“You’re here, Bree,” Gaspher greeted as Bree walked into the terrace of Gaspher’s home. She smiled at the evening lights and flowers that made the room shine bright. “This setting is so beautiful. Who arranged this?”“My fiancee. Anyway, where is little Ariel? Did she insist on staying home?” He asked when he looked behind Bree and the child was nowhere in sight. “That can never be Ariel. She follows me wherever I go, sticking to me like a magnet.” Just then, Ariel ran into the terrace. “Oh, she's here.”“Uncle Gaspher.” She ran into his embrace. “Our little mermaid. How are you?”“Uncle, I'm fine.”“I can see that. Plus you look super pretty in this pigtail. Super cutee…” His laughter died down when his eyes fell on the tall man who came to stand beside Bree, his hands buried in his pocket as he stared around, uninterested. The awkward silence broke as Ariel squealed and jumped to her grandfather who just arrived beside Gaspher.“Grandpa, you look younger than the last time we saw
“Oh dear, are you going to watch these people call your mother a psychopath? You know very well how alike we are.”“You and Bree are nothing alike,” Gaspher stepped forward, his index finger pointing at her in a warning. “It hurts that my family decided to have a gathering without me. Do you all hate me that much?” She feigned to be sad, her fingers riding up to her face to wipe her dry tears. Bree rolled her eyes. If it were five years ago, she would have fallen for the woman’s ploy. She would have forgiven her and taken her back. But not anymore, not when she was the devil in her life. She would rather not have a mother at all than have a mother like Nary. A failed mother. And for all she cares, she was not like her, she would never be like Nary Marsden. She loved Ariel with all her heart and would rather die than treat her the same way that her mother did with her. She would rather jump from a six-floor building than traumatize her daughter. Finally stabilizing herself, she step
“Nary, let go of me,” Bree yelled, her hands wrapping around Nary’s hand on her hair in a futile attempt to yank it off her. “What makes you think you're so useful in anyone’s life,” Nary started, speaking through her teeth, her hands tightening on Bree’s hair in anger. What made her think she could say whatever shit she likes and it would be fine. She'd tried to talk so calmly with her, to put sense in her and get her to do her bidding. But as always, her daughter always proved to be stubborn, she proved that she needed physical force to be able to do anyone’s bidding and she was so ready to give it to her no matter what it took.“I was speaking so calmly so you would listen. Do you think you hold value? You think anyone wants you? Let me tell you, Breanne, people are with you because of their benefit, they will never love you as long as I do. ““You’re the only one who thinks like that, ahh.” Nary’s hold tightened. “Let me speak, kid. Look at your boss at work, he uses you to get
“I hate her so much,” Bree cried as she buried her face on Caspian’s arms, her tears streaming freely down her cheek. She hates her so much, her very own mother. If she was given a chance to choose her mother, she would’ve never chosen Nary, the woman who always made her feel like shit, the woman who was no mother and was just a birth giver. No mother would harm their daughter’s mindset without even a ounce of regret. Her hatred for her keeps increasing day by day. “Bree?”“Bree.”“Mommy.”Spencer’s turned to the direction of the voices to see Gaspher and the rest family members climbing down the stair hurriedly. They ran to Bree’s side and squatted beside her. “Bree, what’s wrong?” Gaspher asked, his hands on her shoulders. She refused to say a world and clung onto Spencer the more, her tears wetting his shirt. “Mommy.”Even at the call of Ariel, she still refused to speak. All she did was hug Caspian and held his arms to herself like it was a possession she never wants to release
“Where should we have dinner? My house or yours?” Spencer asked as they walked out of the ice cream shop, heading back to Bree’s condo. “Mine of course. Besides, I don’t even know where you live.” Bree locked her hand around Spencer’s arm and with the other, she brought the ice cream cone to her lips. It has been two days since the Nary incident and everything has been fine with them. Unlike the other day when they had sex and Spencer blacked out, he repeated his words to her again and again after she woke up.Her joy knew no bounds. They were finally a couple even though it hasn’t been made official. What was important was that she loved him to death and he loved her too.“This is a good chance to know it then.”Bree fake yawned. “What if I don’t want to? The condo is closer. You know everything about me but I don’t even know your home.”“We should go to mine. I’ll cook.”“You, cook?” She laughed. “Ariel was the one who taught you how to make an ordinary sandwich. Cereal too.”“Who
Mommy, Daddy. Are you two like… a couple?” Ariel asked the next day during breakfast. Throughout the night, her parents had refused to leave each other’s sight. They were glued at the hip that she felt abandoned and slept without anyone’s kisses for the first time in her life. She was beyond pissed when she woke up but her anger soon disappeared when she got out of her new room and saw her parents cooking together, holding hands lovingly.“Wh…who told you that?” Bree stuttered, trying to remove her hand from Spencer’s hold. He held her throughout the night and even refused to let her go now that they were having breakfast. “What? I’m not stupid.” Ariel leaned closer. “I know that Mommy and Daddy are dating.”“And how do you even know what dating means?”“I do know what it means. After all, I have a boyfriend.”“What?”Spencer spat out his food at the child’s words. His eyes snapped to her, glaring daggers at her. “What did you just say, Ariel?”“I have a boyfriend.”He felt his blood
Following her time with Iris, Bree found herself nervously steering toward the Bennett company, her hands gripping the steering wheel in nervousness. While it wasn’t her first body to the Bennett group, it was her first as Spencer’s girlfriend. Last time, the employees only knew her as an FBI agent who came to interrogate their boss. Driving her car into the parking lot, she retrieved her bags from the passenger seat and exited the car. On her way to the company, she’d decided to get him coffee. One she knew he would like. As she made her way into the company, the eyes of the employees fixed on her, forcing her to grip her bags tighter. “She’s the one in the articles,” a voice whispered. “She is?”“It’s true after all.”The murmurs and gossip of the workers got to her ears and she found herself hurrying into the elevator and pressing the buttons for the CEO’s office floor. Her fingers tapping together nervously, her breath fast and rough. Just before the elevator could ping close,
”What the hell do you mean by she’s not breathing? Do something. Anything.”The nurses all rushed to her, conducting CPR, trying to keep the patient alive as the machine beeped. Just then, they arrived at the hospital. Spencer climbed down from the ambulance before helping the nurses roll the stretcher out. With his hands on Bree’s hand, he joined the nurses in pushing the stretcher into the ER. “Mr Benett, you have to wait outside while we take care of the patient,” the doctor stopped him before he could get into the room. “I’ll go in with her.”“You can’t go in.”His hands clutched the collar of the doctor’s coat and grabbed him. “You have to do everything to save her. Hire the best doctors in the world, and do whatever it takes. If anything goes wrong with her, just so you know, you’re carrying the cross.”Shivering, the man nodded. “Now, be fast.”As the ER door closed, he slid down the wall to the floor, clenching his hair in anger. If he had chased Emily from his company, if