Charles pinched the bridge of his nose. The past few days have been a mental hell for him. Apart from his norm of attending meetings after meetings, the fact that he was so close yet far from his real family members tortured him.
And there was the fact that he had not found a suitable time to devote to searching for a wife.
He needed a break, he needed some sort of entertainment. At that moment, in order to find his plans working out perfectly he needed a clear mind.
Charles picked up his phone and called in his secretary.
"Sir, you called me."
"Yes," he poured himself some whiskey, his one and loyal company. ",are there any events in town that I can attend? I need a break."
"I don't know..."
"Miss Kane, you are good at what you do, instead of telling me you don't know any, I should be hearing you will be finding out if there is any."
The slight cruelty in his voice did not appear to move her, that was one of the reasons he had her promoted to the status of being his secretary. Unlike some of his employees, she never looked startled whenever he was being the angry, thorough boss. Christina Kane nodded her head slightly and said, "I will make sure to find out if there is any."
"Just call me to tell me what you have confirmed. I don't want to be disturbed either, take the rest of the day off."
"Alright sir."
Few minutes later, she called to inform him about a charity event holding the next day. Slipping off the chair onto the rug, Charles resumed his drinking. He had found his entertainment.
~
The whole room reeked of boredom. Nothing fun was being done. Neither was the exact reason of the gathering being discussed. Everybody just wanted to connect and walk home with a huge smile after a successful agreement.
Rubbing his huge recently moisturized hands, Charles reasoned it would have been preferable to spend the whole day locked up in his room with his thoughts and his indulging work than to be at that event.
"Christina." He faced his secretary who he had decided to take along as a means of relieving her since she was going to be stuck with him for a while. As usual, she was dressed to kill. If not for his morals and principles, Charles knew he would be taking her right in the bathroom. But even if he did that, he would not like what follows.
He might decide to fire her or she might take his move as an invitation to be with him romantically.
"Yes, Charles." He had given her the liberty to call him by the first name.
"When is this supposed to end?"
"In two hours sir."
"How long have we been here?"
"Ten minutes, sir."
"Um," he hummed and he gave Christina a side glance. Apparently she had her eyes all glued on him and that made him feel suddenly at unease. Charles could read her loud and clear, Christina wanted him. At any cost.
Shifting a bit, his hand clutching his almost empty wine glass a bit harder, Charles's eyes travelled to the entrance and at that moment, the most unexpected sight greeted him.
Realizing his heart was thumping, Charles shifted again, cleared his throat and pocketed his hands into the silkiness of his suit trouser. Within a swift second, Charles gathered his ego, pride and masculinity into one big attitude, he could not afford to appear weak as he just felt.
His eyes going back to Isabella who was walking hand in hand with some tall guy towards a small gathering, he observed to see how much she had changed. She had not changed a lot.
She was dressed in a red, long sleeved pencil gown which held her in the right places. Isabella always looked good in red. Always. It made her eyes appear fiery like the character she was. Or rather, the woman he knew.
Her hair, brunette and long was curled into layers and they kept dancing as she talked and laughed with the people she was with.
Charles closed his eyes as the image of her closing her eyes in satisfaction whenever he ran his hands through her hair, came to his mind.
Opening his eyes, with locked jaws, Charles noticed further that there was something missing in her eyes. They still looked fiery but they lacked the happiness that always made him smile whenever he saw her.
Wondering who the man she was with was, Charles chastised himself for bothering himself by recalling the past. Instead, he could be dealing with the present the way he wanted. He smirked to himself as he imagined what reactions would be on the face of the woman that was meant to be his wife.
"Christina?"
"Yes?" He extended his arm for Christina to hook hers onto.
"It is time for us to mingle with the crowd." Charles returned the smile Christina gave him as her slender arm went around his. He could still feel Christina's eyes on him from time to time.
That was her problem.
What was on his mind at that moment was the woman in red and how he was going to make a re-entry into her life.
After six years.
