Thomas:
“So?” Mum asked looking at me the second I entered the house. I forced myself to breathe normally and gave her a calm smile as I nodded, I had to make her believe that I didn’t care, that it didn’t make a difference to me.
“It is done, you don’t need to worry about her calling anymore either” I said kissing her cheek before walking past her to my bedroom, it was a long day, then what happened this evening disrupted whatever sense of peace I believed that I wanted to have. Checking my phone for any calls, I glared at the thing for a second before throwing it on my bed, running my fingers through my hair. Who was I kidding? I was checking the phone to check if SHE called, but after what I said, how I had insulted her. Yeah, I doubt the girl would ever look at me again, let alone call me.
My bedroom’s door was knocked and I glared at the door for a second before calling ‘come in’, my little brother entered the room with a soft smile on his face. He knew that the girl meant something to me, that I actually liked the girl rather than just wanted to spend the night with her for fun. Yet, I was forced to make her think that I simply wanted her for pleasure when I never looked at her that way. Sure, I knew that it was bound to happen, but it would be on different circumstances and in different conditions.
“I take it you did what mum asked you to do?” Daniel asked and I sighed nodding at him to walk inside, the two of us sat on the edge of the bed as he waited for me to explain what happened.
“Unfortunately, yes. The girl probably hates the day she met me after what I told her, but there’s no going back from this now” I said running my fingers through my blonde hair, Daniel nodded at me and put a hand on my knee squeezing it gently. Him and I were the only two siblings that were of the same mother and father in this family, father being known for his constant marriages in the future has two daughters, our older step sisters. Them not being of the same mother didn’t effect our relationship, no, not in the slightest. Our eldest sister, Jasmine, doesn’t even see her mum, the woman left the girl without a fight when she was five and hasn’t asked about her until the girl turned twenty and SHE was curious to know who her mum was. Lilian’s, father’s second daughter, mum kept her friendship with father despite their divorce. They were both business partners and knew that their divorce shouldn’t cause an issue between them, sure, there was the heat of the beginning of their divorce. But they were fine a while after that. Finally, there’s mum, she’s the one woman that managed to hold a marriage with father for more than six years, she’s been married to him for the past twenty-five years. Me being her eldest son, I was born three months after they were married.
Not wanting to lose me, she kept the fact that she was pregnant from father for six months until she was sure that she was pregnant with a boy and that there was no way father would tell her to lose the child, the two had no more than a secretary and CEO affair back then, which ended up as a marriage when I came along, Daniel was born eight years later. According to mum and dad it was an ‘accident’ since father’s eldest daughter, it was a bit of a surprise to us as their relationship was hitting rock bottom back then, not like it was doing any better now, but anyway. Dani was the most spoiled in the house, and for a reason, he was the youngest. However, we made sure to tell mum and dad NOT to bring us anymore children when Jasmine was thirty and the two of them wanted to try and fix their marriage. Mum’s way of holding a marriage was ‘bring him babies’ he’d forget he was angry a few months later. But that wasn’t the case this time.
Mum and dad’s marriage had hit rock bottom years ago and if they were married now, it was for two reasons. One, me and Daniel, father would end up losing us instantly as we wouldn’t leave our mum with nothing on the streets like he did to his first wife, or how he had treated Lilian’s mum before leaving her, the woman was rich when she married dad. Her brother owns companies, her father was my dad’s business partner when he first started, she and her brother had inherited their shares in the company after the man passed away. Therefore, she didn’t end up as Jasmine’s mum as she already had what supported her, she didn’t need father to do so.
The case would be different now, I had noticed mum and dad on a verge of divorce when I was eighteen the first time. Having threatened father that he would lose both me and Dani if thought of it, he never mentioned it again, or at least mum hasn’t told me about anything. Their marriage was nothing but a contract which was on a piece of paper, and of course, media.
Their wedding was the perfect love story for the media. Everyone envied them for it, everyone saw them as the loving couple who had no problems, father got mum countless presents and they would show them off to media and to anyone who had eyes to look at them, which was mostly everyone. They made sure that they were the center of attention, it gave them both publicity and investors for father’s business, mum had her foundations to take care of, which were also on the media, she was their ambassador in those foundations, and father took care of the businesses, the women who were part of the foundation were always eager to have their husbands having shares with father’s business and work. It was a simple social media cycle.
