AUTHOR’S POVThe car ride to the restaurant was unusually quiet, at least for Tessa, as she was so deeply engrossed in thoughts; a few times Camila and Jamie had tried to engage her; her responses were disconnected, surface-level. Tessa sat by the window, her gaze fixed on nothing in particular as the car glided through the early afternoon traffic. Sunlight streamed through the glass, warming her skin, but she barely noticed. Her arms were folded, her legs crossed tightly at the ankles—every part of her craved some or maybe an ounce of calmness. Her mind had been hijacked by images of Pedro’s bare butt cheeks grinding into Adrianna and Adrianna’s manicured hand pressed against his strong round butt; she wondered why such mundane pictures haunted her. She shouldn’t be concerned, so why was she? Why was she pained at the sight of two of them tangled that morning? Did he ask her to bring the coffee on purpose?The memory looped in her head, so cruel and clear. Her chest ached, a dull thr
I thought my aunt had died or perhaps something bad had happened when I approached our house. From a distance, I could see a fleet of luxury cars with heavily armed men standing at different points; they looked terrifying. I felt my stomach grow cold as I drew closer. It was very recently that I noticed her pacing around the house, looking out of the window; sometimes she was very absent-minded. She had nearly dipped her hand in a frying pan with heated oil while she was deep in thought; if not for my timely intervention, when I asked her what the problem was, she looked me in the eyes and asked that we run away, that we moved to another city.“Tessa, we need to run; we need to leave this city,” she had said to me, her grip firm as ever.I could see fear in her eyes.“Aunty Norah,” I said softly, sitting next to her. “We moved here barely a year ago; I just got this new job that pays well, and I finally get to have friends; why do we need to go somewhere else?”“You won’t understand,
The Devil is a liar! I had exclaimed in my mind.I managed to help my aunt to her bedside and fetched her a glass of water and her medicines. She had many questions to answer because a stranger couldn’t come and declare me his wife like I was a piece of furniture.No way. And Melissa? I hated the name as a word itself.I was boiling with so much anger I did not know when I kicked the bed bunk and yelled in pain.Breath in, Tessa! I said to myself.“Are you okay?” My aunt had asked. “You know we can plan our escape; we don’t have to do anything he says."Escape? Do anything he says? Why would I be compelled to listen to a man I do not know? I was triggered by that question.“Nobody is escaping to anywhere. I want to see how this plays out. If there is anything I need to know about the drama that played out, now is the best time to tell me,” I said before pulling a seat to the window side and sitting down.“How do I explain the situation now?” Aunt Norah started, “If only you had listen
I could still perceive his strong masculine perfume and wondered perhaps I had inhaled too much of him at the office earlier. I could still hear his voice in my head. His raspy deep voice rambling in my head, calling me his wife! I am not your wife, damn it! I unknowingly yelled out my thoughts as I walked into the sitting soon, kicking my shoes to a corner and switching on the light! There he was! My tormentor! “Tada!” He said, but there was nothing pleasant about that! I was still in shock and at a loss for words; I first looked around for my aunt. “Where is my aunt?” I asked, my fist clenched! He noticed. “Easy with the first honey; your aunt is in safe hands.” “What do you mean?” I asked before scampering around, calling out to my aunt. But no response or vision of her in sight. I panicked. I began to wish I had listened to her when she asked us to run away. I prayed this monster had not done anything to her because I wouldn’t know what I would do. “What did you do
Finally, some peace and quiet!The only thing I hated was the strong smell of that man’s perfume in the sitting room and everywhere else. He was driving me nuts, and I could no longer bear it. I looked around for my phone; I had forgotten where I had put it.I barely had time to breathe after that monster had left when the door swung open with such force that it banged against the wall. I jumped, my heart racing. I thought Don Pedro was back again, but it was my boyfriend, Sergio.He stormed in, his face dark with rage. I was taken aback because, I knew, Sergio was a soft and kind man who always had a smile on his face whenever he came visiting.The man who just stormed in was not the Sergio I knew.He was furious. I was scared. I was really scared. “I knew it!” he spat, his eyes charring with accusation.My eyes flashed in confusion. “Sergio? What—”“Don’t even try to deny it, Tessa. I saw him! The man you’ve been sneaking around with just left your house.”I frowned. My boyfriend
Don Pedro’s POV“Life would be so much easier if women reasoned like men,” I mumbled to myself as I adjusted my cufflinks in the rear-view mirror. Why are women so complicated, men are just very easy to come aroundIn my world, business was a chess game—calculated, strategic, ruthless, with no mercy. Dog eat dog; you either eat or be eaten.Men were built for such pursuits, their minds grounded for making decisions that built empires. Women, in my experience, were often led by stupid emotions, stubborn in their own ways, clinging to irrational sentiments. Love? Who believes in love in this day and time, such a joke!The whole infatuation irritates me.I smiled smugly at the thought of Tessa and how she was so determined, so infuriatingly headstrong. I wondered just how long her obstinacy would last under the weight of my plans to make her mine.I had orchestrated many plans in my life, each one executed with precision. Yet, nothing amused me more than watching a stubborn woman try