"So, it is basically a hotel?" The fat man asked again."She just said..." His partner gave up trying to explain anything to the man who was making light of the little meeting they were having.And Isabella was trying so hard not to get unduly angry. Her free hand kept tugging at the table cloth, the same time, her smile widened. "Yes, it is a hotel. But a vintage kind of hotel.""Why would anyone want to stay in such a place?""The services offered there are like no other sir. Everything about the hotel is amazing, magical. Our guests always have a good time.""If it is so magical, why is it failing?" David Maxwell's secretary gasped with shock at the directedness of his boss. Isabella could feel it, the anger, it had made its way to her chest. Her hold on the cloth became fiercer, it shifted off the table.Caleb placed his hand over hers to placate her."We are actually working on ways to improve the standards of the hotel. We just
It really was him. Isabella sat back into her chair. She had been hoping it was a dream, but it wasn't. He really kissed her. Anthony... Charles actually aroused her without trying hard. After six years he was still that good. Her fingers grazing her lips, she recalled to the last detail how he took her with more intention than he used to when they used to date.That same day, when she got home and took a look at Gabriel, Isabella realized it had been a while that she felt so strongly aroused. Her husband never took the liberty to make her feel good during sex. All Gabriel ever wanted to do was empty his nut into her.Feeling sadness set in again, Isabella wondered how life would have been if she had not run away few minutes to her tying the knot with Anthony. She wouldn't be derived of intense intercourse, certainly. She probably won't have a failing company to be worried about too. Sighing, Isabella reasoned that it was useless to swim in regret at that stage. If any
There was definitely something off with her.It was as though she was lacking something or maybe she wanted something so bad.Whatever it was, Charles wondered what it could be.Sitting back into the leather chair he had specifically had constructed to his taste, he wondered when she exactly was going to walk into that room and ask what his proposition was with attitude.He smirked to himself. She sure acted like she did not break his heart six years ago. And he knew her so well, it was sure that she would keep up with that attitude for a while until he decides to break it. Smiling even more, he could totally picture the defiant look on her face once he does kill that attitude.Charles groaned inwardly.She was driving him crazy.So, so crazy.And that was wrong to him. He should be the one making her regret. He was m
"Are you joking right now?" Charles was impressed. He wasn't sure why- it might partly because she still maintained a cool look- but he was."You heard me Miss Shade. Marry me and your debts will disappear, I assure you."Isabella let out a bitter chuckle as she got up. "You must be joking.""I most certainly am not.""So, you just want me to marry you." She moved dangerously yet graciously towards Charles."Be my wife and that's all you need to do.""Did you hit your head? Or don't you know that it is stupid to tell a married woman such nonsense?"Charles's eyes narrowed as he thought confusedly, 'She is married?'He checked her ring finger for both hands but there was no sign of her being married. He wondered if she was lying. The man who had her situation checked didn't mention anything about a husband and truthful
AUTHOR'S NOTEHey guys, before you go on with this chapter, you should know that there is a bit of violence towards the end. Even though I tried to make it less graphic, if you do not roll well with reading stuff like that, you can always skip it. Thanks for reading :)~Isabella violently adjusted the neck of her gown which felt like it was growing into the length of her neck to suffocate her more and more. But she was just harming the poor gown whose neckline did a good job of giving her chest breathing space.Her hands leaving the almost mutilated material, Isabella found a nearby bench to sit on to gather her thoughts properly.At that moment, the only source of help at that moment was putting her in a spot. A spot she definitely did not see coming.Recalling his proposition which he said with all seriousness, Isabella wondered why her of all people.
Like every other human on earth, Claire Oxford had her past sins.And typical of such sins, it was back to haunt her and take grasp of her son, Charles. Wondering what he was doing at that moment, she took another second to silently pray that he did not stray or fall into wrong hands.As she took a seat on one of the cushions in her tailoring room, Claire wondered if it would be safe to let her husband know of the situation.She certainly did not hide her previous shameful marriage with Ordinaz from her husband. And she appreciated that he did not judge her based on the fact that she was sold to Ordianz, he even accepted her son with whom she had run away with when troubles kept mounting troubles in Ordinaz's home.No.She shook her head as her eyes wearily wandered the huge room that reeked of lavender and was a sight to anyone who loved expensive garments. Telling her
Isabella felt dirty.She did when Gabriel first slept with her. Hours she spent under the shower trying to console herself, trying to assure herself that things would be okay. She had told herself she wouldn't regret her decisions.Years after, nothing was okay. No amount of days spent under the shower could assure her of better days in Gabriel Manifold's house.As she gathered the mattress into a corner of her office, Isabella immediately cringed. The pain was still screaming into her head, her whole being was crying for help.But she was tired. Fighting was a ridiculous thing to her at that moment. She just wanted to give up or maybe give in. She was sold off to her husband anyway, she might as well let him finally use her the way he wanted.She could give up the company and become a sit-at-home wife who does nothing but follow her husband words. Occasionally, she could visit h
"Tell me you are making some kind of stupid joke," Isabella said as she felt her bones shake."It is no joke. Your father is-""I heard you already!" she exclaimed as she took another step back, her eyes darting in confusion. Without seeing his proof, she sort of believed him. It made sense a bit. Her father being dead explained his silence. But... why?"Here." Her legs totally failed her and she hit the floor before Charles could help her. As she flipped the photos which revealed it all- her father's body, his death certificate, his funeral- she wondered why she was kept in the dark.According to the pictures, he died a year ago. Uncle Ben had been lying to her. According to the pictures, he also attended the funeral. But he said nothing to her, he just kept assuring that her father would someday call.Like heck he would. Isabella was resisting the urge to laugh at her life. Her