CELESTINE’s P O V‘‘Why are you trying to drive my sister away from you?’’ I asked Arnold as soon as we reached our room. I kept my eyes on him as he walked to the fridge to get a bottle of cold water and then handed it to me.‘‘It bothers me when she picks on you like that...’’ he said and my hand, which was ready to grab the bottle from him, stiffened slightly as it prepared to do so.I sighed as I sat on the couch, and looked at him.He stared back at me a with long look that was worth a thousand words, and all of a sudden… a mysterious smile spread across his eyes.I averted my gaze away from him to avoid making eye contact, and held the cup in my hand tightly, staring blankly as I was lost in a deep thought.‘‘Have you found yourself once more lost in your own thoughts?’’ I was taken aback by Arnold's voice, and as a result… I cocked my head to look back at him.‘‘Would it be possible for me to compete with other parties for your company's business tender if I were to start a com
ARNOLD's P O VThe woman who was sleeping next to me had already dozed off, but she was still in a semi-seated position with a book propped up on her chest when I woke up, and it was already after three o'clock in the afternoon.I flickered my eyes open and stared at my wife's lovely face while she was asleep. I wasn't accustomed to her being so reserved. She didn't even put up a fight when I gave her a hug and buried my face in her neck, so I could inhale her scent, which was a combination of vanilla and strawberry and was one of the things I had missed the most.In point of fact… I was baffled as to why I believed it was imperative that I constantly show concern for her.Didn't she and Leina essentially share the same appearance?If I had chosen Leina, she would have been as submissive as a little puppy, but unfortunately… Celestine was as belligerent as a porcupine that was covered in sharp quills. She would frequently silence me with her harsh words, leaving me unable to respond.
ARNOLD's P O V‘‘She requested that the video should be played on your wedding day. Do you want me to stop her from doing that? I'll figure out how to get my hands on the original video and rip it to shreds!’’ After I gave Louis the signal to stop the video that was still playing on his phone, he spoke what he had to say afterward.‘‘I want you to play the video clearly on my wedding day…’’ I sported a grin as I ordered before lighting up a cigarette.‘‘Why are you smiling like that?’’ Louis made a frowning face as he sat down in the chair that was in front of me inside my office. ‘‘You’re aware that once the video is made public, it will completely destroy your reputation, right? It's clear that she has some nefarious motive for keeping the video from you—either she's after your money, or she's hoping to win your hand in marriage!’’Louis was trying to warn me about her because he had observed a great deal of behavior similar to hers in the past. After all… he had a lot of connection
‘‘Leina!’’ Olivia was unable to control her need to yell as she vigorously shook the shoulders of the woman who was loudly sobbing.‘‘Mom...’’ she uttered after being stunned for a brief period of time before she came to her wits.Olivia had a natural understanding of what her thoughts were. She let out a heavy sigh as she extended her hand and patted the back of her hand.‘‘Are you aware of the reason why your sister defeated you?’’ she asked, her brow raised.Leina bit her bottom lip and shook her head.‘‘You are too kind, Leina…’’ Olivia stated. ‘‘Remember, if a woman wants to keep a man by her side, she must employ all means necessary to do so. She must have something that you don't have, even if I don't understand why my son persisted on marrying her in the first place. Therefore… you have no choice but to learn from her. Keep in mind that the two of you look exactly the same!’’Those were meaningful statements, but Leina gave the impression that she did not comprehend their sign
CELESTINE's P O VI was left wondering why Leina and Mrs. Maxwell chose not to join us for dinner after we had already completed eating without them.As soon as we got back to our room, I went straight to the shelf, grabbed a book, and then curled up on the couch to begin reading. The book was about company law.‘‘You can always come to me with any questions you have regarding business, and I would be happy to answer them. Why on earth would you want to waste your time reading those pointless things?’’ Arnold said to me as he pulled out a shirt and a towel out of the wardrobe and then turned to look at me.But I wasn't paying attention to him since I had my chin propped up on my palm and I was focused on what I was reading.I was absolutely certain that the things he said made perfect sense. Getting some hands-on experience was actually more important than reading theoretical texts.However, even if I were interested in practicing, it would be preferable if I had at least a basic comp
CELESTINE's P O V‘‘I'm already married...,’’These words, for the very first time, made me feel incredibly down and unhappy.‘‘Celestine, your marriage with Arnold is fake...’’ As soon as Jenny recognized the unease in my voice, she immediately offered me solace. ‘‘If you tell him the truth, I'm sure he'll understand… I’m very certain that he will---’’I laughed out bitterly. ‘‘No man in their right mind would ever accept a woman who had been married to another man. And one more thing... I just had a miscarriage...’’When she didn’t respond, I sighed and decided to end the conversation with her.‘‘I'm feeling a little sleepy, Jenny...’’ It was a mumble and she sighed. ‘‘Let me take a rest first…’’‘‘Okay…’’ I heard Jenny open a door from the background. ‘’I’ll just call you some other time. Please try not to dwell on it too much, okay? Rest well…’’After then, she terminated the call.As I recalled Sean, who had been my neighbor on the island ever since I was five years old, I presse