The so-called 72hrs that monster gave me had elapsed. I stood fixed in front of the mirror. My head replayed in slides, scenes of despair from two nights ago. There is something shame does to a person; it strips you of your worthiness; that small voice whispering in your head and telling you how unworthy you are—that's how I felt as I walked all the way back from Sergio's house. I felt so small and insignificant. I recalled how I had stood outside Sergio’s apartment, banging on the door. “Sergio! Open up!” Only to be met with silence. I had been here three times, loitering around and looking out for a shadow of him; he was the man I loved. I needed to know why he said all those things to me. By my third visit, I had met the caretaker, who informed me that the house had been sold and the occupant had evacuated earlier. It did not make sense to me. It was as if he had vanished. Something was wrong. I just knew. I swallowed the lump in my throat, hot bile heating up in the
Tessa’s POV“Where is that bastard!” I yelled, “Let me through”I screamed at the security guy, pushing through him.“Don Pedro or whatever you call yourself, You can’t keep her from me!” I shouted as I burst through the wrought-iron gates.I slapped the foolish guard when he tried to touch me.“Don’t you dare lay your filthy hands on me”I had come to the Lorenzo estate with one purpose—to see my dear Aunty Nora and get her the fuck out of there. But before I could reach the main entrance, two large men in dark suits stepped forward, blocking my path.“Miss Moretti,” one of them said in a flat tone, “you are not allowed beyond this point.”I was taking aback, trying to keep my voice steady, narrowing my eyes as I looked up at them. “I’m here to see my aunt. Now step aside.”They exchanged a look, one of them spoke into the wireless talkie he was holding, I could barely hear what he said, but he gave his colleague a signal and before I could protest further, one of the men seized my
AUTHOR’S POVThe car ride to the restaurant was unusually quiet, at least for Tessa, as she was so deeply engrossed in thoughts; a few times Camila and Jamie had tried to engage her; her responses were disconnected, surface-level. Tessa sat by the window, her gaze fixed on nothing in particular as the car glided through the early afternoon traffic. Sunlight streamed through the glass, warming her skin, but she barely noticed. Her arms were folded, her legs crossed tightly at the ankles—every part of her craved some or maybe an ounce of calmness. Her mind had been hijacked by images of Pedro’s bare butt cheeks grinding into Adrianna and Adrianna’s manicured hand pressed against his strong round butt; she wondered why such mundane pictures haunted her. She shouldn’t be concerned, so why was she? Why was she pained at the sight of two of them tangled that morning? Did he ask her to bring the coffee on purpose?The memory looped in her head, so cruel and clear. Her chest ached, a dull thr
AUTHOR’S POV“Fuck!! You dumb bitch!! Don’t you knock!” Pedro barked, his voice as sharp as broken glass.Tessa’s eyes dilated in absolute shock. For a moment, she stood rooted in the doorway; her mouth opened but no sound emerged. It took her a few seconds to realise she did not knock before she came in — and his words slammed into her like a punch. Dumb bitch?“There is a reason why you fucking knock”Pedro’s loud rebuke echoed in her ears, and she could only stand, too stunned to move.Her mind raced; perhaps if she had knocked, she would saved herself the additional misfortune of catching Pedro, pants down, inside another woman.Adrianna struggled to set herself free from Pedro’s grasp and quickly scrambled. She leapt up from the table. In one frantic, desperate move, she yanked her skirt down and made a dash for the door. The sound of her whimpers, and rustle of fabric as she adjusted her skirt followed her flight.Pedro glanced between the space where Adrianna had just vani
Pedro motioned for Adrianna to come sit.The room was cool and quiet, and the afternoon light gently streamed in through the glass window.Adrianna stepped toward his table. However, after a brief moment, she said, “I would rather stand,” and so she remained standing, her posture straight, her long black hair sleeping on her back.She looked more beautiful than when he saw her previously.Pedro raised an eyebrow. “Very well,” he replied. “Then, why are you here?”Taking a breath, Adrianna began, “My name is Adrianna—” Pedro cut in sharply, “Adrianna Perez.” His voice levelled all forms of formalities, more like acknowledging the familiarity between them as he completed her surname. His eyes were completely focused on her, touring the contours of her body.Adrianna met his gaze calmly: “In our last meeting, you pointed out several errors in our proposal, which I quite disagree with. You said the projected ROI was overly optimistic; I also disagree that the risk management strategy was
