And so, I had just stood there, still clutching my phone, the voice of Samuel still clinging to my mind, the words floating around me as some sort of challenge. "Jenny, have you persuaded him?" He demanded, all firm and strong, a general issuing out an order to his men. The moment the phone started speaking, his tone went down the back of my neck, some feeling of fear in them.Reluctant, my smile overran my lips as I glared at Adrian, who seemed to be capturing it on his phone, the glint in his eyes amusingly telling. "No, dad, I can't," I said back, my voice no louder than a whisper, lest I was afraid of being overheard. A sense of trepidation struck me as I knew it was not going to go well with Samuel.But Samuel responded, and his words cut through the air like a hot knife. "Expect bad news, then," he said, his voice cold and dripping with malice. "You have just 7 days to persuade Adrian, or else I will remove your mom from the life savings support she is receiving." And with that,
As I stood there, frozen amidst a sea of uncertainty, Adrian's laughter rumbled through the room, warm and rich, folding around my heart. "Let me leave you, oo," he said, still amused, and went into the bedroom to take his bath. The sound of the running water was music leading my ears to soothing tunes, washing away my doubts and fears.I lay on the bed, my eyes fixed to the screen, and couldn't help the fluttering inside my chest. I think I'm falling in love with Adrian, I whispered to myself, my mind beating it out like a chanted secret. This wasn't the agreement, I reminded myself, yet trying not to feel this strange burn inside my chest. It's just a transactional marriage, I told myself, but it sounded hollow and unconvincing.I had just been sold, was the bitter thought coursing through my veins. My parents had sold me off to Adrian-like some merchandise that one buys, sells, and haggles over, a mere playing piece in my family's strategic game of securing more money and power. Ly
I nodded, breathing in ragged gasps. "Yes, I'm ready."Adrian entered me slowly, his thickness stretching me wide. I gasped at the sensation, my body shaking with pleasure as he moved inside me in soft, deliberated strokes.I wrapped my legs around him and pulled him farther inside. The feel of hardness pressed against the insides was really making me go crazy; it felt really, really nice, and a very low moan spilled from my throat."Harder," I pleaded, my voice no louder than a whisper. "I need for you to fuck me harder."Adrian did so, quickening his strokes and harder. My climax was near, and my body shook with anticipation."I'm going to come," I gasped, my voice barely audible. "Oh god, I'm going to come."Adrian continued thrusting inside of me, movements becoming urgent in his own accord. I felt his orgasm build as his body tensed with pleasure.He suddenly pulled himself out and his hardness was glistening with my juices. He hunched behind and his hands dug into my hips."I'm
"Julian," I breathed, barely audible, even to myself, my mind racing to comprehend his sudden materialization.My face was a picture of shock: my eyebrows arched in question, my lips parted in a silent gasp.What was he doing here? I asked myself as my mind whipped through a thousand questions and worries.I scrambled to cover myself, grasping the nearest garment-a flowing black gown that cascaded down my body like a dark waterfall.I hastily wrapped the gown around me and felt a surge of trepidation. What did Julian want? And why was he here, unannounced? I took a deep breath, steeling myself for the encounter, and flung open the door."Craaaaa!" The door opening seemed to reverberate through the air, the sound echoing my own shock and surprise.I stood there, my eyes locked with Julian's, and said, "What are you doing here?" My voice was gruff and hostile because that was the best way to mask one's vulnerability.But my actions did not faze Julian; instead, my actions had quite the
I stood there, my emotions simmering just below the surface, and in an instant, a surge of anger and frustration washed over me. "It's a lie," I spat, venom in my voice as I glared at Julian."Stop feeding me with lies." I needed to say it, to express the turmoil that brewed inside me, as I was starting to hate Adrian. It sounded like a shiver ran down my spine, and the feeling of guilt rose, yet I could not get rid of the thought Julian's words managed to awake within me.To which Julian merely smiled wryly, his eyes glinting with humor as he said,"Watch and see when he comes back from work." His hands moved with a life of their own, scrolling through his phone as he brought out a picture that made my blood boil.This was a photo of a well-dressed lady in a pink, hot, sexy gown, her arm entwined with Adrian's, who was putting on a black pants and white striped shirt. They were holding hands, beaming with happiness, and I felt a wave of anger wash over me.I was getting angry, my emo
I stood there, frozen in some kind of fear and uncertainty, shouting again, "Zaddy!" No response, no footsteps to show that there was somebody else in the house, not even a voice answering me. It was a deafening silence-like some heavy blanket laid upon me that seemed to choke, leaving me at Julian's mercy.Julian felt my unease; he knew I was calling the girl. He hitched a bit forward, his gaze locked on mine, his lips closer, nearer, almost touching. My heart raced and my mind became a jigsaw trying to figure out how to behave at this moment: does he want to kiss me, what do I do now?I thought my mind shrieking in horror, I couldn't let Julian kiss me. Who knows if he has brushed his teeth today? I thought, clinging on to the tiniest excuse that would save me from the kiss. The moment was just so suspenseful, and it all happened so quick; I felt caught in a nightmare where I couldn't wake up. The question echoed in my mind, racing with anticipation and fear, would Julian kiss me?I
