A man stood on his balcony, deep in his dark thoughts. He would’ve had the company of his burning cigarette to accompany his deep and sad thoughts, but he could not do that, as he was worried that his baby would be affected. He clutched the railing, dreading the silent night. The night sky was aglow with bright city lights. He wondered how many people were in the same situation as he was.The pale crescent moon shone like a silvery claw in the night sky, illuminating his beautiful skin and making him look like a silver wolf on a blood-mooned night. He looked up at the blanket of stars stretched to infinity and asked them if they would convince his lover to be with him, but the stars were distant watchers. They watch but never act. They see but never reveal. The silence of the night met with his ears, and there was no volume except for the occasional barking of faraway dogs that broke the silence of the night.After standing for a while, Azazel strolled back to his room, where she was s
“I want to stop at my dad’s,” Athena uttered, breaking the silence in the car. He shifted his gaze from his conscientious search for Rupert’s murder in the media. Azazel nodded, asking the driver to change direction. She brought some flowers to her dad, replacing the old ones with new ones. She glanced at her dad’s face. The man now had hollow and shrunken cheeks; his once prominent jawline looked blunt. Her eyes glistened with the lack of unspoken words. She remembered how she used to play with her dad’s smoothly-shaven jaw when they were watching TV. She missed all of it with him. “Hello, Dad,” she kissed her father’s forehead. She took his hands into hers, settling by his side, “I don’t know if you are counting days, but I am,” she had been praying, offering gifts to gods of different religions, asking them to wake her dad. “I don’t know if you are listening to me, Dad, but if you are, please come back. We all are waiting for your return,” she squeezed his fingers. They looked th
“Where are we?” Athena asked, getting out of the car. “This is my penthouse,” Nevin helped her to get down. “You don’t have to help me, Nev. I am pregnant, not ill,” she smiled, and he returned the smile. She was about to ask Nevin why she had never heard anything about this, but her phone stole her attention, “Hello, Mom,” she stuffed her phone between her shoulder and her ear, trying to undo her shoes. “Did you reach?” Iris asked, putting Blanche to bed. The woman collapsed after the funeral, they brought her home, and Iris has stayed with her ever since. “I have Mom,” she successfully removed those shoes and placed them on the stand. Getting up, she correctly set the phone to her ear. “Mom,” she called. “Yes, sweety,” Iris closed the door behind her and stepped out. “Do you hate me?” Athena asked, feeling ashamed that she had left her parents there. “Where is this coming from, Theia?” Iris couldn’t understand why Athena would even think that. “You just got back, and I left
“So, I heard Theia is with Nev,” Tristan sat next to Azazel while throwing rocks into the lake. They both dipped their feet in the water and paddled with them. The little lake was their sanctuary whenever the brothers felt sad. “I know, but how do you know?” Azazel asked, ignoring the pain in his heart. “I just do,” Tris threw another stone, letting it bounce on the crisp fall lake. Silence prevailed between the brothers; it was peaceful. The starry night and thrum of crickets eased their tired minds. “Is it hard to let go?” Tristan’s low voice pierced Azazel’s ears. He was curious why his brother wanted to know this. Was he in pain? “It squeezes your heartstrings; you feel ashen and dead from the inside,” Azazel couldn’t put it into words. “Then why did you choose to have her in your heart and hurt yourself?” Tristan threw another rock into the lake. He didn’t know the entirety of his brother’s love for Athena, but looking at his brother’s state, it seems like the pain of love ha
Athena sat in the passenger seat with a heaving heart. The man made her restless. Nevin stopped by the side of the road and inspected her face. He spotted the angry bruise of Azazel’s finger’s on her cheeks. “Bastard,” he cursed under his breath. “Why do you let him push you around so much, Theia?” He banged his fist on the wheel, and Athena jumped in her spot. He saw her reaction from the corner of his eye. “I am sorry,” Nevin composed and felt ashamed that he acted out. “Is he the father?” he peered into her eyes and shot that question straight. Athena fumbled with her fingers and turned her head the other way, thinking about what to say to him. Nevin took her answer as a yes. The revelation broke his heart into pieces. “How did this happen?” he looked at her side profile. Her face was not facing Nevin. She was too ashamed to have a baby with a man who almost killed her fiancé, and now forgetting all of it, he is taking of her. “I want to know, Theia. How did this happen, and wh
Azazel was about to leave for the airport when his office door banged open, and Nevin barged in. He impassively threw his cigarette butt in the trash can “Who the fuck let you enter the building?” he didn’t even look at Nevin. He was collecting his papers from the desk when Nevin stalked closer. “Get out,” he was about to walk past Nevin when he grabbed Azazel by the collar and threw a punch at the sadist. Azazel, who didn’t expect Nevin to be this bold, stumbled back but prevented himself from falling by holding the table’s edge. It took him a moment to compose and understand what just happened and when he did, his eyes spilled blood and venom from them. Nevin didn’t give a chance for him to rile back from the surprise. “You sadistic bastard,” Nevin seethed. He couldn’t believe that this man raped his best friend and girlfriend, not once but many times, and got her pregnant. He pushed Azazel to the ground and jumped on him. As quick as Azazel’s refluxes were, he was surprised by Ne
A few days earlier…...Azazel stepped out of Nevin’s penthouse with a sad face, he did not have the heart to leave her there, but based on what he had seen with Nevin, he will protect her just as much as he did, so he was at ease. He called Ethan, “Is the jet ready?” he inquired while driving to the airport with his bodyguards trailing behind them. “Yes, boss,” Ethan answered, checking the pilot’s schedule for the day. Their job was to make sure his boss took off and landed safely. “Do you want me to go with you?” Ethan was a little worried about his boss. All these years of being with him, he got used to reading Azazel’s body language and heart without him even saying a word. He witnessed Azazel sad and more distant than average, he knew why, but he didn’t ask him. He was also worried that in his quest to think about Athena, he would forget about his safety, so he offered to go with him. “No, Ethan. I want you to be here and keep an eye out for Athena and inform me about anything t
Blanche was on the phone with Olivia. Since Olivia recovered, the woman didn’t get much time to talk to each other. “How is my son-in-law?” Blanche asked Olivia. Blanche was set to visit Azazel but couldn’t as she was still grieving. “He is fine. How are you?” Olivia sat by Azazel’s side, rubbing his forehead lovingly. “I am fine too, Livvy,” Blanche sat next to Rupert’s picture and cried. A moment of silence prevailed between the friends. “So…” Olivia trailed off. “How is your bitch doing?” Olivia scoffed. “Who are you asking about?” Blanche’s eyebrows creased in confusion. “Iris?” Olivia raised her brow. “Mind your tongue, Livvy. Iris is my sister. I will not have you disrespect her,” Blanche’s serious tone caught Olivia off-guard. She had never heard Blanche yell at her during their friendship years. “I thought….” Olivia went on about saying something, but Blanche cut her off. “I do not appreciate you saying mean things about my sister, Livvy,” Blanche hung up on her friend