who wouldn't hurt her ever again, someone she thought would arrive to heal her wounds and make her stronger. Madeline, her name was never Madeline, she was just April, the innocent girl whom everyone mocked her all along. She believed every single word Lucian said. There was nothing he said she wouldn't have believed. And now she was there, hating Lucian when she also loved him. What a small world was this where she had to meet Leona's half-brother and fall in love with him. Damn it! She shouldn't have done it! She shouldn't have fallen for him! If April thought there could be a little bit of happiness for her, she was damn wrong!Madeline arrived at the same hotel where she'd stayed for the last 15 days and, with
ONE YEAR LATER A year was gone in a way so different from what everyone involved knew. So much had happened and to narrate them all was to narrate how life had gone in one year. After Leona was captured by the DEA, several powerful drug trafficking networks also fell. Lucian was taken to the hospital the same way Adel was, there was time to talk about so many things that April still couldn't believe that life had turned out that way. Rose and Levi took the case forward, after Lucian recovered from the beating and the two broken ribs that Leona's men had caused by beating him so badly, he was able to testify along with April, the woman he loved so much. He also accepted his guilt and cooperated with the police in every way he could. Levi and Rose knew what their job was, they also had to proceed with Lucian and April because they too had made many mistakes. Adel also talked about the bad things Leona did. While she was in the hospital as well, outside the police were moving to make he
April started crying in desperation. Her heart had never hurt like that. It was her son who was in the power of that woman. Her son was all she had. “Please, please, Leona, please, don’t you dare to do anything bad to my son. Please, I’m begging you. He’s not guilty! Your problem is with me! Leave him alone!” April begged with a broken voice. Rose and Levi knew the worst was coming, so they rushed to call the police. It was the end. “If you want to see your son alive and say goodbye to your eternal love, come to this address, alone! I swear if you don’t come alone, I’ll kill your fucking bastard!” After saying so, Leona hung up. April yelled, pleaded, but Leona’s voice was no longer heard on the other line. Levi and Rose called the police. They were ready to attack and now they could clearly see that what they had fought for, what they had invested so many hours, so much effort, so many thoughts, was right in front of their eyes. One of the biggest drug trafficking networks was go
When Lucian learned he wasn’t going to any mansion as the three men had said to make him get into the van, it was too late. The darkness of the highway, the mystery of the place and everything as a whole made him realize that they were not going to the house of any mafia boss, but to the outskirts of the city. It was too late. He had no way to run. He couldn’t. His heart started pumping faster. He tried to get off the van, but two men grabbed him immediately, they started fighting with him, they punched him, kicked him, insulted him… But Lucian still fought. Many things ran through her head, but it was always April the protagonist. He didn’t want her to go through more pain. “Leave me alone, you fucking bastards!” Lucian said, trying to punch the men, but he was out of energy that he couldn’t do so much. The pain had dried out his energy. “You won’t go anywhere! Our lady was clear with her instructions. You will regret what you did to her!” One of the men said. Lucian kept fighting,
April was completely heartbroken that her logic didn’t work. No matter how loud her heart kept shouting at her that what Levi was doing with her wasn’t okay, she didn’t have the strength to push him away, she just stayed there, where she was feeling the coldest kiss she’d ever felt. April had no soul, no more love to give, no more hope to keep, no more happiness to hold. Lucian had taken everything with him. Lucian wasn’t any different, he was like any other man ready to stab the heart of a woman who’d just learned to love someone like him. Perhaps, that was the reason why she couldn’t do anything and didn’t want to. If allowing Levi to do that was going to bring her back a little bit of hope, she was willing to be his slave. But what April didn’t know was that she wasn’t the only one who had been betrayed or who was feeling the coldness of absence. In the depths of his coldness and darkness he’d rose; he had no hope, no love to offer, he had nothing aside from chests full of gold c