I was towering high, heaving my chest up while glaring at Julian furiously: this to remind you of the tone; next time around that the devil wishes to push, you shall say no. In fact, the very enunciated words held such an amount of venom in the sound of my voice, so strongly did it have been full.The next thing I did was to slap him again. "Slaaaa!" The second time it came just as firm, just as strong, as the first had. Julian's eyes widened in shock, his face contorting in pain as he fell back, hands flying up to cradle his cheek once more."This slap will erase all kinds of escape notions with me running in your head." I told him in cold, blunt tones that had absolutely no room for empathy."I am not running anywhere with you, neither are you my responsibility," words which were heavy doses of poison, amounting disgust to Julian with each word.And then, for good measure, I slapped him again. "Slaaaa!" For the third time, just as hard and as fierce as the first two were, Julian's e
AT ADRIAN WORKPLACEAdrian reached his workplace feeling distractingly preoccupied, as if something had been nagging at his mind since morning. He felt elsewhere in his mind, lost in a maze of thoughts that seemed to swirl around him, digging him deep into their vortex. He tried to focus on the tasks ahead, but his brain refused to cooperate, stubbornly insisting on replaying the memories of his encounters with Jenny.He uttered to himself in a whisper that was almost incomprehensible because of the pats and ticks of his fidgeting footsteps, "I think I am getting addicted, and attracted, to Jenny. It sent down a shiver up his back, and into the pit of his stomach it settled unease.He sought to rationalize such feelings with the thought that a marriage was just some piece of paper-a business deal with no strings attached. "I don't need to give her my heart," he reminded himself, the words echoing within his brain as if a form of mantra. Yet, despite all this, he simply could not dispe
JENNY PIVMy screams cupped their ears with my own? I felt as though slipping off her control, being drowned in an abyss of excruciation. In an out-of-focus view, Adrian was leaning towards me in, eyes staring at me with such burning intensity of concern. His "What is going on?" sounded firm but buried in the undertones of fear, almost as though a threat to his self-control amid my torment. As if the pain refused to let me say anything, anything to his question, with the moment slowly refining into a blur.Adrian's hands held my powerless body, soothing me, but it didn't work; there was no soothing to be found. All I could feel was pain - pain so great, so consuming, so enormous. I felt like I was becoming lost, that I was passing away; that somehow losing consciousness would shield me from that horrible agony tearing through me.''Adrian's face was hardly an inch or two away from mine, and his eyes were now fixed on mine, as though filled with desperate concern. `Baby, please, what's
JENNY POVFurious banging outside sounded louder and louder as Grace wrapped her fists against the door. It was as if each strike manifested her anger physically through the evening air. "My love, please take it easy," Jenny said hardly above a whisper, turning to me and causing me concern. Concerned, Anna's eyes pleaded with mine; she seemed to search for tranquility amid a brewing storm."Adrian said to me, 'My love, I need to speak some sense into Grace'." Adrian, in his authoritative yet soothing voice, said, "Adrian said to me with a much softer voice: 'My love, I need to speak some sense into Grace.'"Not to say another word, Adrian walked toward the gate, determined and purposeful in his steps. Closely followed by me, heart banging loud in my ears, like the drums in a primitive ritual. Grace was truly filled with rage, and tension. My own simmering emotions almost boiled to the surface, ready to erupt at any moment.And again the sound of her beating grew louder; it insisted, a
CHAPTER245JENNY POVLooking at me, completely aghast, Grace's eyes widened with her smile. "Oh, yes," she said. "I have been watching you two for quite some time. I know about the little marriage you have with each other and I know how you both can drive a wedge into each other's side."Adrian's expression was like dusk, with his eyes blazing out all his pent-up wrath. "Touch her and your death will be at your door," he commanded.She chuckled gleefully, "Oh, but you have. I've been your model servant, pretending all along, just biding my time to strike and watch the disarray of your union as your history unfolds."I shivered at her words. Was this marriage truly in danger? Would Grace really fracture everything we had built together?Grace's words made me miserable with indecision. Surely, she wouldn't have done that. I looked towards Adrian to see how this would have affected him, but his face reflected no such expression- it had a strict seriousness."You will not lift a finger to
