Veil woke up to the smell of fresh toast, just as the rays of the sun caressed her face and the tune of the singing birds refreshed her. She smiled before pulling her eyes open, contentment and tranquility washing through her. She took a moment to soak it all in, relishing in the present, refusing to think of anything else.This was the life she dreamed for herself - A nice young man cooking her breakfast while she stretched under the sheets. She imagined a white picket fence outside and cute little children filling the air with their laughter. June said it was a fairytale, but Veil desperately clung on to it, because that was the home she had grown up in. Although they didn’t have much, happiness was never a scarce feeling there, and love blossomed amongst them.Veil heard a rustle somewhere down the hall, and in that minute, something fell to the floor in a clang. She chuckled to herself and got out of bed, locating the discarded t-shirt she had on last night, and ditching her panti
Anders’ eyes fell wide open and his face whipped back to Veil. His mother must have seen the recent development on social media, but he had never factored in the possibility of her meeting Veil.And even if he had, this wasn’t the exact way he would have envisioned it; not with her half naked, with her face flushed from what he had been doing in between her legs. He tried to think fast, but his mother must have picked up the smell of the toast because he could hear her get closer.Veil said nothing, but her eyes showed how confused she was. She looked from the door to his face, then helped him by getting off the island a second before his mother walked in through the door.She halted abruptly as her eyes took in the scene, a little glint playing in her gray eyes. “I’m sorry for interrupting breakfast,” she gushed, even though Anders knew what she felt was far from remorse. Interest was a much better description. “I should have called beforehand, but I have never met any woman in his h
It was Lucas’ third exhibition since he opened the studio and Anders insisted that Veil had to come along with him. Although, he expressly mentioned that it was a part of the contract – to be seen together in public as an item – it was just Anders trying to expedite the whole thing so this could come to an end.Their arrangement was getting too intense for the both of them. He could at least admit that to himself.Veil had returned to the apartment she shared with June first, as Anders left first to drop his mom back at their house, promising to come get her the minute he was done there. He knew it was going to take a bit of time because his father wouldn’t let him go without almost shouting the roof off about how risky what Anders had done the last time was.But he was equally as stubborn as his father. None of them would step down for the other.Anders’ driver dropped Veil in a Range Rover in front of the apartment, and she thanked him before getting out of the car and approaching t
Veil could count the number of times she had gotten angry in her entire life. She had been displeased about people and their actions a lot of times, but getting to the stage of cold fury was another thing entirely. The first time she had felt that way was when she had gotten news about her father’s illness and the high chance that he wasn’t going to make it.She couldn’t tell who her anger was directed at, but Veil knew that she felt it dripping from her bones. She had felt the dire need to yell at every single person she walked past on the road, to stare at the skies and scream until whoever was there answered her. She had wanted to give up a million times, to just let it all go. Those days were one of the darkest ever.And that feeling was there again, coursing through her veins.Veil’s eyes circled on the one person she never wanted to see again in her entire life, and immediately, everything turned red. He had stepped away from the door, an action brought about by June’s menacing
Veil left June in the living room with Anders while she stalked into her room. Autumn hadn’t been joking when she promised the room would be met in the exact condition they’d met it before the setup. Every single inch of the wooden floorboards had been cleaned, and the air smelt of freshly laundered wood.Shrugging out of Anders’ t-shirt and shorts, which she had borrowed from his closet on her way out, she stepped into the shower and allowed the warm water to soak her skin. The curls on her hair fell limply around her shoulders and down her back, and Veil pouted in displeasure.She had forgotten to cover her hair with a cap, and now she had to bear the repercussions.Fifteen minutes later, Veil decided she had had enough time for a bath and some reflection under the water. Grabbing her towel off the hook, she sauntered back into the room as she wrapped the towel around her frame.A part of her thought she would meet Anders in the room, sitting on her bed with that immaculate and cock
The second floor was already bubbling with guests when Veil and Anders stepped in, hand in hand. Although he was there with her physically, Veil couldn’t feel him anywhere near her. He was far away, lodged in a deep place in his mind where it was hard to get him out.She had tried on their way there. She talked about her parents and how she missed them terribly, tried to bring Sophia into the single conversation she was having with her, and tried to turn it into a joke, but Anders wasn’t even hearing a word of what she was saying.Veil had given up halfway through the ride, staying in her thoughts until they took the lift to the second floor. The minute they arrived, Veil found herself whisked away by Amanda, who wanted her to meet the members of her band. They’d all been asking about her since the scene with Sophia and Amanda had made them come over to the exhibition.It was like killing two birds with a stone.Veil smiled politely at Amanda’s friends, thinking she would have to put