NEW ZEALANDThrowing the suitcases in the car trunk, Adel forced his sons to get into the car. Neither Mateo nor Lucas understood what was happening there. Suddenly, Lucas’ father changed his mood when he saw a mark on his friend’s back head. Lucas didn’t understand anything. His father was asking questions to Mateo, not many times Lucas had seen him like that, the last time something like that happened was when Adel was still with Leona, Lucas’ mother. They always fought, he always saw them arguing, the servants were there to try to cover up things but Lucas was always more intelligent than anyone to know that his parents didn’t enjoy each other’s company. Maybe that was one of the reasons Lucas never felt sad when Adel told him that Leona and him weren’t going to live together anymore. And now they were in that car, listening to the conversation Adel was having with the airline.Lucas and Mateo looked at each other. “Three tickets to California, United States! I don’t care if the
As Madeline descended to the first floor of the hotel, still with tears in her eyes and her spirits on the floor, her path was blocked by someone's feminine figure. Madeline looked up and realized that the woman looking down at her with a smile of triumph was the same woman who had taken everything from her.“Madeline! Or should I say… April?”April changed her posture and her gaze. She hated Leona, she hated her with all her might. She had caused her the worst pain, but April wasn't the same innocent and naive girl Adel and Leona knew, and Leona was going to be the first one to see it. April didn’t know why but it was always because of Leona that she couldn’t be happy. She didn’t owe anything to anyone, but life treated her as she would. What a small world was that where Leona was the real meaning of her downfall! But Madeline no longer feared her. Years had gone by saving those hard feelings she felt towards her, and now it was time to let her see her fury. She was going to rip o
Bloody tears ran down her cheeks. The same words kept hitting his head. She couldn't believe she was too stupid again to have believed in a man. She even gave herself to a man after she swore she wouldn't do it again. She thought Lucian was different, one of a kind, someone who wouldn't hurt her ever again, someone she thought would arrive to heal her wounds and make her stronger. Madeline, her name was never Madeline, she was just April, the innocent girl whom everyone mocked her all along. She believed every single word Lucian said. There was nothing he said she wouldn't have believed. And now she was there, hating Lucian when she also loved him. What a small world was this where she had to meet Leona's half-brother and fall in love with him. Damn it! She shouldn't have done it! She shouldn't have fallen for him! If April thought there could be a little bit of happiness for her, she was damn wrong!Madeline arrived at the same hotel where she'd stayed for the last 15 days and, with
NEW ZEALAND Time did not pass in vain, the days, the afternoons, the nights that went by in the same way but leaving behind something more than routine. In the midst of a battle was how April and all that came with her could not help but live. Nothing good had left her being a good woman, a dedicated woman who loved her husband so much, maybe that was what she thought when the deception came, but not too late when she had her baby in her arms she realized that every suffering and tear had been worth it. Then Lucian came along and gave her a new lease on life. And with that life also came the love she never thought she would feel for a man again. Lucian had meant everything for a moment. Even the opportunity he’d given Mateo to grow away from the battlefield his own mother had against his own father. Time didn’t pass in vain and Mateo knew it very well. Three months hadn't gone in vane for anyone. And when Lucian and April agreed that the best thing to do was to put her son in safe
SCOTLAND, THE UNITED KINGDOM ARKANAS CASINO The next morning came as if nothing had happened when the truth was that everything and more had happened. Everything around her felt different, it was like she’d woken up with Lucian’s cologne in her body, it was like his skin still burned against hers, the warmness of that morning brought a special fire with it. Whatever it was, it had to stop. That wasn’t the deal, but who was the first one to give in? She only had one thing in mind, it had to stop, she needed to stop breathing in his cologne, and stop hearing her own sounds that had filled the darkness of that night where she didn’t have control of herself. Stuffed in a red long dress, Madeline continued her way to the casino where she was supposed to see Lucian since she’d asked about him and they had informed her that Lucian had gone to an important meeting and he couldn’t wait for her anymore. It seemed like it wasn’t going to be really difficult to go on with their lives as they u