JENNY POVWe strolled to the living room and there, illuminated by the soft glow of the lights illuminating the path from the entrance, we found Grace (or so she claimed) standing with head downcast, turning eyes to the floor in a gesture of abandonment and with shoulders slumped in an act of discomfiture. "Good day, sir and ma'am," she addressed, her whisper almost inaudible, trembling slightly as she spoke, the words formed by hardly fluttering lips."Yea, Grace," he replied in a neutral tone, without a discernible expression, right when we sat together, as I was sitting on him, arms wrapped around me while holding me to himself, a hand softly placed on my stomach. Adrian then turned to Scarlett, his eyes narrowing as he studied her with a furrowed, working overtime with his brain to decode whatever she was ruminating upon."Grace, who are you?" he asked in a commanding tone that seemed to challenge such pronouncement, laced with some measure of skepticism, his tone even dripping wi
JENNY POVThe onset of this incident will forever remain my awakening hour, with the night still darkened. I became more aware of my surroundings, with the first thing in sight being Adrian, my husband, seated next to me with a most concerned look on his face. That dim bedside lamp light warmed him, throwing the depths of his worry into bold relief."What happened?" I pictured me demanding, but my voice was edged with confusion and alarm. Just as I attempted to rise, dizziness would encompass me, my husband's hands there to gently yet quite firmly assist me."You fell; you fainted," Adrian said. I kept on repeating it to myself in an attempt to fathom what it meant to faint. "I fainted?" I was finally able to whisper, the word now hanging in the air as if challenging my perception.He looked at me for a long moment, concerned but slightly annoyed. "Yes, love," he said gently but firmly. "I've told you to take it easy on yourself." Even as his tone reproached, his eyes showed the quick
JENNY POVMonica left my mother behind, with Grace, the maid, for services in the house. The next day, I woke as if with no energy; my body felt heavy and completely pregnant. "Honey," I called, sweet and gentle, hoping that Adrian would respond. But there was only silence. I waited for a moment expecting him to walk into the bedroom, but nothing.Sighing, I arise and manage to put all my strength into moving toward the kitchen. The instant Grace saw me walk through, she seemed to stop whatever the action was that she was engaged in and smiled, saying "Good morning, ma'am." In that voice, there was this plural, respectful and welcoming tone. I returned the gesture but instinctively put my hands on my huge tummy to rub it while feeling kicks from the baby inside. "Good morning, dear," I added just to sound a little more cheerful than I really felt.It was an exceptionally warm and inviting room that within one breath, would include coffee brewing. I found my usual place on the table an
ADRIAN POVIn the warmth of home, the weak lights of evening embraced us in lazy comfort. "Well, this is home; I was checking on Jenny," I muttered, sadly and tenderly gazing at her with concern. "No need to worry, babe. Jenny was fine," I comforted him with a smile, gently pulling him into hugs.As we moved on toward the room, the only sound from out two feet padding softly across the floor. "We need to hire a maid," I soothingly suggested, trying to approach the subject slowly. But Jenny interrupted, her voice very clear and very strong. "No, baby. I can do all the housework," she opposed right away, with a determined glint in her eyes that dared me to argue with her.My heart reeked of love and guilt towards her. I smiled sweetly and said, "No, my love-no." "You are expecting and I cannot allow you to submit yourself to doing that." Please, let me take care of this." I pleaded as I caressed her hair softly, as though that might somehow soften her resolute spirit.She regarded my w
ADRIAN POVFour hours later, the wait finally ended. Dr. Dazzy walked out of the emergency room, a mask of professionalism on his face, his eyes revealing but a sliver of concern. He called out my name, voice laden with reassuring authority like a lifeline thrown to a drowning man, "Mr...?" Suddenly his gaze shifted towards the waiting area, raking in one after the other until at last, it rested on yours truly.I jumped up, my heart racing. Oh yeah, that's me, I whispered back. "How is she? How's Jenny?" The floodgates burst open.The treatment softened the doctor's looks a bit as he nodded. "I'm with your wife now," he said, almost holding out a glimmer of hope. "Let's talk," he said, sending a gesture toward one of the waiting room's quiet corners. My heart drummed in my chest like a drummer preparing for some primitive ritual. What was he going to say? Was Jenny okay? The uncertainty was murder.I quickly marched into the doctor's office, purposeful stride like a man on a mission,
ADRIAN POVAs we lay there, Jenny's body tensed, muscles broiling under the skin like waves about to crest. A grotesque distortion of her face came into view as her eyes were closed shut, and a strangled, guttural cry, "Hpppp!" escaped her lips, followed closely by a heartbreaking wrenching sound. This tearing sound ripped irrevocably through the very fabric of that moment. Eyes that once sparkled with humor and fun turned into tight, scrunched-up furrows of mixed terror and discomfort." And I, exhilarated, turned toward her, speaking soft, reassuring words, almost like a summer's warm, gentle breeze."What is it, baby?" I asked, leniently. Distracted by pain, Jenny barely perceived my touch as I brushed a straining hand from her forehead. In that instant, I felt an electric jolt through my fingers. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she gazed up at me- her expression blurred and hazy, breathing labored. Each rise and fall of her chest steered with ragged breaths alongside cowering flickeri