Arnold's P O VI made a strong grasp of Leina's shoulders and yanked her away from me. It was so painful that she writhed in discomfort and fresh tears began to form in her eyes.‘‘Arnold!’’ she yelled out in frustration.I turned my back on her and dragged myself up and out of the water, not paying attention of her calling my name while her hands were trying to stop me from leaving her.I grabbed the towel that was sitting on the chair and flung it on her. ‘‘Just wait here...’’ I sighed heavily. ‘‘I’m going to ask someone to help you out of there...’’I spun on my heels and started walking toward the sliding door, but I hadn't taken more than three steps before I heard Leina's voice once more.‘‘Arnold!’’ I was unaware that she had already emerged from the water, and I am currently being hugged by her from behind. ‘‘Why would you ask someone else to help me when you’re already here to do it yourself?’’‘‘She won’t be happy…’’ I muttered as I worked my way slowly away from the embrace
CELESTINE’s P O VWhen I looked at the number that was written on the sheet of paper, I sighed and grinned sarcastically.‘‘Fifty million dollars…?’’ the smile on my face became a loud laugh. ‘‘That’s so generous of you, mom…’’‘‘You were merely able to get close to my son because you had Leina's face!’’ She scoffed. ‘‘How long did you anticipate that this relationship was going to last? You have a short fuse, and to top it all off, because of your bad reputation, you’re unpresentable! In short, you would make my son and the rest of my family look bad in front of the public!’’I just gave him a sarcastic grin as I continued to keep my eyes fixed on the check that was still sitting on the table in front of me.‘‘My son has grown up to be a very charming young man…’’ she continued. ‘‘A great number of women argued that they did not require any form of financial support as long as they could remain with him. But you…’’ She showed me a vengeful expression while rolling her eyes at me. ‘‘Y
JULIAN’s P O VAunt Olivia insisted that Cynthia must first complete her education, and give birth to our child before she allowed us to get married. And I felt worried about Cynthia because I was aware that she was waiting for this moment. Even though she wasn’t voicing it out, I could sense that she was expecting me to propose to her, for us to build our own family, but Auntie asked me not to let Cynthia know about our agreement.After seven months, Cynthia gave birth to a healthy baby boy who she gave the name Mark Julian. And while I was occupied with the expansion of the business that Arnold had requested me to handle, Cynthia continued her studies.Finally, Cynthia graduated and I’ve never been so proud of her. I believed that as a result of all of the things she went through, she got more matured. She never complained about the fact that I did not offer her marriage.When it was time for Cynthia to get her graduation present from me---it’s not exactly a graduation present, but
CYNTHIA's P O VAt this moment, tears were beginning to run down my face. I couldn’t keep them at bay. Now that it was almost certain that I’m losing this baby.I may not know a lot about pregnancy, but I knew that bleeding was a bad sign.As soon as we entered the emergency room, an array of questions and answers ensued, and I answered them to the best of my ability, while my parents and Julian were listening attentively. Julian refused to let go of my hand even when I was wheeled back toward a room and directed to strip for an ultrasound.The nurse stopped Julian when he was about to enter the changing room, insisting that he wanted to help me change into a hospital gown. ‘‘I can help her, Sir. Just stay with her parents outside…’’Julian did not immediately follow the nurse after initially hesitating, but he did so eventually. Soon after, he began to loosen his grip on my hand before leaving completely.My parents sat in a chair along the far right wall, and Julian stood a few feet
CYNTHIA's P O VTWO MONTHS LATERI groaned as I sat up in bed and stretched my arms. A quick look at the clock that was sitting on my nightstand revealed to me that nightfall would arrive sooner. How long have I been dozing off?These past few days, my normal pattern of sleeping has been thrown off. Simply put, I was mentally and emotionally exhausted to the point where I lost track of time because of it. Even though my parents, Arnold, and Celestine regularly checked on me every once in a while, one of the harmful things I'd been doing was spending most of my time alone in my room. This was another habit I'd gotten into.They have been monitoring the media, calling people and giving them orders, as well as discussing the situation with the authorities. They would act wary every time I descended the stairs, as if they didn't want me to hear about those fucked up news again.I never heard from Julian again after that day. I was aware that his wedding took place last month, but none of