AUTHOR’S POV Tessa was wrapping up her work files and gathering her belongings at her desk when the clock neared lunchtime. She pulled out the melted bar of chocolate from her bag and trashed it; she had gotten it on her way to work a long time ago; she had forgotten it in her bag. It had been a busy morning, and for some unknown reason she looked forward to the lunch break; a short break away from the constant pressure those files mounted on her would not hurt, after all; self-care was health care. She had heard a female colleague talking about going on a lunch date with her boyfriend, and she felt jealous. She was jealous because she had forgotten what it felt like to be in love; the only man she ever loved was Sergio, and he was mostly away, probably with his gay lover, or not. She still found it hard to believe what Pedro had told her about Sergio, and sometimes, she missed him. As she neatly stacked the last of her files into a folder, she heard a soft knock at the door. She won
AUTHOR’S POV Tessa arrived at the office early enough to make it to her desk without the whispers of nosy staff members, she was tired after a long commute due to traffic. When she stepped into her corner of the open-plan office, a bouquet of fresh flowers was waiting for her on her desk. The bouquet looked like the flowers were carefully picked, it was a vibrant burst of colours, with deep reds, soft pinks, and bright yellow flowers. But the note attached to it was puzzling. The short handwritten message had no signature, leaving her to wonder who could have sent such a gift. Was it Pedro? That man had no business sending her flowers after what he put her through last night. But what if it was Pedro? She picked up the note carefully and frowned. “It says ‘For you, with love’ but there’s no name,” she murmured to herself. Just then, Camila entered the enclosure carrying two steaming cups of coffee. Camila’s smile was bright as she set the cups down on a nearby t
AUTHOR’S POVFranco did not show up last night and it took Regina several deep breaths to prevent her from ripping the roof of the Lorenzo mansion apart.Regina paced her room that early morning, she could not sleep art night even if she wanted to, turning this way and that in her bed. So once it was dawn, she jumped out of bed and all she could do was pace around, every step she took was piled with simmering anger. The clock read barely 8 a.m., yet her fury had been building since last night. She had called Franco’s number over and over, and when he did not pick, she scattered her flower vase and brushed the items on her drawer, including her bed lamp to the ground.Still, his phone never rang back. Not one bit.Last night’s endless waiting—without a single call or text—had driven her nearly mad or she was a few slippery steps from running mad and she could not help it. When she had arrived at the saloon yesterday evening, she had spent roughly almost three hours dolling herself up a
AUTHOR’S POV Tessa’s heart hammered as she sprinted through a narrow, dimly lit walkway that had connected to the hallway in which she had seen George, he was the least of her problems. She had been searching desperately for a toilet, her mind turbulent with a lucid kind of urgency and dread that made her gag and throw up, the smell of that man’s fresh blood filling her nostrils. At some point she felt she had lost her way, Every turn had her feeling that something was terribly wrong, then it occurred to her that she had failed to ask for direction. Shit!!! She cursed under her breath. She hoped against hope to find a place to relieve herself, but instead of a restroom, she found herself before an old, heavy metal door slightly ajar. She pushed it open, and immediately a wave of repugnant air slapped her face. What she saw beyond took her breath away: an abandoned garage that reeked of decaying oil and rust, its walls streaked with neglect. Spoilt cars lay scattered h
AUTHOR'S POVBetween the brutal exchanges, Tessa managed to whisper, “Why did you bring me here, Pedro?” Her voice was a soft plea amidst the cacophony.Pedro paused in his watchful stance by the barricade. He gently took her by the shoulder, drawing her close, and spoke in a low voice meant only for her. “I want to tell you a story, Tessa. A story of how I became the man I am today.”Tessa looked up at him, her eyes filled with dread, yet she forced herself to listen. Pedro’s gaze turned distant as he began. “When I was a boy, my father—Don El Diablo Lorenzo—took me to a wrestling ring much like this one. It was dark, loud, and frightening. I remember the first time I saw men clash in battle. I saw blood spatter and heard the sound of bones breaking. I was terrified, but I also learnt something crucial that day. I learnt that life is cruel and unforgiving, and only those who can endure pain can survive. I learnt that strength is forged in fire and that fear must be faced head-on.”He
AUTHORS POVTessa wished she could read what was going on in Pedro's damn mind. What was so special about this underground match that so desperately needed her attendance?It was well past 11 p.m. when Pedro’s car pulled up to the entrance of what seemed like a tunnel. Tessa assumed it to be the venue for the underground wrestling match. And honestly, she was tired because they had been driving for a while. Casa del Diablo was boldly written above the entrance; Tessa read it with narrowed eyes, and it made her feel a certain type of way.Tessa, clinging tightly to Pedro’s arm, stared in disbelief at the rugged building. The exterior was gloomy—battered red brick walls and some words scribbled with neon graffiti—and the heavy bass of cheering crowds seeped through the walls. Until that very night, she had never believed such a place existed in Monterrey.They made their way inside, and Tessa’s eyes widened as she took in the scene.The underground arena was set in an old warehouse, its