Anders retrieved a glass of sparkling wine from the tray the servers passed around and approached the huge painting at one end of the room. It was the image of death—or at least, that was what Anders interpreted it to be. Lucas was famous for his abstract paintings, relaying the darkest of his thoughts in the way he best knew how to. However, interpretations and perceptions varied. While some people saw light, others saw the darkness he portrayed, but in different degrees. The background of the painting was black, with lightning somewhere near the earth. There were almost translucent apparitions cutting away from the painting, with one visible pair of brown eyes looking back at the earth, with sadness imprinted in that gaze. It was a tad intriguing because both the earth and the top of the painting signified demise to Anders, yet it felt like his eyes preferred the earth. He thought the top of the board offered much more—the possibility of still being present in some way. Call it s
Sophia still had that innocent smile on her face as she turned to face Anders fully, confusion etched in her eyes. He hadn’t expected any different because she would never have conceived the thought, even once, that he was onto her. She thought him the ideal man who never bothered with anything else as long as his woman was hot, made public appearances with him and was filthy rich and well-known to aid his company. Sophia had formed this notion because Anders hadn’t made her think otherwise. What she didn’t know was that he didn’t even see her. From the very beginning, going with her felt like a chore he was being forced to do. Hell! He would have preferred sitting in his bathtub staring up at the plain ceiling rather than going out to some fancy restaurant opening with her. “You have a business with me right now,” the President muttered. ‘Not her, unless you are ready to apologize. And I’ll remind you, gentleman, that you watch your tone with me. My men wouldn’t hesitate to teach
MONTHS LATERElvis Presley's “can't help falling in love” reverberated across the full hall as Veil walked down the aisle slowly, in the arms of her father, with June behind her, unable to stop smiling so wide. Veil's best friend seemed to be the most excited about this wedding, as she had been in such a great mood since Veil returned with Anders to Mexico, the news of their engagement in tow.She and Amanda had been responsible for all the planning, leaving Veil nothing to do than being doted on by Anders and taking care of her gradually bulging stomach. Veil thought it was better to do the wedding before she wouldn't be able to walk easily, and Anders was cool with whatever she wanted.Anders was at the aisle, with Lucas by his side, the roles reversed so beautifully. His wife, Amanda, was at the front pew, dabbing at her eyes and at the same time, glancing at her watch. She was in charge around here and since Amanda was the queen of perfection, she wanted everything to be in place
Anders walked into the house with trepidation since Veil hadn't said anything about welcoming him with open arms. He had taken too long to realize he was in love with her, and the thought plagued him as he stood in the center of the small and cozy living area, struck at how homely she had made it look.“This is nice,” he noted, not expecting Veil to dignify him with a response. That explained how his eyes raised in surprise when she smiled at him, a sigh escaping her slightly parted lips. “I'd always wanted my own space,” Veil explained. “But living with June has made me realize that perhaps, solitary living isn't for me.” She laughed awkwardly and sat on one of the mismatched couches. “It's been a little bit hard living alone. I don't know how to cook just for myself, and there's no one to fix me a quick snack when I'm too tired to lift a finger.”Anders wanted to tell her that he would happily do all of that for her, but something kept him mute. He wasn't certain how open she would
Anders didn't bother to change into something else, getting onto the private jet from his landing. The tuxedo made him look like he was going to a ceremony, but there wasn't any time to go back home, especially since Anders made the decision in the spur of the moment.The usual readings of the weather, flight safety information, and weather forecast were announced before the jet took off from the ground, and Anders wished they could go faster. His legs bobbed in the aircraft and he shuffled between looking out through the window and scrolling through the magazines before him.He wasn't going to get to Veil in the next five hours and now that Anders was midair, he was beginning to think about the spontaneous choice he had just made. Perhaps, he should have celebrated the day with his best friend, then waited till the following morning before making the trip. He hadn't even considered if Veil would be open to receiving him. If that happened, was he just going to come right back?The ans
Anders was in the room with Lucas, helping him with his brooch before he went to the aisle to wait for his bride. Lucas hadn't stopped talking about how special he thought Amanda was and how lucky he was to have her as his bride. At first, Anders was receptive to the emotions flowing, even handing Lucas a napkin when tears threatened to fall from his eyes. But three hours into the day, Anders decided that it was getting on his nerves. And not in a bad way. The more his best friend spoke about love and the beautiful things it had done to him, the more he feared that his choice not to believe in love was more damning than it did him any good. It was becoming oddly real to him, that Lucas and Amanda were going to need their privacy after today, so he wouldn't be able to disturb them as often as he was used to.“Don't look so sad, Anders,” Lucas drawled, patting his friend's face affectionately. “We're still going to be your friends. Things are just going to be a bit different.”“How so?