CYNTHIA's P O VNothing could have prepared me for the crushing agony I experienced when my mom told me that Julian had departed without even alerting me, or even bidding farewell to me before he flew back to France. Nor could anything have prepared me for the profound sense of loss that caused my heart to tighten, leading me to believe that it was going to cease beating altogether.Even though I was aware, on some level, that he was meant to return and marry her, the fact that he did still hurt. How could he? How, after making love to me? After I had already given him everything? After stroking my hair until I fell asleep? After spending so much time gazing at me with that breathtaking smile? How could he love her and marry her still?There was a painful lump that was lodged in my throat, and it was making it difficult for me to even breathe. In addition to this, I had to fight against my tear ducts in order to keep from crying in front of my family because of him. In total honesty,
CYNTHIA's P O VThe moment the door to the Maxwell villa opened, I was met with a resounding slap across the face from my irate mother.‘‘Aunt Olivia…’’ When she raised her hand to slap me again, Julian attempted to stop her, but she instead hit Julian which caused my eyes to widen in shock.‘‘Don't address me like that, you have no connection to any of us anymore!’’ she said through gritted teeth, a threatening tone was used as she glared at him.It appeared as though everything around me had come to a stop. I blinked back the tears that was on the verge of falling down my cheek. ‘‘Mom…’’Did Arnold tell her about us?‘‘What are your intentions with regard to my daughter?’’ She asked Julian while completely ignoring me. ‘‘Do you intend to take him as your mistress?’’‘‘No, I…’’‘‘There is no future for the two of you, and even if you leave the woman who will soon become your wife, I won't let you have my daughter!’’ And she smacked his face once more, which prompted me to push her aw
CYNTHIA’s P O VJulian grabbed the shower head, turning on the water. He pointed it at me and he made sure to let it pour all over my body, until every inch of me was soaked. ‘‘I’ll take it that it will make you behave…’’‘‘Uhmmm…’’ I agreed mindlessly, not really listening to a single word he uttered, for I was too busy gawking at his dripping wet physique. I could feel my lids becoming heavy, my veins burning under my skin as pure sexual desire course through them.Unwittingly, without even noticing it, I kneeled in front of him, coming face to face with his semi-hard shaft, but before I could even touch it, he grabbed my shoulders firmly. ‘‘Get up before I fuck you again…’’‘‘But I want you to fuck me again…’’ I protested with a pout, still resting on my knees.He chuckled amusedly, lightly shaking his head. ‘‘Come on, Cynthia, we’ve got to go…’’But I didn’t listen, I remained still.Julian decided to bring his arm under my armpits and pick me up against my will, laying small kiss
CYNTHIA’s P O V‘‘Do you think that somebody was listening to us?’’ I inquired anxiously as fear began to course through my veins.Julian gave a dismissive shake of his head before rising to his feet and reaching for the bathrobe that was still hanging on the door of the bathroom. ‘‘No, the rooms are soundproofed. You stay here...’’ he covered himself and left the room.But I couldn’t mind my business in a situation like this. I rolled out of bed and took a fluffy bath towel, wrapping it around my body before following him towards the living area.From the other side of the slightly open door, I could hear a feminine voice. ‘‘Uhmm, Hi… I mean, good morning. I was wondering if you saw Cynthia---’’I rudely pushed Julian out of the way and came face to face with Stef, who let out a sigh of relief upon seeing me.‘‘Oh, Cynthia… I was worried about you!’’I smiled at her and placed a kiss on her cheek. ‘‘Well, as you can see, I’m good…’’ I then stepped closer to her so that she would be a
CYNTHIA’s P O VI completely let myself go, carelessly giving up on trying to hold myself up and completely leaning against his tall, manly frame. ‘‘Oh, fuck…’’ I moaned as I gripped his hair and pulled on it, moving his head and craning my neck so that our lips would touch. I immediately opened my mouth, allowing his tongue to slip inside.Julian added a second finger into my tight canal, starting to thrust harder. ‘‘You’re such a sexy little thing, aren’t you...?’’ he pulled his hand away and brought his fingers which were coated in my juices, to his mouth, sucking them clean before he picked me up and walked back to the bedroom, letting me fall onto the bed, and then followed me immediately.I pushed him down onto the sheets and got on top of him, hovering over his rock hard member. ‘‘Do you want me…?’’ I inquired in a hushed tone as I took both of his hands in mine and placed them on my waist.He nodded with his mouth agape, looking up at me with full of desire and appreciation.‘
JULIAN’s P O VThere was something unbelievably intimate about waking up next to someone, especially when that someone was the one you love.Strips of golden sunlight shone into the room and Cynthia managed to wrap herself around most of my thin sheets.I woke up with my arm lay across her stomach and her head was tucked into my bare chest. We hadn’t bothered dressing ourselves after last night’s events, as we had already seen every inch of each other.Also we were exhausted, that we had drifted to sleep after another heated kiss.Cynthia stirred slightly, which brought me back from recalling what brought us here, and buried her head further into my chest while placing a hand onto my torso.But all of this felt so wrong, since everyone around see us as cousins, and in addition to that, I am already getting married.But then, why did last night feel so right? And why did her touch alone light my body on fire?I knew that my old self would think otherwise, but Cynthia and I couldn’t hap