“What are you going to do now?” Daniel asked and I shook my head, I didn’t know what I’d do. With mum’s issue, I refused to end up marrying someone that they chose for me as to ensure that their businesses ran properly, which is what I knew was what they expected, more specifically, mum expected, father couldn’t care less. I could marry whoever I wanted, if she didn’t know something, she’d simply have to learn how to do it, he didn’t find it as a big deal as long as I was happy, the girl didn’t give a hard time, and most importantly, wasn’t a thief.
It was known among rich men that their wives sometimes tended to pretend that they were buying things from expensive outlets, only for their husbands to soon find out that his wife and the outlet salesman or woman had a deal, a business partnership to be more specific. The salesman would get shares of anything that was sold, therefore, he benefitted in pretending that the woman had bought something and she would be taking money in CASH which was something that no woman married to a billionaire or millionaire generally carried. She had a credit card and the accountant usually calculated whatever was and wasn’t spent. It was to ensure that no extreme high budgets were sold and to know where the money was going if needed.
“I honestly don’t know, a part of me regrets what I did, a huge one. But I also know mum, if I didn’t do it, she would’ve made the girl’s life hell and I can’t afford that” I said pulling on the roots of my hair. Daniel nodded and sighed, he had school tomorrow and it was already late and the kid was here with me rather than getting ready for bed “Dani, you need to get some sleep, you have school tomorrow as well as an exam”
“You remember my exam schedule more than I even do” Daniel commented and I chuckled standing up and nodding at him. He sighed but nodded getting up as well, I pat his back and smiled at him. The education that this boy had, how polite and innocent he was, I was amazed by it, the kid never, and I mean NEVER caused trouble for mum or dad. He was the most disciplined between us all, Lilian too. Her mum and uncle had made sure that she remains in her best behavior, unlike Jasmine who had a bit of a drinking habit, and me. Well, when it came to me, the number of times dad had to pay to get news out of the media or to keep me off media were countless. Though I didn’t really care, I was basically being my age, but explaining that to mum and dad who cared about their media figure was somewhat impossible.
“I’m your big brother for a reason. Now, go and get some rest, we’ll talk tomorrow” I said softly and Daniel nodded, I hugged him before he walked out of my room leaving me alone with my thoughts. I didn’t really know what to do or say, but I knew one thing, I had lost something beautiful. Mum knew what she cost me, and she knew that it broke me, but the woman had her own perspective and I wasn’t going to come and change it now.
Checking my phone one more time, I shook my head at myself at the false hope that I gave myself. It was pointless, I knew that, but I couldn’t help it. However, I wasn’t surprise with the result.
No calls, or messages.
Thomas:“Love? Where are you going?” Mum asked smiling at me. Her eyebrow raised at me, I was leaving the house without breakfast. Mum, dad, Daniel, Jasmine, and Lilian were sitting on the dining table. However, I wasn’t going to join them. Having not processed what mum made me do last night, I was still annoyed and I worried about sitting with them as not to say something that might cause mum and issue with dad or not to hurt her feelings.“I’m going out for a bit, the lads are waiting for me. We’ve got work to do” I answered and mum raised an eyebrow but nodded.“Aren’t you going to join us to breakfast at least? You skipped dinner with us last night” dad said gently and I smiled walking toward him. I kissed the crown of his head and took a piece of toast making him chuckle and shake his head at me.Walking out of the house, I sighed taking a deep breath before walking to my car, in reality no
Kiara:“You must be Kiara” a woman wearing a black dress and apron said opening the door for me, I smiled and nodded at her as she opened the door wider for me to walk inside the Brooke’s mansion. The house was bigger than it was in the numerous magazines it was pictured on. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to clean the place on his own. But then again, I’m guessing that they could easily hire a bunch of maids to clean the place for them.“I am Maria, I will give you the outfit you’ll be wearing and I’ll explain the details of your job here, Mrs. Iris would explain to you what she wants you to do at the company” Maria said and I nodded taking a deep breath as I looked around the house, imagining what it would be like living in a place like this was almost an impossible dream for me. The house was huge, and would fit at least fifty or sixty people easily, no wonder these people rarely rented a place to hold their