“Veil!” June yelled from the living room, where she was huddled with her laptop, peering up at the screen. She had been at it for a couple of hours now, muttering that she had a deadline to meet up with, more urgent than having a shower or eating. Peeking out from the kitchen where she had been trying to whip up a snack for her best friend, Veil rolled her eyes and muttered something about her yelling being worth it before leaning on the door frame. She was only about six weeks gone, and the pregnancy hadn’t started showing yet. “I hope it isn’t something as mundane as getting you a glass of water,” Veil murmured, eyeing June, who still had her eyes glued to the screen of her laptop. “You got the job!” June said at the top of her voice, and for once, Veil didn’t complain about her best friend yelling when she was right beside her. Veil covered the distance in one second, planting herself by June’s side as she peered down at the mail open on the screen. Veil had logged on to her ema
Anders was in Lucas’ studio, watching his best friend and Amanda gush over the idea they had for their wedding. They wanted it to happen there since it was not only cost-effective but they could, at the same time, have an influence over the decorations.Lucas wanted the paintings he had made of Amanda gracing the walls that day, with the pictures they'd taken together showing the journey of their dating life. They giggled when they saw an old picture of the four of them - Amanda, Lucas, Anders, and Camila, and tears pooled at the corner of Amanda's eyes. She whipped them off hastily before Anders or Lucas could notice. She only wanted to have happy memories of her best friend.“What do you think about beige?” Amanda threw at Anders who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. Unfortunately, he had nowhere else to go. The bar sounded like a very tempting idea right now, but Anders knew it was too much of a show since the whole of Mexico knew who he was and there wasn't goin
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXJune couldn't get rid of the surprise etched on her features, no matter how hard she tried. And oh boy, she did try. She walked behind Veil like a shadow, following her every moment and popping the question a million times, so much so that Veil started locking her room door to keep June out in the middle of the night.She had to inform her parents too about the development, and they were supportive of her decision. Veil had resigned from Kingston Groups and sent her CV to the English Investors’ company. She was awaiting feedback from them. On the day she sent in her resignation letter, Veil ensured she was in and out of the company like a breeze, too fast before Anders could realize she was there in the first place. She came just after lunch, meeting Simon at the desk who was about to make a sharp U-turn to stay out of her way.It made Veil laugh about the comedy that had become her life. Just a couple of months ago, Anders was threatening every sing
June was waiting by the door when Veil got home, and she allowed herself get whisked into the living room, with June watching her like she would drop to the floor at any minute. June was not far from the truth because the only thing holding Veil up was the fear of doing anything to harm the baby.It was still pretty early and she had read somewhere that the first few months of a pregnancy were usually the most delicate, and extra care needed to be taken in order to get through it.June said nothing until later in the night, when Veil came out for a snack. She was working in the kitchen, a huge pair of frames on her eyes when Veil sauntered in, covered in her cute small pyjamas.“Hey,” June called, taking off her glasses. Veil hadn't told her anything since she returned because she didn't want to overburden her best friend with the drama that had been going on in her life. They felt unending, from one level to the other. Veil couldn't remember the last time June had complained about so
Those words would have rocked the whole of Veil’s world if she wasn’t so certain of what she had seen in Anders. He was one of Mexico’s greatest businessmen, but the one thing he couldn’t do as expertly as running a business was lying to her. He tried to be mean, to act like he didn’t give two fucks about Veil. But she could see through the walls he had put up, and he had no one to blame for that but himself. The days he had spent with her had opened him up more than he had thought possible, and now, he was left staring at the face of the woman who didn’t believe him one bit when he said he wasn’t in love with her. “I can’t lie about my feelings for you,” Anders said, his tone almost pleading for her to reason with him. “And I have tried my best to make it clear from the beginning that I want nothing more from this than what you want, or at least, what I thought you wanted.” Veil shook her head. “Maybe at first, you believed those words as much as you try to convince yourself now