Thomas: “Why? Just why would you hire the girl here after you told me to stay away from her?” I asked mum once everyone had left. Her eyes met mine and she raised an eyebrow at me, looking me up and down before she walked back inside the living room. The woman was still angry with me, I was aware of that. But that gave her no right to do what she did right now. The fact that she brought the girl that she knew I had feelings for, the girl that I was with and SHE made me break up with. Why would she be doing so? “Mother…” “How did you even know that she’s here? Weren’t you the one who said that you would be staying at your apartment? So, what brings you here?” Mum asked angrily and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Last I checked this was MY father’s house, whether I was to stay at the apartment or here was MY choice. I don’t think I need to ask for permission on where I’ll be staying” I answered glaring at mum who raised an eyebrow at me. “This may
Kiara:I entered the house after a very long day of working at the Brooke’s mansion, Mrs. Iris was sure to instantly pay me after giving Thomas his drink, and asked me to leave a few minutes later saying that I did a good job and that she didn’t want to exhaust me anymore. Not that she did, I was happy doing what I was.“Grace! I’m home!” I called as I walked through the door, taking off my jacket, having changed back to my own clothes before leaving the Brooke’s house knowing that I couldn’t possibly get on the bus with maid’s clothes on, I would most likely be harassed and I didn’t want that. Mrs. Iris thankfully didn’t mind me leaving the house in my normal clothes. I later learned from Maria that not even she left the house with maid’s clothes on, these people really did treat their workers as humans rather than slaves.“I’m in the living room” she called and I walked to the
Thomas:“Alright, I’ll get them done. You should have them ready in your email before the day ends” I told my father who just had his secretary send me ten emails to look over, review, and check for any mistakes in the financials.“I’ll be waiting for them” dad said before he hung up. I sighed and read through the emails which would be keeping me busy for the rest of the day. I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone since I left the house this weekend. This conversation with my dad was the first in two days, Daniel has been sending me messages but I’ve been too busy with everything that I had to prepare to have time to speak to him, and I know that it was wrong. The kid was probably having it from mum who would be worried sick about me, but I needed time to get used to being alone and the new system that I would be living in.Checking the emails, I started reading through them. Though one person kept running through my m
Kiara:“Is there anything that you need, Mr. Adrian?” I asked smiling. Having brought Mr. Adrian his coffee, he smiled and shook his head, the man was a decent, well controlled human who treated his workers justly. At least that was the case with me, I have been working here for a whole month and so far everything has been going great.“Thank you, Kiara” he said softly and I smiled. Heading toward the door, I was stopped by a question that took me off guard “what is your major, Kiara?”“Sorry?” I asked frowning in confusion.“University, what did you study?”“I-“ I looked down at my feet, embarrassed of his question. Everyone here had a degree when I barely finished high school, having been forced to leave home when I was eighteen. Mum had sent Grace with me to London and the two of us were forced to struggle to stay on our feet, I have been working since to ensure that my sist
Thomas: “Mum? Hi” I smiled standing up to greet mum who came to the office. It being the third or fourth time she came to the office, normally dad wouldn’t let her come as not to interfere with work, and I knew that he probably didn’t even know of her being here. Well, not for long, I knew that it would be reported to him somehow. “Hello” mum said in a sass tone which made me smile. I cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead making her smile, her and I had somehow gotten past our arguments, that didn’t mean that I went back to the mansion though. I do go there to visit, but I got used to living alone in the apartment that I didn’t want to go back. Jasmine, Lilian, and Daniel tended to come and stay over when they wanted to, which was mostly on weekends. The apartment technically being a penthouse, it had eight empty bedrooms, therefore each got a bedroom and we still had more for guests. “How are you?” Mum asked gently, she cupped my cheeks then looked at me
Kiara:My hands shook as I walked out of the office. Hugging the tray as I fought to stay calm not wanting to show my nervousness, having not seen Thomas for months, the last thing I expected was finding him here in front of me. Well, that was technically because the man never once showed up here. His father often left the office to go somewhere, his secretary always said that he would go to his son’s office, but it always stayed there.“Kiara? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” Diana, one of my colleagues said walking toward me. I shook my head, snapping myself out of the daze I fell into and smiled. I wasn’t one to open up to anyone and I had made sure not to make any friends in this office. Having heard a few rumors which were spread around about me, I made no attempt in trying to prove anyone wrong. But I made sure to keep my distance.“Yeah, I think that it’s lack of sleep” I said calmly, and tec